{"id":531,"date":"2023-07-04T11:22:57","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T08:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snov.io\/knowledgebase\/?p=531"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:00:44","slug":"what-are-hard-and-soft-email-bounces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snov.io\/knowledgebase\/what-are-hard-and-soft-email-bounces\/","title":{"rendered":"How to fix and prevent bounced emails"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article explains hard and soft bounces, common delivery errors in cold email automation<\/a>, why they occur, and how to fix them.<\/p>\n

Bounces are email delivery errors that occur when emails fail to reach their intended recipients and are returned to your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email bounce types --><\/a><\/p>\n

Prevent bounced emails --><\/a><\/p>\n

Before we start, here are brief steps on how to identify bounces:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

a)<\/b> Send a test email from your primary email address (which sends campaigns) with your usual email content to your other email address.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you receive a bounce-back message in your inbox, open the delivery error report and review the information.<\/span><\/p>\n

b)<\/b> Check your inbox for undeliverable emails. These emails typically have subject lines such as \"Mail Delivery Subsystem\"<\/strong> or \"Your message couldn't be delivered.\"<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Examine the bounce reports for any recurring patterns or errors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bounce reports from email providers help determine the specific reason why the email could not be delivered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moving forward, we will outline the most common bounce examples to help you fix and avoid them in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bounce types<\/b><\/h2>\n

There are two main categories of delivery errors: <\/span>hard bounces<\/b> and <\/span>soft bounces<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hard bounces<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A hard bounce is a permanent delivery error. Any future attempts to send emails to that email address will most likely fail again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1) Address not found<\/b><\/p>\n

This delivery happens when the recipient\u2019s email address is invalid or the email account was deactivated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to fix:<\/b> The email address couldn\u2019t be found because of a typo or the email address does not exist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0421lean your recipients list<\/a> to clean it from invalid or outdated emails.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2) Message blocked<\/b><\/p>\n

This bounce occurs when the recipient\u2019s email server rejects incoming emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

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