552 SMTP bounce: storage exceeded
What 552 means
The recipient's storage allocation is exceeded, or the message is too large for it, so the server aborts the transaction. Treated as permanent for this message.
Message text
Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation
Common causes of 552
- Recipient mailbox is over its quota
- Message is larger than the recipient's per-message or per-mailbox limit
How to fix 552
- Reduce the message size: remove or compress attachments, or send a link instead.
- Ask the recipient to free mailbox space; the sender cannot do this.
- Do not resend unchanged until the recipient has space.
Check your domain
Read the headers of a bounced messageRuns in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Have the full bounce message? Paste it into the bounce code lookup and it will match the code and the provider for you. Open the bounce code lookup.
How to read 552
The first part, 552, is the SMTP reply code. Requested mail action aborted, exceeded storage allocation: the mailbox or message is too large. Replies that start with 4 are temporary and replies that start with 5 are permanent (RFC 5321 §4.2.1).
This reply carries no enhanced status code. The three-digit reply code is the only machine-readable signal, so read the text that follows it to learn the reason.
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: www.rfc-editor.org. 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
- 550 SMTP: mailbox unavailable
- 551 SMTP: user not local
- 553 SMTP: mailbox name not allowed
- 554 SMTP: transaction failed
- 5.1.1 SMTP: bad destination mailbox
- 5.1.2 SMTP: bad destination system
FAQ
What does 552 mean?
The recipient's storage allocation is exceeded, or the message is too large for it, so the server aborts the transaction. Treated as permanent for this message. This is a permanent failure.
How do I fix 552?
Reduce the message size: remove or compress attachments, or send a link instead. Ask the recipient to free mailbox space; the sender cannot do this. Do not resend unchanged until the recipient has space.
Is 552 permanent, and should I retry?
552 is a permanent failure, so retrying the same message will fail again. Fix the cause first, then send a new message.