📧Laravel Email Verification Tutorial Example (Step-by-Step)

Email verification is a crucial part of user registration for modern web applications. Laravel provides a built-in solution for verifying user emails during the registration process. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to implement email verification in Laravel using the default authentication system.

📌 Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have the following:

• Laravel project (v8+ recommended)
• Composer installed
• Database connection (MySQL, SQLite, etc.)
• Mail configuration (SMTP, Mailtrap, Gmail, etc.)

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✅ Step 1: Create a New Laravel Project

If you haven't created a project yet, create one using Composer:

composer create-project laravel/laravel email-verification-example

Navigate to your project directory:

cd email-verification-example

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✅ Step 2: Set Up Authentication Scaffolding

If you are using Laravel 12 or above, use Laravel Breeze or Laravel UI.

For Laravel Breeze:

composer require laravel/breeze --dev
php artisan breeze:install
npm install && npm run dev
php artisan migrate

For Laravel UI (Bootstrap-based UI):

composer require laravel/ui
php artisan ui bootstrap --auth
npm install && npm run dev
php artisan migrate

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✅ Step 3: Enable Email Verification in User Model

Open app/Models/User.php and make sure it implements the MustVerifyEmail interface:

use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\MustVerifyEmail;

class User extends Authenticatable implements MustVerifyEmail
{
    // ...
}

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✅ Step 4: Protect Routes with Middleware

You must restrict routes so that only verified users can access them.

In routes/web.php:

Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return view('dashboard');
})->middleware(['auth', 'verified']);

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✅ Step 5: Customize Email Verification Notice Page

Laravel automatically redirects unverified users to /email/verify.

You can customize the page in resources/views/auth/verify.blade.php.

<x-guest-layout>
    <div class="mb-4 text-sm text-gray-600">
        {{ __('Thanks for signing up! Before getting started, please verify your email address.') }}
    </div>

    @if (session('status') == 'verification-link-sent')
        <div class="mb-4 font-medium text-sm text-green-600">
            {{ __('A new verification link has been sent to your email address.') }}
        </div>
    @endif

    <form method="POST" action="{{ route('verification.send') }}">
        @csrf
        <div>
            <x-primary-button>
                {{ __('Resend Verification Email') }}
            </x-primary-button>
        </div>
    </form>
</x-guest-layout>

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✅ Step 6: Setup Mail Configuration (Important!)

Edit .env file to configure your mail settings:

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
MAIL_PORT=2525
MAIL_USERNAME=your_username
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=noreply@example.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME="Your App Name"

---

✅ Step 7: Test the Email Verification Flow

1. Register a new user via /register route.
2. Check your inbox for the verification email.
3. Click the verification link in the email.
4. Try accessing /dashboard, it will now be accessible only after email verification.

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🔐 Optional: Force Logout If Email Not Verified

If you want to immediately logout unverified users, you can use middleware:

Create middleware:

php artisan make:middleware EnsureEmailIsVerified

In app/Http/Middleware/EnsureEmailIsVerified.php:

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    if (! $request->user() || ! $request->user()->hasVerifiedEmail()) {
        auth()->logout();
        return redirect('/login')->with('error', 'Please verify your email before accessing the application.');
    }

    return $next($request);
}

Register in app/Http/Kernel.php:

'verified.custom' => \App\Http\Middleware\EnsureEmailIsVerified::class,

Use it in routes:

Route::middleware(['auth', 'verified.custom'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return view('dashboard');
    });
});

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🎨 Optional: Customize Email Verification Template

To customize the email content, publish the notifications:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-notifications

Edit this file:

resources/views/vendor/notifications/email.blade.php

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🧪 Troubleshooting

• Mail not sending? Check SMTP credentials in .env
• Email not verified error? Ensure MustVerifyEmail is implemented
• No route error? Check middleware on your routes