Overview of statuses for undelivered emails

Overview of status information for undelivered emails

Soft bounce
A soft bounce means an email temporarily cannot be delivered, for example because of:

• a full inbox
• an overloaded server
• temporary network or security problems

Providers usually try to send the email again. If the problem persists, it is treated as a hard bounce. Repeated soft bounces can point to a structural problem.

Hard bounce
A hard bounce means the email can permanently not be delivered, for example because of:

• an invalid email address
• a non-existent domain
• refusal by the recipient's server

Hard bounces need active follow-up: remove these addresses to protect your sending reputation and deliverability.

Rejected
Emails can be rejected because of, among other things:

• an invalid or inactive email address
• a full inbox or spam filters
• emails that are too large or a blacklisted sender
• server problems at the sender or the recipient

Correct email addresses and compliance with technical guidelines reduce the chance of rejection.

Spam
Emails are marked as spam because of:

• unwanted or misleading content
• a poor sender reputation, or suspicious links or attachments
• too high a sending rate, or missing consent from the recipient
• badly formatted emails.

Provide relevant content and only send to verified contacts to avoid spam markings.