Skip to content
MailVitals Email deliverability
Sign inEarly access
IONOS (1&1) · permanent error

552: recipient 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.

IONOS
Provider
Permanent (5xx)
Class
Sources checked
By , email deliverability consultant
Author

At a glance

Code
552
Provider
IONOS (1&1)
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 Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation, quota exceeded

What it means

This 552 means the mailbox you wrote to is full. IONOS gives no other reason for it and no action for the sender beyond contacting the recipient by other means to point it out. Once they delete mail or add storage, new messages are accepted again. Because the reply is a 5xx, your copy usually comes back to you and has to be sent again later. A mailbox that stays full for weeks is often one nobody reads any more.

Common causes

  • The recipient has used up the storage of their IONOS mailbox.
  • The mailbox is no longer read, so nothing is deleted.

How to fix it

  1. 01Tell the recipient by phone or another address that their mailbox is full.
  2. 02Send the message again once they have freed space.
  3. 03If the address stays full for weeks, remove it from your 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. 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.GMX, WEB.DEPermanent
  2. 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
  2. 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

All 17 IONOS codesEvery code in the wikiPaste your own bounce

Beat · paid monitoring

A heartbeat for your email.

Beat runs every check on this site on a schedule: 41 checks, 33 blacklists and real inbox placement. The moment something breaks, it tells you what broke, why it matters, and the exact fix.

Get early access to BeatSee what Beat watches
example.comWatching
  • SPFpass
  • DKIMpass
  • DMARCp=none
  • Blacklists0 of 33

Illustrative. Your domain, every few hours.

Also from us:Pulse: your own sending infrastructureConsulting: $65/hr, no retainer