A guide to SMTP errors (reference)
You may encounter the following error messages when using G Suite email services. These messages are helpful tools for diagnosing and troubleshooting email problems.
Gmail appends one or both of the following identifiers to all error messages to show you the source of the error:
- gsmtp (Google SMTP) is added to all errors.
- gcdp (G Suite Custom Domain Policies) is added to errors resulting from customized rules created by the G Suite administrator.
For example, "550 5.7.1 This message violates example.com email policy. - gcdp <sessionid> - gsmtp" indicates that the error is a result of a custom rule created by the G Suite administrator.
See About SMTP error messages for more information.
SMTP error messages
| 421, "4.4.5", Server busy, try again later. |
| 421, "4.7.0", IP not in whitelist for RCPT domain, closing connection. |
| 421, "4.7.0", Our system has detected an unusual rate of unsolicited mail originating from your IP address. To protect our users from spam, mail sent from your IP address has been temporarily blocked. Review our Bulk Senders Guidelines. |
| 421, "4.7.0", Temporary System Problem. Try again later. |
| 421, "4.7.0", TLS required for RCPT domain, closing connection. |
| 421, "4.7.0", Try again later, closing connection. This usually indicates a Denial of Service (DoS) for the SMTP relay at the HELO stage. |
| 450, "4.2.1" The user you are trying to contact is receiving mail too quickly. Please resend your message at a later time. If the user is able to receive mail at that time, your message will be delivered. For more information, review this article. |
| 450, "4.2.1", The user you are trying to contact is receiving mail at a rate that prevents additional messages from being delivered. Please resend your message at a later time. If the user is able to receive mail at that time, your message will be delivered. For more information, review this article. |
| 450, "4.2.1", Peak SMTP relay limit exceeded for customer. This is a temporary error. For more information on SMTP relay limits, please contact your administrator or review this article. |
| 451, "4.3.0", Mail server temporarily rejected message. |
| 451, "4.3.0", Multiple destination domains per transaction is unsupported. Please try again. |
| 451, "4.4.2", Timeout - closing connection. |
| 451, "4.5.0", SMTP protocol violation, see RFC 2821. |
| 452, "4.2.2", The email account that you tried to reach is over quota. Please direct the recipient to this article. |
| 452, "4.5.3", Domain policy size per transaction exceeded, please try this recipient in a separate transaction. |
| 452, "4.5.3", Your message has too many recipients. For more information regarding Google's sending limits, review this article. |
| 454, "4.5.0", SMTP protocol violation, no commands allowed to pipeline after STARTTLS, see RFC 3207. |
| 454, "4.7.0", Cannot authenticate due to temporary system problem. Try again later. |
| 454, "5.5.1", STARTTLS may not be repeated. |
| 501, "5.5.2", Cannot Decode response. |
| 501, "5.5.4", HELO/EHLO argument is invalid, please review this article. |
| 502, "5.5.1", Too many unrecognized commands, goodbye. |
| 502, "5.5.1", Unimplemented command. |
| 502, "5.5.1", Unrecognized command. |
| 503, "5.5.1", "EHLO/HELO first. |
| 503, "5.5.1", MAIL first. |
| 503, "5.5.1", RCPT first. |
| 503, "5.7.0", No identity changes permitted. |
| 504, "5.7.4", Unrecognized Authentication Type. |
| 530, "5.5.1", Authentication Required. Learn more here. |
| 530, "5.7.0", Must issue a STARTTLS command first. |
| 535, "5.5.4", Optional Argument not permitted for that AUTH mode. |
| 535, "5.7.1", Application-specific password required. Learn more here. |
| 535, "5.7.1", Please log in with your web browser and then try again. Learn more here. |
| 535, "5.7.1", Username and Password not accepted. Learn more here. |
| 550, "5.1.1", The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try double-checking the recipient's email address for typos or unnecessary spaces. For more information, review this article. |
| 550, "5.2.1", The email account that you tried to reach is disabled. |
| 550, "5.2.1", The user you are trying to contact is receiving mail at a rate that prevents additional messages from being delivered. For more information, review this article. |
| 550, "5.4.5", Daily sending quota exceeded. Learn more here. |
| 550, "5.4.5", Daily SMTP relay limit exceeded for user. For more information on SMTP relay sending limits please contact your administrator or review this article. |
| 550, "5.7.0", Mail relay denied. |
| 550, "5.7.0", Mail Sending denied. This error occurs if the sender account is disabled or not registered within your G Suite domain. |
| 550, "5.7.1", Email quota exceeded. |
| 550, "5.7.1", Invalid credentials for relay. |
| 550, "5.7.1", Our system has detected an unusual rate of unsolicited mail originating from your IP address. To protect our users from spam, mail sent from your IP address has been blocked. Review our Bulk Senders Guidelines. |
| 550, "5.7.1", Our system has detected that this message is likely unsolicited mail. To reduce the amount of spam sent to Gmail, this message has been blocked. For more information, review this article. |
| 550, "5.7.1", The IP you're using to send mail is not authorized to send email directly to our servers. Please use the SMTP relay at your service provider instead. For more information, review this article. |
| 550, "5.7.1", The user or domain that you are sending to (or from) has a policy that prohibited the mail that you sent. Please contact your domain administrator for further details. For more information, review this article. |
| 550, "5.7.1", Unauthenticated email is not accepted from this domain. |
| 550, "5.7.1", Daily SMTP relay limit exceeded for customer. For more information on SMTP relay sending limits please contact your administrator or review this article. |
| 552, "5.2.2", The email account that you tried to reach is over quota. |
| 552, "5.2.3", Your message exceeded Google's message size limits. Please review our size guidelines. |
| 553, "5.1.2", We weren't able to find the recipient domain. Please check for any spelling errors, and make sure you didn't enter any spaces, periods, or other punctuation after the recipient's email address. |
| 554, "5.6.0", Mail message is malformed. Not accepted. |
| 554, "5.6.0", Message exceeded 50 hops, this may indicate a mail loop. |
| 554, "5.7.0", Too Many Unauthenticated commands. |
| 555, "5.5.2", Syntax error. |