How short can an email address be

According to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the organization that governs the rules for email addresses, the minimum length for an email address is 6 characters.

Here are the specific rules:

• The local part (the part before the "@") must be at least 1 character long, but there is no maximum length.
• The domain (the part after the "@") must be at least 2 characters long, but there is no maximum length.
• The total length of the email address (local part + "@" + domain) must be at least 6 characters.

So, the shortest possible email address would be:

a@aa

This meets the minimum requirements, with the local part "a" and the domain "aa".

However, it's worth noting that some email providers or services may have their own specific requirements or restrictions on email address length. For example, some providers may have a minimum length of 8 characters or more. It's always a good idea to check with your email provider or service to see if they have any specific requirements.