Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (2024)

by Reeshma Mathews | Oct 29, 2018

Email errors can be a nuisance, especially when you have to send an urgent mail. Mail delivery issues form a major category of errors reported by server owners.

As part of our Outsourced Tech Support for web hosting providers, we resolve such errors all day long.

One such error is ‘552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded’.Today, we’ll see what causes this error and how we fix it.

4 reasons for “552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded” error

Error 552 usually shows up in the bounce mail that the sender receives while attempting to send mail to a recipient mail account.

SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO::552-5.2.2 The email account that you tried to reach is over quota.

The error message indicates that the quota of the recipient account is full and mail could not be delivered to that account.

Every email account has a fixed data storage space allotted to it, referred to as the ‘quota’. This quota limit is set when an email account is created.

Set mail account quota

If you are the recipient and senders complain that they get 552 error when sending mails to you, it means your mail account quota is full.This leads to mail delivery failure.

“552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded” happens due to these 4 major reasons:

1. Email attachments

If an email account receives a lot of emails with large attachments, it can eventually fill up the email account of a user. This can lead to email delivery failures.

2. Trash folders

Many email clients have a setting that the deleted mails will remain in the Trash folder until they are purge deleted. This results in the Trash folder getting filled up.

Trash folder also adds on to the quota of an email account. But many users overlook this aspect, causing trash to get piled up and quota to exceed.

3. Email forwarders

Some users set up one or more email forwarders from their email accounts. If any of those forwarded email accounts exceed their quota, mails can get bounced from those accounts.

4. Mail server restrictions

Every mail server has certain restrictions on the mail delivery settings. This is to avoid a single user or spammer from abusing the server resources.

The restrictions include limit on mail account size, mail attachment size, message content size, etc. If any of these limits exceed in a mail that is sent, it leads to 552 error.

How to fix “552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded” error

When a mail account is facing issues receiving mails due to 552 error, we follow a step by step approach to fix it.

  1. We first review the email quota and see if it has exceeded.
  2. Disk usage of the email sub-folders are examined and problem folder is identified.
  3. Trash folder and emails with huge attachments are deleted to clear space.
  4. Email client is configured so as not to store mails in server, unless necessary.
  5. In certain cases, the quota of the email account is increased for email delivery to succeed.

Conclusion

Mails that are bounced with “552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded” error have to be resent to the recipient after the quota issue is fixed. Today, we have discussed the causes and fixes for552 email error due to quota issues.

Related posts:

  1. ‘550 No rDNS entry for x.y.z.n’ explained and resolved
  2. Instant fix for Exim4 ‘mailing to remote domains not supported’ error
  3. “554 message rejected for policy reasons” – Here’s how to fix this error
  4. 4 easy steps to resolve “telnet localhost 25 connection failed” error

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  1. Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (2)

    Lisa Pauline Murphy on 2020-02-06 at 11:48

    I don’t believe this is the issue as i cannot send emails to France full stop. So the information in the afore message is erroneous. And the tasks are unacheivable because:
    I do not have access to the said ‘full email’ account.
    I do not have permission to alter another person’s account.
    I have received the attachments, so it should be possible to send the attachments unaltered to the email recipient.
    This is not the only failing email address, therefore, there must be a problem with the French service.

    Reply

    • Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (3)

      Lisa Pauline Murphy on 2020-02-06 at 11:53

      what do you mean? vetting a comment is very undemocratic. I have concerns that need attention and it is important to me that they are answered.
      I would like to contact France. I need to know what the problem is. This vetting is in itself another problem that you are causing!
      Why?

      Reply

      • Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (4)

        Visakh S on 2020-02-06 at 12:33

        Dear Lisa,

        We’d love to auto-approve every comment that comes to this blog, but you know how difficult the internet can be. There are all sorts of people who post spam, abusive comments, and more. Manual vetting is the best way we’ve found to keep the conversations here fruitful and on topic.

        Just so that we are on the same page, you are reading this blog post on a website called bobcares.com. We are an independent technical support provider for web hosts, ISPs, data centers and cloud providers. We do not know who you are trying to email, nor do we provide support through the blog. This is a platform where we share FREE for everyone what we learn daily from our tech support requests.

        Good day!

        Reply

    • Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (5)

      Visakh S on 2020-02-06 at 12:26

      Dear Lisa,

      Let’s say you are emailing a person called “Isabelle” in France. This error says that Isabelle’s email account quota is over, and no new mails will not be delivered to her. This is not something you can fix. Isabelle needs to clear her email account to make more space.

      Yes, I understand that it is important for you to reach your contact, but at this moment emailing doesn’t seem to be the best option. I would recommend you to call her on phone, and pass along this link so that she can clear her account. You’ll then be able to send her the email and the attachment.

      Good day!

      Reply

    • Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (7)

      Maheen Aboobakkar on 2022-07-14 at 19:21

      Hello,

      We are happy to hear that using the advice in this article, you were able to fix the problem.

