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GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com · permanent error

552: recipient 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.

GMX, WEB.DE
Provider
Permanent (5xx)
Class
Sources checked
By , email deliverability consultant
Author

At a glance

Code
552
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 recipient's side. Their mail admin has to change something; you can tell them.
What the server says
552 Quota exceeded

What it means

Case r1503 means the recipient's mailbox is full. GMX counts two limits: the storage space, and the maximum number of emails a mailbox may hold, and either can be reached. Only the owner can fix it, by deleting mail or freeing space. As soon as the mailbox has room again, new mail is delivered. The reply starts with 5, so the message usually comes back and has to be sent again once the recipient has made space.

Common causes

  • The mailbox reached its storage limit.
  • The mailbox reached the maximum number of stored emails.
  • The owner no longer reads the mailbox, so it is not being emptied.

How to fix it

  1. 01Tell the recipient by other means that their mailbox is full.
  2. 02Resend the message after they have freed space.
  3. 03If the same address stays full over weeks, treat it as abandoned and remove it from mailing lists.

Sources

What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.

  1. 552Message 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.DEPermanent
  2. 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.IONOSPermanent
  3. 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.StandardPermanent

552 at other providers

  1. 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.ComcastPermanent

All 57 GMX, WEB.DE codesEvery code in the wikiPaste your own bounce

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