PHP filter_var() Function

Example

Check if $email is a valid email address:

<?php
$email = "john.doe@example.com";

if (filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
echo("$email is a valid email address");
} else {
echo("$email is not a valid email address");
}
?>

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Definition and Usage

The filter_var() function filters a variable with the specified filter.

Syntax

filter_var(var, filtername, options)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
var	Required. The variable to filter
filtername	Optional. Specifies the ID or name of the filter to use. Default is FILTER_DEFAULT, which results in no filtering
options	Optional. Specifies one or more flags/options to use. Check each filter for possible options and flags

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns the filtered data on success, FALSE on failure
PHP Version:	5.2+

More Examples

The example below both sanitizes and validates an email address:

Example

First remove illegal characters from $email, then check if it is a valid email address:

<?php
$email = "john.doe@example.com";

// Remove all illegal characters from email
$email = filter_var($email, FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL);

// Validate e-mail
if (filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
echo("$email is a valid email address");
} else {
echo("$email is not a valid email address");
}
?>

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❮ PHP Filter Reference