What does the Gmail error '452 4.2.2 The email account that you tried to reach is over quota' mean, and how should I handle it?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue explains that implementing an automated bounce management system is crucial. It should differentiate between hard and soft bounces and handle each appropriately. Soft bounces, such as 'mailbox full', warrant temporary suppression, followed by re-engagement campaigns to see if the user has cleared up their mailbox.
Email marketer from GMass advises segmenting your email list to separate users who frequently trigger the 'over quota' error. Target these users less frequently or offer incentives to clean up their inboxes. They recommend cleaning your email list to maintain a positive sending reputation.
Email marketer from Litmus warns that while 'mailbox full' errors don't directly harm sender reputation, a high volume of them indicates poor list hygiene. They recommend a proactive approach to email list maintenance to reduce the recurrence of this error and maintain healthy deliverability rates.
Email marketer from Reddit user recommends implementing a feedback loop to manage bounces effectively. They state that persistent soft bounces should be treated with caution and monitored to avoid damaging your sender reputation. It's suggested that continuous soft bounces from the same email address warrant suppression.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow user suggests implementing a retry mechanism with exponential backoff. If the error persists after several retries over a period of time, the user should be unsubscribed. This ensures you're not repeatedly sending to an account that will never accept mail.
Email marketer from Mailjet recommends implementing a temporary suppression list for recipients who return this error. After a few days, retry sending to them. If the error persists, permanently suppress the address. This prevents continued sending to full mailboxes, which can negatively impact your sender reputation.
Email marketer from DigitalMarketer highlights that managing soft bounces, like the 'over quota' error, is an integral part of email list hygiene. They propose a system of tagging soft bounces and implementing a suppression rule after a predefined number of occurrences. This keeps the email list healthy and improves deliverability.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that this error falls under 'soft bounces' and recommends treating these differently than hard bounces. They suggest a suppression period for soft bounces with a retry later on. If it still fails after a few tries, it may be better to remove them from the list entirely.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spamresource.com explains that a soft bounce is a temporary issue, and a hard bounce is a permanent issue. Treat soft bounces as temporary failures, re-attempt delivery, and remove if delivery continues to fail. The 'over quota' error is considered a soft bounce.
Expert from Email Geeks explains the hard bounce is when Gmail thinks the user isn't coming back and isn't going to clean out their account. The soft bounce is when Google thinks they may come clean out their account. But, it really is exactly what it says on the label: the user has too much in their Google account and Google won't allow them to go over their quota. This kind of bounce doesn't affect reputation or anything, so if you have the capacity, you don't need to really do anything.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that bounce messages are status notifications of a delivery attempt. Soft bounces mean that the message wasn't delivered but the server will try again, whereas hard bounces mean that the server won't try again. You should try to identify what the problem is and remove the bad addresses from your list to avoid damaging your reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the soft bounce error means the recipient’s mailbox is full or they’ve hit their Google storage quota and has nothing to do with the sender's mail. Either the deferral will get escalated to a hard bounce, or the recipient will clean up some junk and it’ll start being delivered again. There is nothing the sender needs to do either way.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Exim Wiki describes the 4.2.2 error as a temporary failure indicating that the recipient's mailbox is full. The system will likely attempt to redeliver the message later. If the condition persists, it may eventually result in a permanent failure.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that a 4.2.2 NDR means the mailbox on the receiving side is full. The email server will try to deliver the message again for a while. If the user doesn't free up space, the message will eventually be returned as undeliverable (a hard bounce).
Documentation from RFC 3463 defines the 4.2.2 status code as 'Mailbox Full'. It indicates that the recipient's mailbox has exceeded its storage limit. The sender may attempt redelivery, but repeated failures indicate a permanent issue.
Documentation from Google Support explains that the '452 4.2.2' error specifically indicates that the recipient's Gmail account is over quota. The recipient needs to free up space in their account to receive new emails. The error is temporary, and the sending server will typically retry delivery.