SEO glossary · S

Soft Bounce

What is a Soft Bounce?

A soft bounce is an email that couldn’t be delivered because of a temporary problem. The address is valid, but the message didn’t get through this time.

Common causes

  • The recipient’s mailbox is full.
  • The receiving server is down or overloaded.
  • The email is too large.
  • The receiving provider is temporarily limiting how many messages it accepts from your server.

What to do about soft bounces

Most email platforms retry soft bounces automatically for a few days. If the same address soft-bounces several campaigns in a row, treat it like a hard bounce and remove or suppress it, because repeated failures also hurt your sender reputation.

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