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No-reply address

published · September 13, 2026

A no-reply address is one a system sends from and nobody reads at — noreply@, donotreply@, mailer-daemon@ — so mail sent to it is discarded by design; Spaw reports it as role_type no_reply.

A no-reply address is an address a system sends from and nobody reads at — noreply@, no-reply@, donotreply@, mailer-daemon@ and their kin — created so that receipts, alerts and notifications carry a sender without inviting an answer. Mail sent to one is discarded, bounced or filed unread by design, which makes it the one kind of address that can exist and still be pointless to mail.

What Spaw answers

The shape is recognised by pattern, as the whole username or as a token inside one (noreply-billing@), even when the open role list lacks the spelling. It forces role true, answers role_type no_reply, gives the verdict its own reason no_reply ahead of the generic role one, and adds the no_reply weight of 20 on top of the role 30 — 50 in all. The default sending policy blocks on it.

What it does not mean

A no-reply address on your own list is usually a scraping artefact or a form that captured the sender of a notification rather than a person. It is not a bounce, and the mailbox often does exist; it is simply a place where a message goes to be ignored.

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markdown version: /glossary/no-reply-address.md

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