Guide to Email Sending Limits
Are you tired of hitting a brick wall when trying to send emails, especially during campaigns? We’ve all been there, frantically clicking the send button only to be met with frustrating limits.
But fear not, because we’re here to shed light on the mysterious world of email sending limits.
In this article, we’ll demystify the often frustrating restrictions that control our online communication channels and provide you with practical tips to navigate around them.
Whether you’re a casual email user, a small business owner juggling multiple accounts, or someone looking to maximize email productivity without encountering roadblocks, understanding these limits is crucial for achieving smoother interactions and ensuring your messages reach their intended recipients.
So, let’s dive in and unravel the secrets behind email sending limits to unlock the full potential of your campaigns!
Contents
Understanding Email Sending Limits
Every email provider, including Gmail, sets a specific limit on the number of emails that you can send per day. This is known as the daily sending limit.
It’s essential to familiarize yourself with these sending limits as they directly impact your email outreach strategy.
Exceeding these limits could lead to error messages and your email account being temporarily suspended.
Gmail Account and Its Sending Limits
Gmail, a popular email service provider, is often the platform of choice for individuals and businesses alike.
It has both a free version and a paid version known as Google Workspace. The Gmail sending limit varies depending on the type of account you hold.
Free Gmail Account
A free Gmail account is intended for personal use and is somewhat restrictive when it comes to sending limits.
The Gmail sending limit for a free account is 500 recipients per day. This limit includes both your sent messages and any emails you’ve forwarded.
Remember, each unique email address in the “To,” “Cc,” and “Bcc” fields is counted as one recipient.
If you exceed this limit, Gmail will not send your message and will show you an error message. Your ability to send emails will be restored after 24 hours.
Paid Google Workspace Account
If you opt for a paid Google Workspace account, you get a significantly increased daily sending limit.
A Google Workspace paid account allows you to send up to 2,000 messages per day, which makes it more suitable for business use and comprehensive email outreach campaigns.
However, for new Google Workspace accounts and accounts in their free trial period, the Gmail sending limit is initially set at 500 recipients per day.
This limit increases to the maximum limit after a few billing cycles or when you’ve fully transitioned out of your free trial period.
External SMTP Server
An external Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server, like the Gmail SMTP server, is another option to send emails.
SMTP servers follow a set of codes and protocols to send your emails to the correct recipient’s email server. In the context of Gmail, the SMTP server also adheres to Google’s daily sending limit.
Gmail SMTP Server
When sending emails using the Gmail SMTP server, the sending limits are identical to those of the Gmail account types.
That is, 500 recipients per day for a free Gmail account and 2,000 for a paid Google Workspace account.
It’s important to keep in mind that these numbers reflect the total number of recipients, not the number of emails.
If a single message is sent to 10 recipients, it would count as 10 against your limit. If you attempt to send more messages than your daily limit allows, Gmail’s servers will reject your emails, and they will bounce back.
SMTP Relay Service
An SMTP Relay Service acts as an intermediary for the email sender and recipient. Using an SMTP relay service helps you get around Gmail sending limits, as it permits the sending of a larger number of emails per day. These services receive your email, then route it to the recipient’s email server for you.
Some examples of SMTP relay services include SendGrid, Mailgun, and HostGator. Each service has its own limit and pricing model.
So, while you may be able to send more emails than your Gmail account would allow, it’s important to research the details of any SMTP relay service you’re considering.
However, using an SMTP relay service does not guarantee unlimited emails. Just like Gmail, these services also have their sending limits, which are put in place to prevent spam and maintain the sender reputation of their servers.
Google Groups and Sending Limits
For those looking to reach a larger audience, Google Groups is an option to consider. Each Google Group counts as just one recipient, regardless of how many members it has.
However, Google limits the number of Google Groups you can email to 4,600 per day for a free Gmail account, and up to 6,200 per day for a Google Workspace account.
Other Google Limits
Apart from the daily sending limit, Google also imposes limits on the number of recipients per message, both for regular messages and mail merge campaigns.
For regular messages, you’re limited to 500 recipients same day. For mail merge, which allows you to personalize bulk emails, the limit is 400 unique recipients per 24 hours.
To stay up to date with these numbers, it’s wise to regularly check Google’s support pages, as they sometimes revise their sending limits.
Whether you are a small business owner, a sales representative, or simply someone trying to connect with others, understanding these email sending limits is critical.
Knowing these limits will not only prevent your account from getting suspended but also will make your email outreach efforts more effective.
