552 5.3.4: The message is too large
Your email, including attachments, is bigger than the receiving server allows. Attachments grow by about a third when sent, so a 20 MB file becomes roughly 27 MB.
Temporary Often fixes itself or after a small change. Your server may retry.
What the bounce message looks like
The wording changes from one provider to another. These are typical examples:
552 5.3.4 Your message exceeded Google's message size limits.552 5.3.4 Message size exceeds fixed maximum message sizeCommon causes
- Large photos, videos or PDFs attached
- Several attachments that add up past the limit
- A receiving server with a lower limit than yours
How to fix it if you sent the email
- Send a link from Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or iCloud instead of the file.
- Compress or resize images, or zip the files.
- Split the attachments across several emails.
If you manage the receiving or sending mail system
- Raise the maximum message size if your organization needs larger emails.
Free tool: paste the full bounce into the bounce message decoder to get a plain-English reading of every code in it.
Questions people ask
- What does 552 5.3.4 mean?
- Your email, including attachments, is bigger than the receiving server allows. Attachments grow by about a third when sent, so a 20 MB file becomes roughly 27 MB.
- Is 552 5.3.4 a hard or soft bounce?
- Temporary. Often fixes itself or after a small change. Your server may retry.
- Should I remove the address after a 5.3.4 bounce?
- Not straight away. Retry later, and remove it only if it keeps failing for weeks.