What causes full mailbox bounces and what is the recovery rate?

Summary

A 'mailbox full' bounce occurs when a recipient exceeds their storage quota, often due to shared storage models like Gmail. These are soft bounces, meaning the email address remains valid, and future delivery attempts may succeed. Research suggests that around 20% of mailboxes generating this bounce engage with another email within a week, with over 50% becoming active again within a few months. While retrying is acceptable, persistently sending to full mailboxes can harm sender reputation. Effective management includes using feedback loops (FBLs) instead of solely relying on bounce messages, careful handling of suppressed addresses, and implementing a system to remove addresses after multiple soft bounces.

Key findings

  • Cause: Recipients exceeding storage quota.
  • Soft Bounce: Classified as a soft bounce; email address remains valid.
  • Engagement: About 20% engage with other emails within a week.
  • Recovery: Over 50% become active again within a few months.
  • Risk: Persistently sending harms sender reputation.
  • Gmail specific: Gmail shared storage can trigger full mailboxes

Key considerations

  • Retry: Consider a cooldown period before retrying.
  • FBLs: Utilize Feedback Loops (FBLs) for bounce management.
  • Suppression: Manage suppressed addresses carefully.
  • Removal: Remove addresses after multiple soft bounces.
  • Proactive Processing: Implement proper bounce processing.
  • Storage: Storage quotas prevent excessive database growth.

What email marketers say
9Marketer opinions

A 'mailbox full' bounce is categorized as a soft bounce, meaning the recipient's mailbox has exceeded its storage limit, but the email address remains valid. While future delivery attempts may succeed, repeatedly sending to full mailboxes can negatively impact sender reputation. Data indicates that roughly 20% of mailboxes that trigger this bounce engage with other emails within a week. It is recommended to wait a week before retrying and to implement a system to manage bouncebacks, including removing addresses after multiple soft bounces to avoid deliverability issues.

Key opinions

  • Soft Bounce: 'Mailbox full' is a soft bounce indicating the recipient's inbox is over capacity.
  • Temporary Issue: It's a temporary issue, and future delivery attempts might succeed.
  • Engagement Rate: Around 20% of mailboxes that bounce due to being full engage with emails within a week.
  • Sender Reputation: Repeatedly sending to full inboxes can negatively impact sender reputation.

Key considerations

  • Retry Strategy: Consider waiting a week before retrying after a 'mailbox full' bounce.
  • Bounce Management: Implement a system to manage bouncebacks and remove addresses after multiple soft bounces.
  • List Hygiene: Maintain a clean email list to improve deliverability and sender reputation.
  • Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates to maintain a healthy sender reputation.
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot says that to improve email deliverability, it's important to clean up your email list by removing invalid or inactive addresses. While 'mailbox full' is a soft bounce, continuously sending to these addresses can hurt your sender reputation.

September 2023 - HubSpot
Marketer view

Email marketer from WebHostingTalk Forum explains that handling bouncebacks is important. While 'mailbox full' is temporary, persistently sending to these addresses can get you blacklisted. They recommend implementing a system to automatically remove addresses after a certain number of soft bounces.

September 2023 - WebHostingTalk Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that a 'mailbox full' bounce is a soft bounce indicating the recipient's mailbox has exceeded its storage limit. This doesn't necessarily mean the email address is invalid, and delivery may succeed later.

March 2023 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares that mailbox full is a common soft bounce reason, meaning the recipient's inbox is at capacity. This is a temporary issue, and future sending attempts might succeed. Monitor bounce rates to maintain a healthy sender reputation.

June 2024 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid describes 'Mailbox full' as a soft bounce. This indicates the recipient’s inbox is over its storage quota, and while future delivery is possible, continuously sending to a full inbox can hurt your sender reputation.

July 2023 - Email on Acid
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares bounce research indicating that almost 20% of mailboxes that trigger a "mailbox full" bounce engage with another email within a week.

March 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue answers that a 'mailbox full' error indicates a soft bounce, meaning the recipient's inbox is over capacity and can't accept new emails. It's a temporary issue, and future delivery attempts might succeed.

