Common email error messages

Email accounts can be accessed using a number of email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, macOS Mail, and many more. You may encounter an error message when checking your email or when setting it up for the first time. We will look at some of the common errors you may encounter and how to fix them:

Error 535 - Authentication failed

An ‘Authentication Failed’ error means that the email server cannot verify that your email access is approved. A mistyped password is the most common cause, although it can also be caused by an invalid username, connecting to the wrong server or blacklisting.

Solution:

  • Double-check that your email password is entered correctly.
  • Confirm that the username is the full and correct email address.
  • If you have recently changed where your domain points, or if you have upgraded or downgraded your hosting plan, please contact our hosting department to assist further.
  • It is also possible that your local IP is blacklisted. Please contact our hosting department and provide them with your local IP address to assist you further.

Error 550 - Sender verify failed

This error means the inbox you are sending to or from is full.

Solution:

  • The email server cannot deliver your email because the recipient’s inbox is full. Most email applications have a set amount of storage an individual user can use for emails.
  • If the quota of your storage is exceeded the server will not let any more mail through to your inbox and the space quota will need to be increased.
  • If you have recently changed where your domain points, or if you have upgraded or downgraded your hosting plan, please contact our hosting department to assist further.
  • It is also possible that your local IP is blacklisted. Please contact our hosting department and provide them with your local IP address to assist you further.

Domain has exceeded the max defers and failures per hour (100%) allowed

This error occurs when a domain account sends out emails that either fail or get deferred. If the number of failures or defers is greater than the server limit, no further emails are allowed.

Solution:

  • Allow up to 1 hour before sending any emails from all accounts on the domain.
  • Check to see if any of the email accounts on the domain are sending spam. You can see the delivery reports in cPanel or CWP under the ‘Email’ section.
  • Check the autoresponders and spam filters. The block can sometimes be triggered when an autoresponder is set up to send an out-of-office reply to all emails received. The autoresponder will reply to all emails including spam email addresses that do not exist, hence the replies fail. Ensure your spam filters are enabled so that emails that are flagged as spam do not get an autoreply.
  • Ensure your mailing list is up to date. Remove any email addresses that no longer work. Sending to multiple invalid email addresses will trigger the block.

I can receive emails, but cannot send mails

If you are receiving emails but having trouble sending emails, the issue is almost certainly (but not always) related to the SMTP /outgoing server. The SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) handles the entire email distribution process.

Solution:

  • Check your internet connection. If the internet is down the emails will not work.
  • Login via Webmail and test if you can send mails from there. If not, please take a screenshot of the error message and send it to our hosting department to investigate the issue further.
  • If you are able to send emails via Webmail, check the SMTP/ outgoing server settings.
  • SMTP / Outgoing server uses port 465 with SSL secure encryption and port 587 or 25 for non-SSL encryption.
  • SMTP / Outgoing server name should be mail.yourdomainname.co.za or use the name of the server.
  • Make sure that the SMTP / Outgoing server ‘authentication’ is turned on, and enter the username (full email address) and password.

I can send emails, but not receive mails

There are various possible causes to investigate why you can send emails but not receive emails such as disk quota issues or the incoming mail server settings.

Solution:

  • Check if the domain disk quota is full or if the specific email address has reached the allocated storage.
  • Check your email directories - spam folder, junk folder, or any customised email folders. These emails may have been identified as spam or junk and might have been moved to one of these folders.
  • Login via Webmail and test if you can receive emails from there. This will check if your local IP is blocked on the server or not. If the webmail link opens, then the IP is not blacklisted. If the link does not open the IP is blacklisted and needs to be whitelisted on the server by the hosting department.
  • Check the incoming server settings on the email client.

Incoming mail server settings:

  • Server: Enter mail. (dot) before your domain name. e.g: mail.mydomainname.co.za
  • Port: IMAP 993 / POP 995
  • Encryption method: SSL
  • Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) is unticked.

Error 503 Valid RCPT command must precede DATA

This is an Outlook error that occurs when sending an email and the SMTP server (outgoing) is not authenticated properly.

Solution:

  • Open Outlook.
  • Open the File menu and select 'Account Settings'.
  • Click on 'Account Settings'.
  • Select the email account you wish to set up and click 'Change'.
  • Click 'More Settings'.
  • Select the 'Outgoing Server' tab.
  • Tick 'My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication'.
  • Select 'Use same settings as my incoming mail server'.
  • Open the 'Advanced' tab.
  • Set the Outgoing server (SMTP) port to 465.
  • In the Use the following type of encryption drop-down, select 'SSL'.
  • Click 'OK'.
  • On the Internet E-Mail Settings window, click 'Next'.
  • Click 'Finish'.
  • Make sure that the SMTP / Outgoing server ‘authentication’ is turned on, and enter the username (full email address) and password.

0x80042108 – Outlook is Unable to Connect to Your Incoming POP3 Server

This error may occur due to a temporary server problem, or internet connectivity problems, or security software on your computer blocking the connection.

Solution:

  • Verify that you are connected to the internet by attempting to visit a web page. If you can’t view web pages, attempt to reconnect to the internet. If you are then still unable to view web pages and download your email, please contact your Internet Service Provider for further assistance.
  • If you are connected to the internet, check our Network Notices to see if there are any temporary server problems.
  • Your anti-virus, anti-spam or firewall software may also be interfering with the connection. In the configuration of your anti-virus or anti-spam program, turn off scanning of email being sent or received. In the configuration of your computer’s firewall, ensure that port 110 is open and can accept connections.