GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com · permanent error
552: message too large
The message is larger than the recipient mailbox or the GMX server accepts, so it was refused. Make it smaller and send it again.
- GMX, WEB.DE
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- Permanent (5xx)
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At a glance
- Code
- 552
- Provider
- GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com
- 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
552 Mail size limit exceeded
What it means
GMX applies size limits both per mailbox and per server. Cases r1501 and r1502 mean the message is bigger than the recipient mailbox accepts; case r1504 means it is bigger than the server accepts. The case pages do not state the limits. Remember that attachments grow by roughly a third when encoded for email, so a file under a limit on disk can be over it in transit. Once the message no longer exceeds the limit, GMX delivers it.
Common causes
- Large attachments, or many of them in one message.
- Images embedded at full resolution.
- A long thread with earlier attachments quoted in the reply.
How to fix it
- 01Remove or compress attachments and send again.
- 02Share large files through a download link instead of attaching them.
- 03Split the content across several messages if a link is not possible.
Sources
What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.
- GMX Postmaster case r1501: 552 Mail size limit exceededpostmaster.gmx.net
- GMX Postmaster case r1502: 552 Mail size limit exceededpostmaster.gmx.net
- GMX Postmaster case r1504: 552 Mail size limit exceededpostmaster.gmx.net
Related codes
- 552Recipient mailbox is full.The recipient's GMX mailbox has no room left, either in storage or in the number of emails it may hold, so the message was refused.
- 552Storage allocation exceeded.The receiving server aborted the message because it exceeded a storage limit, usually a full mailbox or a message larger than allowed.
552 at other providers
- 552Message too large.The message is larger than Xfinity accepts. Xfinity takes messages of 15 MB or smaller, so reduce the size and send it again.
- 552Recipient mailbox is full.The recipient's IONOS mailbox has no free space left, so the message could not be delivered. Only the recipient can free space.
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