In the next part, we’ll discuss what happens when you exceed these limits, how to recover from it, and strategies to maximize your sending limit without falling foul of Gmail’s rules.
Remember, if you’re often hitting your daily limit, it might be time to consider a cold email outreach software like Mailarrow.
It’s designed to optimize your email outreach, ensuring you stay within Gmail’s limits while reaching out to the maximum number of recipients.
Exceeding the Limits and the Consequences
Exceeding Gmail’s sending limits can result in temporary or even permanent restrictions on your account.
Being aware of these limits and adhering to them can prevent your emails from being marked as spam, ensuring your messages reach your intended recipients.
Consequences of Exceeding Gmail Sending Limits
When you send too much mail or exceed your daily sending limit, Gmail responds with an error message indicating your limit has been exceeded.
For example, you might see a notification that says, “You have reached a limit for sending mail.” This is an indication that you’ve exceeded the Gmail sending limit for your account type.
When this happens, you won’t be able to send any more emails for the next 24 hours. The messages you attempt to send during this time will be stored in your Sent Mail folder but will not be delivered to the recipients.
While this situation can be frustrating, it’s a measure implemented by Google to prevent spam. When an account sends an unusually high number of emails, it can appear suspicious and similar to the behavior of spam accounts.
Understanding Gmail’s Limit Per Message
In addition to the daily sending limit, Gmail also has a limit per message. This refers to the number of recipients to which a single message can be sent.
The limit per message is especially important when you’re sending bulk emails, such as newsletters or email marketing campaigns.
The number of recipients you can add to a single message in Gmail is limited to 500, which includes recipients in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.
If you try to send an email to more than 500 recipients, you’ll receive an error message, and the message won’t be sent.
What Counts Toward Your Sending Limit?
Many factors contribute to your daily sending limit. In addition to the emails you send, several other actions count toward your Gmail sending limit:
- Emails sent via SMTP relay service: Any emails sent via an SMTP relay service count toward your sending limit.
- Google Groups: Messages sent to Google Groups count as one message for each group but also add up to your total sending limit.
- Emails forwarded from another account: If you have set up your Gmail account to automatically forward emails from another account, these emails also count toward your Gmail sending limit.
- Emails rejected by recipients: If any emails you send are rejected by the recipient’s email server, these count toward your daily limit.
Knowing what counts toward your sending limit can help you effectively manage your daily sending frequency and prevent exceeding Gmail’s limits.
Maximizing Your Gmail Sending Limit
With a clear understanding of Gmail’s sending limits, it’s time to explore strategies to maximize these limits and make the most out of your email outreach efforts.
Upgrade Your Account
The most straightforward way to increase your daily sending limit is to upgrade from a free Gmail account to a paid Google Workspace account.
By doing this, you can quadruple your daily sending limit, from 500 to 2,000 emails per day.
It’s important to note that new Google Workspace accounts, or accounts in their free trial period, are subject to a limit of 500 emails per day, which increases to 2,000 after a few billing cycles or once the free trial period ends.
Use Google Groups
If you often need to email the same group of people, consider creating a Google Group. Each Google Group only counts as one recipient, even if it contains hundreds or thousands of members.
This can be a clever way to maximize your daily sending limit. However, remember that Google limits the number of Google Groups and emails you can send email per day.
Keep Your Lists Clean
Regularly remove invalid email addresses from your contact lists to avoid wasting your daily sending limit on undeliverable messages.
Google counts emails that bounce back towards your sending limits. Therefore, keeping your lists clean can help you maintain your sender reputation and make the most out of your Gmail account.
Understanding SMTP Relay Service
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) relay service is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance your email outreach by increasing the number of emails you can send.
This section will dive into how it works and how you can use it to maximize your sending limit.
What is SMTP Relay Service?
SMTP relay service is a protocol that allows email to be transmitted through the internet, from one server to another, for delivery.
When you send an email, it goes through a series of SMTP servers before it reaches the recipient’s email server.
In the context of Gmail, an SMTP relay service allows you to send emails using the Gmail SMTP server, even if the emails originate from a non-Gmail account.
This can be especially beneficial if you own a domain and want to send emails from your domain’s email account using Gmail’s servers.
How SMTP Relay Service Affects Sending Limits
Emails sent via SMTP relay service count toward your Gmail sending limit. The sending limits for SMTP relay service are the same as your regular Gmail account or Google Workspace account sending limits.
