Email address validation

Hi @ericazta33,

In Smartsheet, when you share a sheet with users and require them to contribute data, ensuring that the email addresses of those users are valid is crucial for effective collaboration. However, Smartsheet itself does not directly verify the validity of email addresses or provide notifications similar to the non-delivery reports (NDRs) or bounce-back emails you might receive in email services like Outlook when an email is sent to an invalid address.

Here are some strategies you can use within Smartsheet and its ecosystem to address this challenge:

1. Automated Alerts & Reminders:
   • You can set up automated alerts and reminders in Smartsheet to notify users about the tasks or contributions they need to make. If an email is invalid, Smartsheet won't explicitly notify you that the email failed, but you can infer issues if users report not receiving expected communications.
   • Regularly review the "Sent" log of automated workflows (accessible to sheet owners and admins) to check if there are any issues noted with specific notifications, although this won't directly highlight invalid emails.
2. Update Requests:
   • Sending update requests is another way to engage users. If users do not receive or respond to these requests, it might indicate an issue with their email address. This method also does not directly confirm the validity of an email address but can help identify non-responsive users for further investigation.
3. User Management for Licensed Accounts:
   • If you are using Smartsheet within a licensed organization, administrators can monitor users' activity levels and account statuses through the Admin Center. While this doesn't validate external email addresses, it can help manage and review the status of internal users.
4. External Email Verification Tools:
   • For directly verifying the validity of an email address, consider using external email verification services. These tools can check if an email address is valid before you add or engage with it in Smartsheet. This step requires an additional process outside Smartsheet but can be crucial for cleaning your contact list.
5. Feedback Loop:
   • Encourage feedback from your team or users about the communication process. If someone notices they're not receiving expected emails or updates, it might be due to an invalid email address or filtering by their email service.
6. Smartsheet Connectors and API:
   • While Smartsheet’s API and connectors, such as those for data integration with other services (e.g., Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics), do not inherently verify email validity, they can be used to synchronize user data across platforms. Ensure that the email addresses stored in other systems are valid and up to date, which can then be reflected in your Smartsheet contacts when synced.

If you're experiencing a significant issue with invalid email addresses and non-responsiveness, you might need to adopt a more manual or semi-automated approach to validate emails before or after adding them to your Smartsheet. Regularly updating and validating your email lists outside of Smartsheet can help minimize these issues.

How do you access "the "Sent" log of automated workflows (accessible to sheet owners and admins) "?

Thanks.