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Bounce codes › Gmail

550 5.2.1: The email account that you tried to reach is inactive

The Google account exists, but it is switched off and takes no mail. Unlike a full mailbox, this does not clear up by waiting: someone has to switch the account back on.

Fix your list Mailbox is disabled

The Google account is disabled or inactive.

  • Sent by: Gmail / Google Workspace
  • Permanent (hard bounce). Sending the same message again fails again.

How Gmail words it (source):

The email account that you tried to reach is inactive.

Why it happens

  • A Google Workspace administrator suspended the user, often when someone leaves a company.
  • Google disabled the account.
  • The account was abandoned for a long time.

What to do

  1. Remove the address from your list.
  2. If you need the person, find a current address another way.

Don't confuse it with

Gmail uses 550 5.2.1 with other words too: "receiving email at a rate that prevents additional messages" means the mailbox is busy, not gone. Read the words.

Questions

Could it come back?

A suspended Workspace user can be restored by the company. Until you hear that, treat the address as dead.

Hard or soft bounce?

Hard.

Got a different bounce?

Paste the whole message into the bounce code lookup. It reads the code and the words and tells you whose move it is.

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