Troubleshoot email bounce backs
Step by step instruction on how to Troubleshoot bounce back email errors.
When you send an e-mail, you might receive a Bounce Back message indicating that the mail was not delivered. Similarly, someone might complaint to you that they had sent an e-mail to you which bounced back to them.
In such cases, there will be a bounce back message which would have been sent to the sender of the e-mail. The bounce back will have certain details. In most cases bounce backs are in non-technical language and you will be able to understand it. The bounce back will also have error codes which can go a long way in understanding the reason for bounce back.
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Below is a list of some common error messages, what they mean, and what what actions you can take:
Before we get to the list, here is some explanation about e-mail addresses:
Any e-mail address consists of two sections. The username part and the domain name part. The username is the part in front of the “@” sign and the domain name is the part after the “@” sign.
The email address you are sending to is referred to as the recipient, the person sending the email is the sender.
Below is the list of most common bounce backs. If you still have problems; then you may want to send us the complete bounce back message with the headers.
The below given examples do not have headers. However, when you send us a bounce back you should provide us the headers too.
| Error Code | Comments | Sending | Receiving (Our customers will be informed by people who are trying send e-mail to them). |
| 4.3.1 | Not enough disk space on the delivery server. Microsoft say this NDR maybe reported as out-of-memory error. | This indicates that the recipient’s e-mail box is full. | If somebody informs you about this error then your mailbox is reaching its limit. You need to either upgrade your space or archive your old e-mails or delete them. |
| 4.3.2 | Classic temporary problem, the Administrator has frozen the queue. | If you have sent an e-mail and you got this bounce back then the issue is with the receiving server and not with Apps4Rent Server. | Not Applicable for us. We do freeze the queue. |
| 4.4.1 | Intermittent network connection. The server has not yet responded. Classic temporary problem. If it persists, you will also a 5.4.x status code error. | This would not happen with Apps4Rent servers. However, if such a situation occurs, then there might be a network issue with the receiving server at the time when our server tried to deliver the e-mail. If this is followed by 5.4.x then please contact our support department with the full header of the e-mail for indepth analysis. If the issue is from our side we will try and fix the issue. | If somebody informs you that they are getting this error then the sending server might be having some connectivity issues. Have the sender try again and if it fails then we need the complete headers of the bounceback message. |
| 4.4.6 | Too many hops. Most likely, the message is looping. | Please check if there is a loop formed with the e-mail address. If somebody sent an e-mail to you and has complained to you that you they got the following bounceback then you need to login into your control panel and verify if there is a loop created for the receiving e-mail address at any point. The issue is not from the server side but the way recipients e-mail address has been set. | If you get this error while sending an e-mail to someone; then you need to let that person know about this. The e-mail address on the other server is not setup correctly. In either case, the issue is not with the sending server or receiving server. It’s the way e-mail address has been setup. |
| 4.4.9 | A DNS problem. Check your smart host setting on the SMTP connector. For example, check correct SMTP format. Also, use square brackets in the IP address [64.xxx.xxx.xxx] You can get this same NDR error if you have been deleting routing groups. | This error will not happen while sending e-mails from our servers. | If somebody complaints to you that they got this error while sending e-mail to you; please have the sender contact his administrator as the SmartHost has not been setup in the right manner. |
| 4.6.5 | Multi-language situation. Your server does not have the correct language code page installed. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server |
| 5.1.x | Problem with email address. | ||
| 5.1.0 | Often seen with contacts. Check the recipient address. | If you get this bounce back; then please send the complete header to our Support Department. | If you get this bounce back; then please send the complete header to our Support Department. |
| 5.1.1 | Another problem with the recipient address. Possibly the user was moved to another server in Active Directory. Maybe an Outlook client replied to a message while offline. | You might get this error when an e-mail was added to the system and then removed and re-added. Please type the complete e-mail address rather than selecting the user from GAL or drop down. If you don’t receive a bounce back after you have typed the complete e-mail address then you need delete the e-mail address that you get from the drop down and also download the Offline Address Book again | You might get this error when an e-mail was added to the system and then removed and re-added. Please type the complete e-mail address rather than selecting the user from OAB or drop down. If you don’t receive a bounce back after you have typed the complete e-mail address then you need delete the e-mail address that you get from the drop down and also download the Offline Address Book again |
| 5.1.3 | Another problem with contacts. Address field maybe empty. Check the address information. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server. |
| 5.1.4 | Two objects have the same address, which confuses the categorizer. | This is a problem with the receiving server and not with our server. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server. |
| 5.1.5 | Destination mailbox address invalid. | You have typed an invaild address. There is a typo in the e-mail address or the e-mail address has been deleted. Please verify that there are no typos in the e-mail address or the e-mail address exists. | The sender typed the wrong e-mail address; had a type in the e-mail address or the e-mail address was deleted. Please have the user verify the details. |
| 5.2.1 | The message is too large. Else it could be a permissions problem. Check the recipient’s mailbox. | The mailbox is designed to receive e-mail upto a certain size. Mail sent by you is bigger that the allowed size. If you are sending an attachment then please try and zip the attachment and try to resend it. You may try alternate methods like yousendit.com for sending e-mails of larger size | If somebody is sending you an e-mail which is bigger that 50 MB then they will receive this bounce back. Please have the sender use yousendit.com as an alternate. User can try to reduce the file size by zipping the file. |
