What does 'recipient address rejected: access denied' mean in an email bounce message?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Web Hosting Talk forum suggests the 'recipient address rejected' error often stems from spam filtering or security measures on the receiving server. They recommend ensuring your sending IP and domain have a good reputation.
Email marketer from Quora suggests that the most common reason is that the recipient's email address is simply incorrect or no longer exists. It's a general error and could also mean sender reputation issues.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that a common cause of the 'recipient address rejected: access denied' is when an email is sent to a user who no longer works at a company. The user's email may not be active anymore, causing the server to reject the email.
Email marketer from Mailjet details that the "recipient address rejected: access denied" error suggests the receiving mail server is denying the message. Reasons can include the address not existing, the domain having email restrictions, or sender IP reputation issues.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that 'recipient address rejected: access denied' could mean the recipient doesn't exist or the sending IP is blocked. Suggests testing with a different IP to confirm if it's an IP block.
Email marketer from SMTP2GO notes that the Recipient Address Rejected bounce code suggests the email address could be mistyped, suspended due to inactivity, or the recipient's server is experiencing technical issues.
Email marketer from SendGrid's support notes that recipient address rejected bounces are often related to the recipient's server blocking the message. The rejection could be due to spam filters, sender reputation, or the recipient address being invalid.
Email marketer from SparkPost explains that this bounce indicates the recipient's server is actively refusing your message. This could be due to a non-existent user, or because your sending IP or domain is on a blocklist.
Email marketer from StackOverflow user shares that the error often means the email address doesn't exist or there is a problem with the recipient's mail server configuration. Suggests verifying the email address and contacting the recipient through other means to confirm.
Email marketer from SocketLabs states a likely scenario is the recipient's address is invalid. However, it could also mean the recipient's mail server's security policy blocks the email due to spam concerns.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks states that the error message 'Recipient address rejected: Access denied' typically indicates that the recipient's email address does not exist.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the 'no route to host' error from Microsoft MX indicates an inability to reach a necessary server to validate the email address, possibly due to internal MX issues, a discontinued domain, or DNS caching problems. The expert clarifies it's likely not spam or reputation-related but a networking problem.
Expert from Email Geeks confirms that 'Recipient address rejected' means the user doesn't exist, especially when the rejection message comes directly from the receiving server (rather than an ESP's interpretation).
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a 'recipient address rejected' error usually signifies that the recipient's mail server is refusing to accept the email for reasons like the address not existing, mailbox being full, or the sender being blocked.
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that if other addresses at the domain are delivering but only one address bounces, it likely means the address is dead or non-existent.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Docs explains that a 'recipient address rejected: access denied' error often indicates that the recipient's email address does not exist or is invalid. The mail server is refusing to deliver the message to that specific address.
Documentation from cPanel shares that a 'recipient address rejected: access denied' bounce means the remote server actively refused to accept the email for the intended recipient. The address could be invalid, or the server may have policies in place to block the sender.
Documentation from RFC Editor details the meaning of SMTP enhanced status codes, indicating that a 5.x.x error (like the one associated with 'recipient address rejected') signifies a permanent failure. Access Denied means the server policy or configuration forbids delivery to that recipient.