Glossary
Glossary1 min read
Email Bounce (Hard and Soft)
A bounce is a message a receiving server refused. A definition of hard vs soft bounces, with the full guide linked.
RT
RepMail Team
Product & Engineering · July 17, 2026 · 1 min read
An email bounce is a message a receiving server refuses to accept. A hard bounce is permanent (invalid address) and the address should be suppressed immediately. A soft bounce is temporary (full mailbox, transient block) and may succeed on retry.
High bounce rates signal a dirty list and damage sender reputation fast.
See the full guide: Full guide: hard vs soft bounces.
Resources in this guide
Bounce types
Reference| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hard | Permanent; suppress the address |
| Soft | Temporary; may retry |
bounces
deliverability
glossary
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a hard and soft bounce?
A hard bounce is a permanent failure to an invalid address; a soft bounce is a temporary failure. Hard bounces should be removed from your list at once.
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