What are the reasons behind Email Bounces – Soft and Hard Bounce?

Email addresses to which email campaigns fail to deliver are marked as bounces. These email bounces are classified into two categories, soft bounces & hard bounces. Common reasons for bounced emails could be a recipient’s server is temporarily unavailable, the email content was rejected, too many emails were being sent to the inbox, or the email address does not exist.

Hard-bounced emails are email addresses that reject email delivery due to permanent failure; one reason could be the recipient’s email address is invalid.

The following are some code examples given for hard bounces:

Mailbox not found

Mailbox no longer active

Unknown user

Incorrect domain

In some cases, an email is marked as a hard bounce due to spam filters.

Soft bounces are email addresses that reject email delivery due to short-term issues with the recipient’s inbox. Soft-bounced emails will remain as active contacts in your list. Emails sent to these addresses may experience temporary delivery delays or may permanently bounce.

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