| 5.2.2 | Sadly, the recipient has exceeded their mailbox limit. | This indicates that the recipient’s e-mail box is full. | If somebody informs you about this error then your mailbox is reaching its limit. You need to either upgrade your space or archive your old e-mails or delete them. |
| 5.2.3 | Recipient cannot receive messages this big. Server or connector limit exceeded. | The mailbox is designed to receive e-mail upto a certain size. Mail sent by you is bigger that the allowed size. If you are sending an attachment then please try and zip the attachment and try to resend it. You may try alternate methods like yousendit.com for sending e-mails of larger size | If somebody is sending you an e-mail which is bigger that 50 MB then they will receive this bounce back. Please have the sender use yousendit.com as an alternate. User can try to reduce the file size by zipping the file. |
| 5.3.0 | Problem with MTA, maybe someone has been editing the registry to disable the MTA / Store driver. | If you get this bounce back then you need to contact the provider. This is not an issue from our side | Not Applicable to us. |
| 5.3.1 | Mail system full. Possibly a Standard edition of Exchange reached the 16 GB limit. | The issue is with the recipient server and not with Apps4Rent server. | Not applicable to us. |
| 5.3.2 | System not accepting network messages. Look outside Exchange for a connectivity problem. | The issue is with the recipient server and not with Apps4Rent server. | Not applicable to us. |
| 5.3.3 | Remote server has insufficient disk space to hold email. Check SMTP log. | The issue is with the recipient server and not with the Apps4Rent server. The recipient server is out of disk space | Not applicable to us. |
| 5.3.5 | Multiple Virtual Servers are using the same IP address and port. See Microsoft TechNet article: 321721 Sharing SMTP. Email probably looping. | The issue is with the recipient server and not Apps4Rent server | Not Applicable to us. |
| 5.4.0 | DNS Problem. Check the Smart host, or check your DNS. It means that there is no DNS server that can resolve this email address. Could be Virtual Server SMTP address. | You should not be getting this error when sending e-mails. If you get this error then please contact our Support Department with Complete Headers. | If you receive this error while receiving e-mails then please contact our support by getting the complete bounce back from the sender. |
| 5.4.1 | No answer from host. Not Exchange’s fault check connections. | This is not an issue with Exchange Servers. The issue is with the receiving server. Most cases, either mail services are down or server is down | This error is not applicable for our servers. Our cluster environment ensures that such a situation does not come up. |
| 5.4.2 | Bad connection. | Please try sending an e-mail from some other mail service like gmail/yahoo and see if you get the same error. If yes, then the issue is with receiving server and not us. | This error is not applicable for our servers. Our cluster environment ensures that such a situation does not come up. |
| 5.4.3 | Routing server failure. No available route. | Please try sending an e-mail from some other mail service like gmail/yahoo and see if you get the same error. If yes, then the issue is with receiving server and not us. | Please contact our support team with the complete headers of the error message. The error usually is with the sending server as it’s not able to route mails. |
| 5.4.7 | Delivery time-out. Message is taking too long to be delivered. | Please try to send an e-mail from some location like gmail/yahoo to isolate the cause. If the problem does not exist when sending e-mail from Yahoo/Gmail. Contact our support department with full headers of the error for additional details | Please try to send an e-mail from some location like gmail/yahoo to isolate the cause. If the problem does not exist when sending e-mail from Yahoo/Gmail. Contact our support department with full headers of the error for additional details |
| 5.4.8 | Microsoft advise, check your recipient policy. SMTP address should be cp.com. NOT server.cp.com. | This error is again for the receiving server and not Apps4Rent server. | This error will not happen with out servers. |
| 5.5.0 | Underlying SMTP 500 error. Our server tried ehlo, the recipient’s server did not understand and returned a 550 or 500 error. Set up SMTP logging. | This issue happens when our server tries to connect and deliver the mail to the recipient’s server. Try sending e-mail from different providers like gmail/yahoo. If you don’t get a similar bounce back then contact our support department with full headers. | Please have the sender resend you an e-mail from Gmail/Yahoo. If the issue does not come with Gmail/Yahoo, then the sender needs to contact his provider |
| 5.5.2 | Possibly the disk holding the operating system is full. Or could be a syntax error if you are executing SMTP from a telnet shell. | This error would not occur due Apps4Rent server. This is always by the receiving server. | This would never happened with our servers. |
| 5.5.3 | More than 100 recipients. Check the Global Settings, Message Delivery properties. | You can send to 100 recipients at a time. | Sender needs to contact his administrator and verify the limit. |
| 5.5.5 | Wrong protocol version. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server. | Not Applicable to Apps4Rent Server. |
| 5.6.3 | More than allowed number of attachments. | Please reduce the number of attachments and then try to send e-mail. You may want to zip the files. | The sender needs to contact his provider and verify the limits. |
| 5.7.1 | Permissions problem. For some reason the sender is not allowed to email this account. Perhaps an anonymous user is trying to send mail to a distribution list. | You are trying to send an e-mail to a distribution group outside your company/domain and the receiving group is not configured to receive e-mails from you. Contact the recipient company administrator and they can make the changes. The issue is not with our server/service | If a sender complaints to you that they are trying to send an e-mail to your distribution group/list and they are getting this bounce back, you need to login into your control panel, click on distribution group and uncheck the option “Receive e-mails from same domain/authorized senders” |
| 5.7.3 | Check external IP address of ISA server. Make sure it matches the SMTP publishing rule. | This error is from the server to which you are trying to send an e-mail. You need to contact the administrator of the server. | Not applicable for Apps4Rent servers. |
| 5.7.4 | Extra security features not supported. Check delivery server settings. | If you get this error, please contact support with full bounce back error message | Sender needs to contact his administrator and verify the settings. |
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