Soft Bounce Definition - What is Soft Bounce?

Soft Bounce happens when an email cannot be delivered due to a problem in the receiver's server. If the email cannot reach the targeted inbox within and after 72 hours, it becomes a hard bounce.

Soft bounces typically indicate a temporary delivery issue and are handled differently than hard bounces by Mailchimp. When an email address soft bounces, it will immediately display as a soft bounce in the campaign report.

If an email address continues to soft bounce, the address will be considered a hard bounce in the end and must be cleaned from your email list.

Here are some common reasons for soft bounces:

• Mailbox of subscriber exceeds quota.
• Recipient email server is down or offline.
• Email message is too large to send.

Related Terms

• Hard Bounce Rate
• Click-Through
• Click-to-Open Rate
• Inbox Placement Rate
• Single Opt-In and Double Opt-In

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