How long does it take for email addresses to deactivate and hard bounce due to inactivity?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from MailerLite Blog recommends regularly cleaning your email list by removing subscribers who haven't opened or clicked an email in the last 3-6 months. This helps maintain a healthy sender reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares experience of Gmail accounts expiring and hard bouncing, suggesting activity (incoming and outgoing) might be a factor.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that mailbox providers are increasingly using engagement as a primary factor in inbox placement decisions. Users who haven't opened or clicked in a certain period may be considered 'hibernating' and their emails may be directed to spam or graymail folders.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog suggests segmenting your email list and targeting subscribers who haven't engaged in the past 90 days with a re-engagement campaign. If they still don't respond, remove them from your active list.
Email marketer from Email Geeks reminds to remember that some addresses will hard bounce temporarily before potentially becoming traps or accepting mail normally again.
Email marketer from StackExchange recommends that a regular check of bounce rates is crucial to see how many emails are bouncing - if the rate is high then it is likely that inactive emails are affecting this and causing issues with sending reputation.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that generally, if an email address hasn't been active in 12 months it can either turn into a spam trap or a hard bounce. Therefore cleaning your list is important.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor recommends identifying and removing unengaged subscribers (those who haven't opened or clicked in the last 6-12 months) to improve email deliverability and engagement rates.
Email marketer from EmailOctopus Blog advises that a good practice is to remove subscribers who haven't engaged (opened or clicked) in the past 6-12 months. They indicate that these inactive subscribers can hurt deliverability.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that an old account untouched for years is still forwarding mail, but is unsure if forwarding is a factor.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that when email addresses are recycled, they may become spam traps. The time it takes for an address to be recycled varies greatly depending on the mailbox provider and their policies.
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasises the importance of engagement data in the email ecosystem. Inactive users negatively impact engagement metrics which will lead to deliverability issues. Mailbox providers are looking at engagement to determine if the user wants the email or not.
Expert from Email Geeks states that most places are not turning addresses into traps anymore because the data is too noisy for ISPs to use. However, abandoned addresses at Yahoo could be grabbed by someone else and start redelivering.
Expert from Email Geeks shares a test with a Gmail address not logged into for at least 5 years still delivering, and notes that it was last checked in 2014. She also mentions people can actively close their Gmail accounts, which may lead to a hard bounce.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Yahoo Help explains that accounts inactive for 12 months may be purged. They suggest logging in at least once every 12 months to keep the account active and avoid deletion.
Documentation from Google Support explains that if you don't use your Gmail account for more than 2 years (24 months), Google may delete it and its contents. They also note to check Google Photos and Google Drive as these are separate and have their own inactivity policy
Documentation from SparkPost explains that ISPs monitor subscriber engagement metrics. Low engagement from certain emails means these will either be put into the junk folder or result in a hard bounce after a certain period.
Documentation from Microsoft Support explains you must sign in to your Microsoft account at least once in a two-year period to keep your account active. If you don’t sign in during this time, Microsoft reserves the right to close your account immediately, with all data erased.