That means if you have a free Gmail account, you can send up to 500 emails per day through the Gmail SMTP server. If you have a paid Google Workspace account, you can send up to 2,000 emails per day.
While using an SMTP relay service does not directly increase your sending limit, it can improve your email deliverability.
This is because emails sent through the Gmail SMTP server are less likely to end up in the recipient’s junk folder, thereby improving the effectiveness of your email outreach.
Sending Bulk Emails
If you need to send bulk emails, understanding how Gmail’s sending limits and SMTP relay service work is crucial. However, there are other factors to consider as well, such as managing your sender reputation and avoiding sending spam.
Managing Your Sender Reputation
Your sender reputation plays a significant role in email deliverability. If you regularly send bulk emails and a large number of these emails are marked as spam, it can negatively impact your sender reputation.
When this happens, even your legitimate emails may end up in the recipient’s junk folder or be rejected by the recipient’s email server.
To manage your sender reputation, ensure that your email content is relevant and valuable to the recipient. Always get permission before adding someone to your email list, and provide an easy way for recipients to unsubscribe.
Regularly clean your email lists to remove invalid email addresses and recipients who have not engaged with your emails for a long time.
Avoiding Sending Spam
It’s important to remember that sending spam is not only bad for your sender reputation but also against Google’s policies. Repeated violations could lead to your Gmail account being suspended.
To avoid sending spam, never send unsolicited emails, especially in bulk. Ensure your email content is relevant to the recipient, and always provide a clear and easy way for recipients to opt out of your email list.
Mailarrow makes it easier to manage your sender reputation and avoid sending spam. With its powerful features and user-friendly interface, you can streamline your email outreach and stay within Gmail’s sending limits.
Enhancing Sending Limits with Google Workspace
Upgrading from a free Gmail account to Google Workspace is one of the most effective ways to enhance your email sending limits.
But what is Google Workspace, and how does it help increase your sending limits?
Google Workspace: An Overview
Formerly known as G Suite, Google Workspace is a suite of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools developed by Google.
It includes Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more. More importantly for our discussion, Google Workspace offers a paid Gmail account with higher sending limits than a free Gmail account.
Google Workspace Account: A Solution for Higher Sending Limits
With a free Gmail account, you’re limited to 500 emails per day. But with a Google Workspace account, your daily sending limit increases to 2,000 emails per day after the free trial period or after a few billing cycles.
This significant increase in daily sending limit can be a game-changer for your email outreach, especially if you send a large number of emails every day.
Also, keep in mind that the Google Workspace account sending limit applies to each user, not the entire organization.
So, if you have multiple users in your Google Workspace organization, each user gets their own daily sending limit.
Google Workspace and SMTP Relay Service
Another benefit of Google Workspace is its compatibility with SMTP relay service. With a Google Workspace account, you can use the Gmail SMTP server to send emails from an external SMTP server or from an email account associated with your own domain.
This allows you to send emails with your domain’s email address while benefiting from Gmail’s reliable email delivery and high sending limits.
Google Workspace and Google Groups
With a Google Workspace account, you can also create Google Groups. Each Google Group counts as one recipient, regardless of how many members it has.
So, by using Google Groups, you can effectively get valid email addresses to increase your recipient limit per email and maximize your daily sending limit.
Signing up for Google Workspace is an excellent way to enhance your Gmail sending limits and make the most out of your email outreach.
But to truly unlock the potential of your email outreach, consider using Mailarrow. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Mailarrow can help you automate your email outreach and keep it within Gmail’s sending limits.
Resolving Sending Limit Issues
Even with the increased limits offered by a Google Workspace account, you may still run into issues if you regularly send a high volume of emails.
Here are some strategies to resolve sending limit issues and maximize your email outreach potential.
Avoid Exceeding the Daily Send Limit
One of the best ways to avoid hitting your daily send limit is to carefully manage the number of emails you send per day.
Always keep track of how many emails you’ve sent and try to stay under your daily limit. Exceeding your daily send limit too often can lead to temporary or even permanent restrictions on your account.
Use a Third-Party SMTP Relay Service
If you need to send more emails than your Gmail or Google Workspace account allows, consider using a third-party SMTP relay service, such as Mailgun or SendGrid.
These services allow you to send a large number of emails per day, often in the tens of thousands. However, keep in mind that emails sent through a third-party SMTP relay service do not count toward your Gmail sending limit.