      Reply

  2. Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (8)

    Robert r on 2021-12-14 at 20:52

    Everytime I’m trying to do something like I’d me or anything else for government or all other purposes it’s not letting it go through due to an error

    Reply

    • Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (9)

      Maheen Aboobakkar on 2022-07-14 at 19:19

      Hello Robert,

      Please let us know the exact error message so that we can provide the resolution for the issue. We’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).

      Reply

  3. Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (10)

    Paula Mullins on 2023-05-23 at 22:53

    I am trying to send several emails at once and I’m getting ” LMTP error after end of data: 552 5.2.2 “. These email addresses are part of an organizational network. Would the organization be the one I would contact to clear space or do I need to contact each person I am emailing?
    Thank you for your help in advance.

    Reply

    • Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (11)

      Hiba Razak on 2023-05-24 at 15:35

      Hello Paula,
      Reaching out to the organization would be the most efficient way to address the issue.

      Reply

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Quick fix for '552 5.2.2 user quota exceeded' error (2024)

FAQs

What is SMTP 552 5.2 2 over quota? ›

SMTP code 552 generally indicates a failure due to storage issues or a limit imposed by the recipient's mail server. This often relates to the recipient's mailbox being over quota or the sent message exceeding the size limit set by the recipient's server.

How do you handle quota exceeded error? ›

If this error is shown, you should stop your recording and clear off more space on your hard drive before recording again. If you ignore this error and your Dropbox upload fails, you could risk losing the audio for good since there was no space available to save the backup.

How do I fix error 552? ›

The sender must be aware of the attachments allowed by the recipient's email server or email service provider to resolve this issue. The sender must remain within the size constraint set by the recipient's email server or email service provider.

How do I fix my email over quota? ›

There are several steps you can take to reduce the size of your inbox for better performance:
  1. Delete older inbox items. ...
  2. Empty your spam folders. ...
  3. On Android, you may empty your trash folders with one click. ...
  4. Increase your quota by buying a subscription.

What is 552 mail size or count over quota? ›

Every email account has a fixed data storage space allotted to it, referred to as the 'quota'. This quota limit is set when an email account is created. If you are the recipient and senders complain that they get 552 error when sending mails to you, it means your mail account quota is full.

What does erro 552 message size exceeds maximum permitted? ›

Exceeding Size Limits

Most email servers have a maximum size limit for emails, which includes both the body of the message and any attachments. When the combined size exceeds this limit, the server rejects the message, resulting in Error 552 5.3.

How do I fix not enough quota? ›

Solution: Close some applications and try again. NOTE: If you still get this message, choose System from Control Panel, then choose Virtual Memory and increase the size of your paging file.

How do I reduce my disk quota? ›

Regularly remove files that you no longer need. Use temporary storage spaces. When using a Linux workstation, store files temporarily in /tmp and /var/tmp; use these directories for temporary work with files larger than your quota allows. Read Reducing Disk Usage.

Why do I keep getting quota warnings? ›

When the mail server sends an "Over Quota" warning message it means your mailbox has or will soon exceed its default email account space limitation.

How do I get rid of Error 522? ›

3 Steps to Fix the Error 522: Connection Timed Out
  1. Fewer plugins. Some plugins create more queries than necessary to the corresponding database, generating a high load on the origin server. ...
  2. Revise code. Poorly optimized code can cause high CPU usage. ...
  3. Upgrade or change the hosting plan.

What is 552 5.2 0 content rejected? ›

A 552 email error is typically encountered when there is a problem related to an attachment in your email. Either it has exceeded the size limits of the remote server, or the file-type isn't allowed by the remote server.

What does 522 connection error mean? ›

Error 522 is an HTTP status code that indicates a connection issue where the origin server doesn't reply, often seen with CDN services like Cloudflare. It happens when Cloudflare can't get a response from your site within the expected timeframe.

How to resolve email sending limit exceeded? ›

"You have reached a limit for sending mail"

When you get this error, you should be able to send emails again within 1 to 24 hours. To prevent this from happening in the future, try creating a Google Group of all your email recipients and sending the message to that group's email address.

What does it mean when a user is over quota? ›

user is over quota

This failure notice means that you have filled up the space allocated to your email account with your existing emails. A quick and easy fix is to log into the webmail and remove some emails. Or contact us and ask if we can increase the space allocated to your account.

What is error 552 too much mail data? ›

Means your email is too large, surpassing the server's size limits. 552 5.1.

What does Outlook Remote server returned an error -> 552 size limit exceeded? ›

This error message usually appears when a messages is too large or it exceeds the recipient's mailbox limit. If you are using a Microsoft account in your Windows Live Mail, I suggest you check the amount of space that you've used to make sure that you still have enough space to accommodate incoming emails.

What does 552 exceeded storage allocation for current directory or dataset? ›

The 552 error code is coming directly from the remote FTP server. There is not enough disk space available to you on the remote FTP server. The most common cause for this error is that the limited disk space allocated for your individual FTP account is already in use.

What does your mail server's send quota has been exceeded mean? ›

Being 'over quota' means that you have exceeded the size limits of your mailbox. Since each mailbox has a specified amount of space on the server, you won't be able to receive any more email, or add any further information to your mailbox, until you have enough available space to do so.

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