August 2022 - Sendinblue
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares a personal experience, recommending that after a 'mailbox full' bounce, it's best to wait a week before trying again. They've found that many users clean up their inboxes within that timeframe.

September 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign details that 'mailbox full' errors are soft bounces. These occur when a recipient’s inbox has reached its limit. Future delivery attempts are possible, but it can negatively impact your sender reputation if you repeatedly send to full inboxes.

October 2023 - ActiveCampaign

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Full mailbox bounces are often caused by users exceeding their storage limits, especially on platforms like Gmail where storage is shared across multiple services. These bounces are not permanent failures; resending emails after a cooldown period can be effective, with a significant portion of mailboxes becoming active again within a few months. Proper bounce processing is crucial, and using feedback loops (FBLs) is recommended over relying solely on bounce messages. Careful management of suppressed addresses is also important to avoid harming sender reputation and increasing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.

Key opinions

  • Gmail Storage: Gmail's shared storage model contributes to frequent quota limits.
  • Temporary Failure: Mailbox full bounces are not permanent failures.
  • Recovery Rate: Over 50% of full mailboxes become active again within a few months.
  • Bounce Processing: Proper bounce processing is crucial for deliverability.
  • FBLs: Feedback Loops (FBLs) are superior to bounce messages for issue identification.
  • Suppressed Addresses: Careful suppression management prevents spam folder placement.

Key considerations

  • Cooldown Period: Implement a cooldown period before resending to bouncing addresses.
  • Feedback Loops: Utilize Feedback Loops (FBLs) to manage deliverability.
  • Sender Reputation: Prioritize sender reputation through strategic suppression management.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that Gmail shares storage with photos and other files, which means accounts can reach their quota limit and be cleaned up more frequently than expected for a standard email account.

May 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that a mailbox full bounce is not a permanent failure, and resending emails after a short cooldown period is a viable strategy, with data suggesting that over 50% of such mailboxes become active again within a few months.

October 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise suggests managing suppressed addresses carefully. While 'mailbox full' is a soft bounce and not a permanent block, continually sending to addresses that bounce can harm sender reputation, ultimately increasing the likelihood of emails being sent to the spam folder. Suppressed addresses should be handled strategically to avoid deliverability issues.

February 2024 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of proper bounce processing and recommends implementing feedback loops (FBLs) as a better alternative to relying solely on bounce messages for managing delivery issues. This approach helps in identifying and addressing deliverability problems more effectively.

September 2023 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Documentation from various sources indicates that 'mailbox full' bounces are caused by recipients exceeding their allocated mailbox quota, often implemented to prevent database growth. These bounces are classified as soft or transient failures, meaning the email address is still valid, and future delivery attempts are acceptable after a period of time.

Key findings

  • Quota Limits: Mailbox quotas in systems like Exchange Server trigger 'mailbox full' bounces.
  • Database Growth: Quotas prevent excessive database growth.
  • Soft Bounce: 'Mailbox full' is classified as a soft or transient bounce.
  • Retry Acceptable: Retrying delivery after some time is acceptable.
  • Valid Address: The email address remains valid, but the mailbox needs to free up space.

Key considerations

  • Retry Strategy: Consider a retry strategy to attempt delivery at a later time.
  • Delivery Attempts: Future delivery attempts may succeed once space is available.
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost shares that 'mailbox full' is considered a soft bounce because the email address is valid and accepting mail, but the recipient needs to free up space. Messages to full mailboxes can be retried.

October 2023 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that Exchange Server quotas limit mailbox size to prevent excessive database growth. When a user exceeds their quota, the server rejects new messages, resulting in a bounce back to the sender, commonly a 'mailbox full' error.

February 2025 - Microsoft Learn
Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor (Request for Comments) explains 'mailbox full' as a transient failure. Retrying delivery after some time is acceptable.

June 2023 - RFC Editor
Technical article

Documentation from Amazon Web Services explains that a 'mailbox full' bounce in Amazon SES is classified as a soft bounce. This is a temporary delivery issue, and retries may be attempted.

January 2025 - Amazon Web Services