5.7.504 Microsoft bounce: recipient address rejected

What 5.7.504 means

The recipient address you used is not valid for delivery, so the message was refused.

Message text

[recipient]: Recipient address rejected: Access denied

Common causes of 5.7.504

• Recipient address is mistyped or not a valid address in the recipient organisation

How to fix 5.7.504

1. Check the recipient address for typos and send again.
2. Confirm the address with the recipient through another channel.

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How to read 5.7.504

The second part, 5.7.504, is an enhanced status code (RFC 3463 §2) written class.subject.detail. Class 5 is a Permanent failure (5xx): the command was rejected and the sender should not repeat it unchanged (RFC 5321 §4.2.1; RFC 3463 §2).. Subject 7 is security or policy: authentication, authorization or policy refused the message. The detail number refines the subject, and providers may define details of their own, which is why one code can read differently at Gmail, Microsoft and Yahoo.

Do not keep resending the same message: a permanent failure repeats until the cause is fixed. Correct the cause, then send a new message.

Official source: learn.microsoft.com. Last verified 2026-10-20.

Related guides

• How to create an SPF record (syntax and examples)
• How DKIM works and how to publish a DKIM record
• How to set up a DMARC record, from p=none to p=reject

Related codes

• 5.7.0 SMTP: security status
• 5.7.1 SMTP: delivery not authorized
• 5.7.23 SMTP: SPF validation failed
• 5.7.25 SMTP: reverse DNS failed
• 5.7.26 SMTP: authentication failed
• 5.7.27 SMTP: sender has null MX

FAQ

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