Why is my IP address blocked by Hotmail and how do I resolve it?

Email marketer from Litmus recommends Regularly cleaning and verifying your email lists can help remove invalid or inactive addresses, reducing bounce rates and the risk of being blocked by Hotmail.

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that an SNDS reporting a 1% complaint rate would likely indicate permission issues.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that common reasons for Hotmail blocking include sending unsolicited emails, having poor list hygiene, and triggering spam traps. It's important to ensure subscribers have opted in and that you regularly clean your list.

Email marketer from Email Deliverability Blog explains that high complaint rates are a primary reason for Hotmail blocking IP addresses. Aim for a complaint rate below 0.1% to avoid deliverability issues.

Email marketer from EmailGeek shares that implementing email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for improving deliverability and preventing Hotmail from blocking your IP address.

Email marketer from Gmass shares The more emails that make it to the spam folder, the more difficult it is to climb out. The key to success is improving engagement rates, and decreasing unsubscribe/spam rates.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum recommends warming up new IP addresses slowly to establish a positive sending reputation with Hotmail. Start with low volumes and gradually increase over time.

Email marketer from Mailjet recommends segmenting your email lists based on engagement to improve deliverability. Sending to highly engaged subscribers can boost your reputation and reduce the risk of being blocked by Hotmail.

Email marketer from Email on Acid answers that Poorly formatted emails or content that triggers spam filters are more likely to be blocked. Ensure your emails are well-designed, accessible, and free of spam triggers.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that consistently low engagement rates, high complaint rates, and sending to inactive or invalid addresses lead to poor sender reputation, which results in blocking by ISPs like Hotmail/Outlook. Focus on permission practices, list hygiene, and content relevance to improve engagement.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that Hotmail blocks IPs because they think the IPs are sending too much mail that their users don’t want. Thus, the sender should ensure they have permission to send mail and that users are interacting with it.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that Identifying the root cause of blocklisting is crucial. Investigate complaint feedback loops, analyze bounce codes, and review email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to identify issues like spam traps, compromised accounts, or authentication failures.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that a block is often an escalation from mail going to the bulk folder for a long period. It's important to look at mails that have no activity. ISPs will drop mail into the bulk folder, and if the sender continues sending without changes, the ISP will block it.

Expert from Email Geeks answers that resolving the block requires stopping sending to Hotmail, requesting the block be lifted after a while, and then slowly starting sending again.

Expert from Email Geeks responds if the mail is getting through when blocked, the answer is no, it's 100% blocked.

Documentation from Microsoft Support shares that to resolve an IP block, senders should identify the cause of the block (e.g., high complaint rates), fix the issue (e.g., improve list hygiene), and then submit a delisting request through Microsoft's delisting portal.

Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that senders can use the Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) program to monitor the health and reputation of their sending IP addresses. High complaint rates and spam trap hits are strong indicators of deliverability issues and potential blocking.

Documentation from SparkPost explains that sender reputation is critical to email deliverability. Maintaining a good reputation with mailbox providers like Hotmail requires consistent sending practices and engaging content.

Documentation from RFC explains that SPF records can prevent spammers from sending messages with forged From addresses at your domain, protecting recipients from spam and helping improve deliverability.

Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that Hotmail blocks IP addresses that exhibit suspicious activity, such as sending unsolicited emails, spam, or participating in malicious activities. Factors include complaint rates, spam trap hits, and overall email volume.

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that setting up a DMARC policy tells receiving mail servers what to do with messages that fail SPF and DKIM checks, preventing spoofing and phishing attacks and improving email deliverability.