4xx SMTP error codes

Contact your mail server's administrator to discuss the error.

If you've made significant changes to resolve the error, but the error still remains consistent over a 48-hour period, we encourage you to review our recommended best practices when sending to Yahoo Mail.

• List managers should have a policy for removing email addresses that generate errors/bounces.
• We review IPs submitted for delivery issues and, based on our review, we may modify your reputation in our systems if needed.
  • Fill out a new sender application if your email is being deferred by Yahoo. This doesn't guarantee inbox delivery.
  • Even if you have a good reputation, users can vote your email as spam and affect your overall reputation.
  • Examine your outbound queues to ensure that spammers aren't abusing your mail server.
  • If you’re using a shared IP address, mail traffic from other domains could be negatively affecting your IP sending reputation. This traffic can result from things outside the sender's control.
• Consider the following when you review outgoing messages for objectionable content or practices:
  • IP address reputation.
  • URL reputation.
  • Domain reputation.
  • Sender reputation.
  • DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) signatures.
  • Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) authentication.

• Review the best practices for bulk mail senders and postmasters.
• If you're a bulk email provider, apply for new sender status.
• If sending from a Yahoo Mail account, learn about sending limits.
• Review our guidelines for prioritizing email and sender reputation.
• Review our SMTP error table.

This error indicates emails from your mail server have unusual traffic patterns or are generating complaints from Yahoo Mail users.

This error indicates emails from your mail server have unusual traffic patterns or are generating complaints from Yahoo Mail users. This error is usually received by senders on a shared IP.

The error message indicates Yahoo is seeing a high volume of emails from your IP address, which is a characteristic of unsolicited, bulk emailing.

If you're seeing this message, don't resend the email until you check your subscription practices and lists to ensure that messages are sent only to users who've requested it.

The [numeric code] shows a specific diagnostic code (e.g., "4.16.51", "4.16.52") in your SMTP logs which relates to the reason your email was deferred, and is related to:

• Low connectivity percentage to Yahoo MTAs.
• Bad tokens within the message.
• Unusual message traffic containing PDF files.

The Yahoo Mail MTAs are temporarily too busy. Your server should try to resend the message after a few minutes.

The [numeric code] shows a specific diagnostic code (e.g., "170", "200") in your SMTP logs, and is related to:

• A URL that's been flagged for excessive traffic.
• An IP data query failure.

The Yahoo Mail servers are temporarily too busy. Your server should try to resend the message after a few minutes.

Your mail server is configured as an open relay or proxy. We encourage you to examine your outbound queues to ensure that spammers aren't abusing your mail server. Review our guidelines for avoiding deprioritization.

The sender's MAIL FROM address has been sending to excessive bouncing accounts (non-active, don't exist). Review your mailing lists, and remove any addresses that generate bounces. Review our guidelines for avoiding deprioritization.