A common issue users face is a full mailbox. Most email systems impose a storage limit for each user, and once this limit is reached, new incoming emails cannot be received. Here are examples of error messages that may appear due to a full mailbox:
<user@example.com>: The user is over the quota. You can try again later.
<user@example.com>: host in7.example.com said:
552 <user@example.com>... Mailbox is full
Mailbox limit exceeded while appending message
550 <user@example.com>... Can't create output
<user@example.com>: host mail9.example.com said:
552 Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation |
Temporary Solution :
- Request a 1GB storage extension from the salesperson (valid for one week after activation). During this period, please delete older email messages to free up space.
- Purchase additional storage for your domain email. For pricing details, contact the salesperson.
<user1@example.com>: host host.example.com said:
552 Message size exceeds fixed maximum message size (5000000)
<user@example.com>: host mx2.mail.example.com said:
552 message size exceeds the maximum message size
<user@example.com>: host mx01.example.com said:
552 Message size exceeds fixed maximum message size: 5242880 bytes |
These errors indicate that the total size of your email, including headers, text, and attachments, exceeds the domain's maximum allowable size for a single message.
To resolve this, consider reducing the email's size or splitting it into smaller parts and resending.
<user@example.com>: host host.example.com said:
550 <user@example.com>... User unknown
<user@example.com>: host mail7.example.com said:
550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable
<user@example.com>: host mail.example.com said:
550 5.1.1 <user@example.com> is not a valid mailbox
<user@example.com>: Sorry, no mailbox here by that name. (#5.1.1)
<user@example.com>: host example.com said:
550 Invalid recipient <user@example.com>
The message that you sent was undeliverable to the following:
user@example.com (user not found) |
If you receive a "user unknown" bounce and have confirmed the email address is correct, the next step is to try contacting the recipient through other means.
Often, recipients are unaware their emails are bouncing until someone informs them. Keeping the bounce message can help the recipient or their ISP identify and resolve the issue faster.
The email address may no longer be active if you have no alternative way to contact the person.
In this case, try sending the email again (ideally after a day) in case the issue is temporary.
If the email still bounces, stop using the address.
For mailing list managers, remove any subscribers whose email addresses consistently return this error.
| <user@172.16.22.213>: connect to 172.16.22.213: Connection timed out |
A "connection refused" or "connection timed out" error typically occurs when the mail server is overwhelmed by a high volume of messages.
This may be due to an unusually large influx of mail, an external attack on the domain (e.g., a mailbomb), or an internal configuration issue causing the server to reject or terminate connections before the email is fully sent.
Mail servers are designed to accept only as much mail as they can handle, so once the issue is resolved, you should be able to send your email without further problems.
<sheabu@domain.com>: Name service error for domain domain.com:
Host not found, try again |
A "domain not found" error indicates that the domain name in the email address you used does not exist.
This is often caused by a misspelling of the domain name but can also result from an issue with the domain's DNS records, preventing it from being located.
Another related error is "Sender Address Rejected: Domain Not Found."
For more details on this anti-spam error, refer to the section below.
<receipient@example.com> host wormwood.example.com said:
554 <receipient@example.com>: Recipient Address rejected:
Relay access denied |
This error occurs when an email intended for a specific domain, such as Yahoo.com, is mistakenly routed to a different mail server, such as example.com.
Since the example.com server does not handle emails for Yahoo.com, it rejects the message.
Such errors are rare and often result from misconfiguration on the receiving domain's end.
Another possible cause is a recent domain hosting change.
If the new hosting provider's DNS records haven't fully propagated, your message might still be routed to the old host, which no longer accepts mail for the domain.
In this case, try resending the email after 24 hours.
A related error, "Sender Address Rejected: Relay Access Denied," is an anti-spam measure.
For more details, see the section on Relay Access Denied: Anti-Spam Bounce below.
<user@example.com>: host ntserver.example.com refused to talk to me:
550 Permission denied
or contains a creative note, such as:
<user@domain.net>:
connect to domain.net: 550 Connection refused - we hate spammers! |
These errors indicate that your email provider's domain name (or your specific email address) has been flagged as a known spam source and listed on a blacklist.
This may occur due to external blacklist services used by ISPs or because the administrator identified a high volume of emails originating from your domain.
In most cases, your email provider must contact the system administrator to resolve the issue and remove the block.
If your provider is not a spam source, they will likely act quickly to address the problem and clear their domain from blacklists.
Additionally, two similar anti-spam error messages can resemble domain-related errors.
One example is a "Domain Not Found" error, where the sender's domain cannot be located.
<recipient@example.com>:host img10.ppi.net said: 554
<user@fake_domain.com>: Sender Address Rejected: domain not found |
This is an anti-spam bounce, unlike the "Domain Not Found" error, which indicates a domain issue.
The message shows "Sender Address Rejected," meaning the problem lies with the sender's email address—specifically, the domain used in the sender's email address is invalid.
When a mail server receives an email, it checks if the sender's domain is legitimate.
If the domain name cannot be resolved, the server rejects the message with the "Sender Address Rejected" error.
This anti-spam measure helps prevent the acceptance of emails from fake domains, ensuring that the message couldn't have genuinely originated from there.
<sender@example.com> host smtp-gw-4.example.com said:
554 <sender@example.com>: Sender Address rejected:
Relay access denied |
This error message is similar to a "Recipient Address Rejected" error in that the server dislikes the domain name.
However, in this case, the issue lies with the outgoing email server, which rejects the sender's email address domain.
In contrast to recipient errors, where the incoming mail server doesn't accept the recipient's domain, this error indicates that the outgoing server (typically provided by your ISP) will not allow emails with the sender's "From" address if it's not one assigned by them.