550 5.1.1: recipient address does not exist
There is no Gmail or Google Workspace account at the address you wrote to, so Gmail rejected the message permanently.
- Gmail
- Provider
- Permanent (5xx)
- Class
- Sources checked
- Author
At a glance
- Code
- 550 5.1.1
- Provider
- Gmail and Google Workspace
- Temporary or permanent
- PermanentRefused for good: the message comes back to the sender, and resending it gets the same answer.
- Who has to act
- The sender. The fix is on the sending side: your domain, your server or your list.
- What the server says
550 5.1.1 The email account that you tried to reach does not exist.
What it means
Gmail looked up the address and found no account. The address may be mistyped, the account may have been deleted, or a Workspace domain may have no user or alias by that name. It is a permanent failure: retrying the same address will not work. Repeated sends to addresses that do not exist also hurt your standing with Gmail, since a high share of unknown users is a classic sign of a poorly kept list. Google's reply asks you to double-check the address for typos or unnecessary spaces.
Common causes
- A typo in the address, such as a missing letter or an extra space.
- An account that was deleted or never existed.
- A Workspace user who left the organization and whose address was removed.
- An old or purchased list with addresses that are no longer valid.
How to fix it
- 01Check the address for typos and spaces, and confirm it with the recipient another way.
- 02Remove the address from your lists so you do not send to it again.
- 03If many addresses on a list fail like this, stop and clean the list before sending more.
- 04For a Workspace domain, the recipient's admin can confirm whether the user or an alias exists.
Sources
What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.
- Gmail SMTP errors and codes (Google Workspace Admin Help)knowledge.workspace.google.com
Related codes
- 550 5.2.1Recipient account is inactive.The Gmail account you wrote to is disabled or inactive, so it cannot receive mail, and Gmail rejected your message permanently.
- 550Mailbox unavailable.The receiving server permanently refused the message for this recipient: the mailbox does not exist, cannot be reached, or the server rejected the message by policy.
- 5.1.1Mailbox does not exist.The recipient's domain accepts mail, but the mailbox named before the @ does not exist there, so the message was refused and will not be delivered.
5.1.1 at other providers
- 550 5.1.1Recipient address not found.The address does not exist in the destination system, is mistyped, or is cached in Outlook with details that are no longer valid.
- 550 5.1.1Recipient address does not exist.Fastmail could find no user with the address you wrote to. Check the spelling; if it is right, the account may be inactive or closed.
Further reading
All 108 Gmail codesEvery code in the wikiPaste your own bounce