Use Multiple Google Workspace Accounts
If you’re a large organization and need to send a very high volume of emails every day, consider using multiple Google Workspace accounts.
Since the daily sending limit applies to each user, having multiple users in your Google Workspace organization can significantly increase your overall sending limit.
Contact Google Support
If you’re unable to send emails despite not exceeding your daily send limit, there may be a problem with your account. In such cases, consider reaching out to the Google Workspace support team for assistance.
Overcoming Gmail Sending Limit Challenges
If you are planning an email outreach campaign with a high frequency of emails, understanding how to navigate the Gmail sending limits will ensure the campaign’s success.
Here’s a guide to overcoming Gmail’s sending limit challenges.
Gradually Increasing Your Sending Frequency
If you’re planning to significantly increase your email sending frequency, do so gradually. A sudden increase in the number of emails you send can trigger Gmail’s spam filters and lead to your account being restricted.
Segmenting Your Email List
One way to stay within your daily sending limit is to segment your email list and send emails to different segments on different days.
This can also improve your email deliverability and engagement rates, as you can tailor your email messages more to the specific needs and interests of each segment.
Monitoring Your Account for Error Messages
Always keep an eye on your sent mail folder for any error messages indicating that you’ve exceeded your Gmail sending limit.
If you receive such an error message, stop sending emails for 24 hours to allow your sending limit to reset.
Keeping Your Account in Good Standing
Keeping your account in good standing is crucial to maintain your Gmail sending limits. To do this, avoid sending spam and regularly clean your email lists to remove invalid email addresses.
Future-Proofing Your Email Outreach
While understanding Gmail’s sending limits and strategies to maximize your email outreach is important, it’s also crucial to think about the future of your email outreach.
Understanding Google’s Limit Updates
Google periodically updates its sending limits to prevent spam and ensure the reliability of its email service.
Keeping up to date with these changes can help you avoid unexpected restrictions on your email sending capabilities.
Building a Healthy Email List
A healthy email list is a critical asset for successful email outreach. Regularly clean your email list to remove invalid email addresses, and always get permission before adding someone to your email list.
Improving Your Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is a critical factor in the success of your email outreach. Monitor your email deliverability rates, and continually look for ways to improve them.
This can include optimizing your email content, maintaining a good sender reputation, and ensuring your emails are compliant with all relevant laws and regulations.
Using a Reliable Email Outreach Software
Finally, using a reliable email outreach software like Mailarrow can greatly enhance your email outreach.
Mailarrow offers a user-friendly interface, powerful features, and is designed to help you manage your Gmail sending limits effectively.
FAQs
Can I send 500 emails at once?
If you’re using a free Gmail account, you’re limited to sending 500 emails per day. However, these emails can’t be sent all at once.
Google recommends limiting the number of recipients per email to less than 500 to avoid your email being marked as spam.
Is there a limit on how many emails I can send?
Yes, email providers set sending limits to prevent spam. For a free Gmail account, the limit is 500 emails per day.
With a paid Google Workspace account, this increases to 2,000 emails per day. However, third-party SMTP relay services or tools like Mailarrow can help you send more emails per day.
Can I send 300 emails at once with Gmail?
Yes, you can send an email to 300 recipients at once with Gmail. However, be cautious about sending too many such emails in a day as it can lead to your account being flagged for spam.
What is email sending limit exceeded?
“Email sending limit exceeded” is an error message you receive when you try to send more emails than your email provider allows.
For example, if you send more than 500 emails in a day from a free Gmail account, you’ll see this error.
How many emails can I send per day with Gmail SMTP?
With Gmail SMTP server, you can send up to 500 emails per day with a free Gmail account and up to 2,000 emails per day with a paid Google Workspace account.
How can I send more than 500 emails a day on Gmail?
To send more than 500 emails a day on Gmail, you can upgrade to a paid Google Workspace account, which increases the limit to 2,000 emails per day.
Alternatively, use a third-party SMTP relay service or an email outreach tool like Mailarrow.
How many emails can SMTP server send?
The number of emails an SMTP server can send depends on the server’s configuration and the policies of the email service provider. Some SMTP relay services allow sending tens of thousands of emails per day.
What is the difference between Gmail API and Gmail SMTP?
Gmail API and Gmail SMTP are two different methods of sending emails through Gmail. Gmail API allows developers to interact with Gmail directly within their applications, offering more functionality and integration. In contrast, Gmail SMTP is a protocol used for sending emails from Gmail to other email servers.
