550 5.7.1: rejected under a rate limit
Gmail rejected this message under a rate limit, and links the reply to its page on limits for sending and getting email.
- Gmail
- Provider
- Permanent (5xx)
- Class
- Sources checked
- Author
At a glance
- Code
- 550 5.7.1
- 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 5.7.1 This email has been rate limited.
What it means
Google pairs this short reply with its help page on limits for sending and getting email, so it concerns volume: Gmail applied a limit and refused the message instead of deferring it. The reply does not say whose limit it is, whether that of the sending account, the recipient or your servers' rate. If you send from a Gmail or Workspace account, check whether it is over its sending limits. If you send from your own servers, slow down, spread mail out and check Postmaster Tools.
Common causes
- A Gmail or Workspace account that has sent more than its limits allow.
- A burst of mail to Gmail from your servers.
- Many messages to the same recipient in a short time.
How to fix it
- 01Stop the send, and wait before trying again.
- 02Check Google's limits for sending and getting email for the type of account you use.
- 03Spread volume over time, and keep the number of connections to Gmail low.
- 04Check Postmaster Tools for reputation or spam-rate problems behind the limit.
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 5.4.5Daily sending limit reached.The Gmail or Workspace account sending this message has reached its daily sending limit, so Google is refusing further mail from it for now.
- 421 4.7.28Unusual rate of mail.Gmail saw an unusual rate of mail from you and has temporarily rate limited it, to protect its users from possible spam.
- 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.
- 5.7.1Delivery not authorised.The receiving server refuses the message because this sender is not allowed to send to this recipient, as a result of filtering by host or by recipient.
5.7.1 at other providers
- 550 5.7.1Not authorized to send to this recipient.You do not have permission to send to this recipient, typically a group restricted to certain senders or a recipient protected by a mail flow rule.
- 550 5.7.1Public folder does not accept external mail.An external sender wrote to a mail-enabled public folder in Microsoft 365, which by default accepts mail only from authenticated senders.
- 550 5.7.1Sending IP blocked by Proofpoint Dynamic Reputation.Proofpoint’s IP reputation system has your sending IP on its block list because it has seen spam or viruses from it, so Proofpoint customers refuse your mail.
- 550 5.7.1SPF check failed.The recipient’s Cisco Secure Email gateway checked SPF, found your server not authorised for the sender domain, and its policy rejects that result.
- 550 5.7.1Rejected under your domain’s DMARC policy.Your message failed DMARC, your domain’s DMARC record asks receivers to reject such mail, and the recipient’s Cisco gateway did so.
- 550 5.7.1DMARC verification failed permanently.The Cisco gateway hit a permanent failure while verifying DMARC for your message, and the recipient’s policy rejects such mail. Cisco does not say what produces that failure.
Further reading
All 108 Gmail codesEvery code in the wikiPaste your own bounce