Gmail delivery response

Gmail 550 5.2.1: The email account is inactive

Gmail uses 550 5.2.1 when the recipient account is inactive and also for a recipient receiving email too quickly. The complete sentence identifies which recipient-side condition applies.

Problem description

A representative response is:

550 5.2.1 The email account that you tried to reach is inactive.

Is this temporary or permanent?

Treat this as permanent until the complete provider response and retry behavior show otherwise.

Read the complete response

account ... is inactive: ask the recipient to restore or replace the account.
receiving email at a rate that prevents additional messages: stop repeated sends and let the recipient-side condition clear.

What to do

Confirm that the recipient address is correct.
Contact the recipient through another channel.
Stop automated retries if the account is inactive.
Send again only after the recipient confirms the mailbox can receive mail.

MailFixIt scope

This is a recipient-account condition, not a sender DNS problem. MailFixIt cannot restore the mailbox.

Frequently asked questions

What does Gmail 550 5.2.1 mean?

The recipient account is inactive, or Gmail says that the recipient is receiving email too quickly.

Can MailFixIt prove this entire bounce from public DNS?

No. The current checker can evaluate selected public DNS configuration, but it cannot recreate recipient state, credentials, reputation, message content, or a historical provider SMTP decision.

Related email diagnostics

SMTP 5.7.1: Delivery not authorizedSMTP 5.7.1 means delivery is not authorized; use the full response to identify a recipient restriction, relay permission, transport rule, or filtering policy. Gmail 550 5.7.1: Delivery not authorizedGmail 550 5.7.1 is a broad permanent rejection; match the exact response text to a policy, relay, reputation, header, rate-limit, or IPv6 problem before acting.

Primary sources: Gmail SMTP errors and codes, Google email sender guidelines.