What do mailbox disabled bounces indicate about email deliverability and spam traps?

Email marketer from Email on Acid notes that a 'mailbox disabled' bounce typically indicates that the recipient's email account is no longer active. Continuing to send to these addresses signals to mailbox providers that you’re not maintaining your list, potentially hurting your sender reputation.

Email marketer from Mailjet's blog advises regularly cleaning email lists to remove invalid or inactive addresses. They emphasize that sending to 'mailbox disabled' addresses repeatedly not only wastes resources but also harms sender reputation and increases the likelihood of being flagged as spam.

Email marketer from GMass explains that after receiving soft bounces, including 'mailbox disabled' bounces, you should pause sending to those addresses temporarily. Repeatedly sending to addresses that soft bounce can lead to deliverability problems.

Email marketer from Neil Patel's blog shares that a high bounce rate negatively impacts sender reputation. Repeatedly sending to invalid email addresses, including those that result in 'mailbox disabled' bounces, signals to ISPs that your email practices are questionable, potentially leading to your emails being marked as spam or blocked.

Marketer from Email Geeks doesn’t think it’s likely a spam trap, and if it is, it’s not RFC-compliant, so likely isn’t being used by reputable blacklists.

Marketer from Email Geeks notes major mailbox providers return "mailbox disabled" for valid addresses, but they will largely become bad addresses. Brad warns repeated sending to these hurts sender reputation.

Email marketer from an Email Marketing Forum shares personal experience, stating that a 'mailbox disabled' bounce can sometimes indicate a temporary issue, like the user being on vacation. However, they strongly recommend removing such addresses from your list if the bounce persists after a few attempts to avoid damaging your sender reputation.

Email marketer from HubSpot highlights the need to maintain a clean email list for optimal deliverability. They advise segmenting and suppressing 'mailbox disabled' addresses to prevent future sends, improving sender reputation and ensuring higher email engagement rates.

Email marketer from Moosend stresses that high bounce rates, including 'mailbox disabled' bounces, are a major red flag for ISPs. They recommend regularly validating email lists and removing invalid addresses to protect sender reputation and improve email marketing performance.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains a “mailbox disabled” bounce is conceptually a soft bounce but often turns out to be a bad address. Zack suggests suppressing it until the next send, rather than retrying in the same send. Zack also adds most ESPs will give up and hard bounce after a few tries.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that using a list validation service helps identify and remove invalid email addresses, including those that are disabled. This reduces bounce rates and protects sender reputation. They emphasize that preventing 'mailbox disabled' bounces is crucial for maintaining good deliverability.

Marketer from Email Geeks agrees with Zack that it's probably not a spam trap. Brad says If the address shows as valid now, it's likely okay to mail it, but you should use other metrics with the list validation service data. Brad added if it is at a institutional domain there is a chance the mailbox was disabled for a time but now accepts mail as a catchall, but this is also not someone who is actively seeking your mail.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor's blog emphasizes the importance of practicing good email hygiene, including promptly removing bounced email addresses from your list. Repeatedly sending to 'mailbox disabled' addresses can lead to your email campaigns being flagged as spam, reducing overall engagement and hurting your sender reputation.

Email marketer from Litmus advocates for closely monitoring email marketing metrics, including bounce rates. They suggest that an increase in 'mailbox disabled' bounces indicates a potential issue with your list hygiene and warrants immediate action to prevent further damage to your sender reputation.

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains that a sudden increase in hard bounces, which can include 'mailbox disabled' errors after repeated attempts, indicates underlying problems with your email list, such as stale data or acquisition practices leading to invalid addresses. This increases your risk of being flagged as a spammer.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that properly handling bounces is critical for maintaining good deliverability. Treating 'mailbox disabled' bounces as indicators of potentially invalid addresses and removing them from your list promptly will improve your sender reputation and prevent being seen as a spammer.

Documentation from SparkPost explains the difference between hard and soft bounces. A 'mailbox disabled' bounce is generally considered a soft bounce, indicating a temporary issue. However, repeated soft bounces to the same address can be treated as a hard bounce, signaling a permanent problem with the address and negatively impacting deliverability.

Documentation from SendGrid explains that 'mailbox disabled' bounces can arise from various reasons, including the user's account being suspended, the mailbox being full, or the domain no longer existing. Continually sending to these addresses will hurt your sender reputation with ISPs.

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that a 5.1.10 NDR (Non-Delivery Report) in Exchange Online indicates that the recipient's email address doesn't exist. This can occur if the recipient's mailbox has been disabled or removed, or if there's a typo in the email address. Sending to such addresses repeatedly can negatively impact your sender reputation.

Documentation from RFC Editor notes Spam traps are set up to receive email at addresses that were once valid but are not valid anymore. Mailbox disabled bounces should be permanent after 6 months and these would count towards your spam score if still sent to.