Gmail / Google Workspace error guide

Gmail / Google Workspace SMTP 550 5.2.1: Recipient Inactive Or Disabled

Gmail / Google Workspace SMTP 550 5.2.1 usually means recipient issue. Learn whether to retry, suppress the recipient, or fix sender setup.

Quick summary

Primary code
550 5.2.1
Provider coverage
Gmail / Google Workspace
Primary action
Do not retry unchanged

How to handle 550 5.2.1

Match the provider, SMTP stage, endpoint, and diagnostic wording first, then use the checks below to decide whether to retry, suppress the recipient, or fix sender setup.

Gmail 550 5.2.1

Recipient issue

Do not retry unchanged

The provider is rejecting the mailbox or account. Only treat it as invalid when the provider-specific text, endpoint, and stage all point to recipient validation.

Do not automatically suppress from code alone; inspect diagnostic text.

Decision

Review the full SMTP reply before retrying.

Confidence: medium. Recipient validity: unknown.

Match this reply

SMTP stage
RCPT TO recipient check
Endpoint
Inbound MX
inactivedisabled

Start here

  1. 1

    Confirm the recipient address and domain are spelled correctly.

  2. 2

    Suppress the recipient only when the provider-specific evidence says the mailbox is invalid.

Confirm the cause

  1. Validate the recipient address and domain before suppressing it.
  2. Check whether the mailbox, alias, group, or contact exists and can receive external mail.
  3. Keep the full SMTP reply with the contact record so support can distinguish invalid addresses from policy blocks.

App handling

  • Route to manual review or a conservative fallback classification.
  • Do not suppress the recipient from this rule unless a later bounce gives stronger recipient evidence.
  • Limit automated retries until the provider-specific cause is understood.

Avoid

  • Do not decide from the SMTP code alone.
  • Do not suppress unless the provider-specific evidence points to an invalid recipient.
  • Do not retry high-volume traffic before you understand the diagnostic text.
Common causes
  • The address is misspelled, deleted, disabled, or not mail-enabled.
  • The recipient domain accepts mail, but the specific mailbox cannot receive this message.
  • An alias, distribution group, or forwarded address no longer maps to a valid mailbox.
Developer details
Fields to log
raw SMTP replyremote MX or hostSMTP stagereply codeenhanced codeprovidermatched rule idrecipientsending domaindecisiontimestampenvelope recipientcontact id
Classifier evidence
Specific cause
recipient inactive or disabled
Evidence
official
support.google.com source 1

Not sure this is the right match?

Paste the full SMTP reply into the lookup tool. The classifier uses provider, endpoint, SMTP stage, reply code, enhanced code, token, and diagnostic text.

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