Resolving and Understanding Email Forwarding Rate Limit Errors

Resolving and Understanding Email Forwarding Rate Limit Errors

**Description:**This article explains how email forwarding impacts your sending limits, how to diagnose and resolve Google rate limit errors, and best practices for managing email routing on Brixly shared hosting. Forwarded emails count towards your domain’s hourly sending quotas, so efficient management is essential to maintain deliverability.

Table of Contents

• What Are Email Forwarding Rate Limit Errors?
• How Forwarding Affects Sending Limits
• Common Rate Limit Error Messages
• Diagnosing Rate Limit Issues
• Best Practices for Email Forwarding
• Step-by-Step Solutions
• Troubleshooting Forwarding to Google (Gmail)
• Useful Tools & Resources
• Further Assistance

What Are Email Forwarding Rate Limit Errors?

A rate limit error occurs when too many emails are sent or forwarded from your domain in a short period, exceeding the allowed threshold set by either Brixly or the recipient (such as Gmail). This is a common issue when using cPanel forwarders to redirect incoming mail to third-party addresses.

Key points:

• All forwarded emails count towards your domain's outgoing email limits.
• Exceeding these limits will temporarily block further outbound emails, including forwards, until the limit resets.

How Forwarding Affects Sending Limits

When you set up a forwarder in cPanel, every message forwarded is counted as an outgoing email. For example, if 100 emails arrive in your inbox and are forwarded to Gmail, that’s 100 outgoing emails.

Brixly’s Shared Hosting Email Limits:

• Sending limits are enforced per hour, per domain.
• Exceeding the hourly quota will result in a rate limit error, blocking further outbound messages until the next hour.

> For full details on limits, see:Brixly Email Sending Limits

Common Rate Limit Error Messages

You may see errors similar to:

Domain has exceeded the max emails per hour (250/250)
550 5.4.5 Daily sending quota exceeded
421 4.7.0 Temporary System Problem - try again later

Or, when forwarding to Gmail/Google:

The user you are trying to contact is receiving mail at a rate that prevents additional messages from being delivered.

Diagnosing Rate Limit Issues

Step 1: Check Your Forwarders

• Log in to cPanel.
• Go to Email > Forwarders.
• Review the list of active forwarders.
• Check if you have forwards set to Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.

Step 2: Review Outgoing Email Volume

• Go to Email > Track Delivery in cPanel.
• Filter by “Successful” and “Deferred” to see outgoing activity.
• Look for spikes in outgoing mail volume, especially to your forwarder addresses.

Step 3: Check for Email Loops

• Ensure you do not have circular forwarding (e.g., A → B → A), which can quickly hit limits.

Best Practices for Email Forwarding

• Limit Forwarders: Only use forwarding when absolutely necessary.
• Use Mailbox Instead: Access mail directly using IMAP/POP3 rather than forwarding.
• Set Up Filters: Use cPanel Email Filters to minimize unnecessary forwards (e.g., only forward specific types of emails).
• Avoid Forwarding to Gmail for Bulk Inboxes: Gmail aggressively rate-limits forwarded mail; set up a dedicated mailbox and fetch with Gmail’s “Check mail from other accounts” feature instead.
• Monitor Usage: Regularly check your outgoing mail logs and adjust forwarding rules if you approach limits.

Step-by-Step Solutions

1. Remove or Reduce Forwarders

To remove a forwarder:

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Go to Email > Forwarders.
3. Find the forwarder and click Delete.

2. Use Gmail’s Fetch Feature

Instead of forwarding, let Gmail fetch your emails:

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Go to Settings > Accounts and Import.
3. Under Check mail from other accounts, click Add a mail account.
4. Enter your Brixly-hosted email address, then provide your mailbox details (IMAP/POP3, username, and password).
5. Complete the setup.

> This avoids forwarding and will not count towards your outbound limits.

3. Set Up Email Filters

To only forward emails matching specific criteria:

1. In cPanel, go to Email Filters.
2. Select the relevant account.
3. Click Create a New Filter.
4. Set conditions (e.g., Subject contains “Invoice”).
5. Under Actions, select Redirect to Email and enter the destination address.
6. Click Create.

4. Monitor Outgoing Email Activity

1. In cPanel, go to Track Delivery.
2. Review the delivery reports and check for high outgoing volumes.

Troubleshooting Forwarding to Google (Gmail)

Gmail imposes strict rate and spam filtering on forwarded emails:

• Limit the number of emails forwarded to Gmail accounts.
• Avoid forwarding newsletters, mailing lists, or large volumes.
• If Gmail blocks emails, you may see bounces or delays—stop forwarding and switch to mailbox fetching.
• If forwarding is essential, consider using a professional email service (e.g., Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) for better deliverability.

Useful Tools & Resources

• cPanel Forwarders: Manage forwarding rules quickly.
• cPanel Track Delivery: Monitor outgoing/incoming email activity.
• cPanel Email Filters: Filter or route specific emails.
• Webmail: Access your mailbox directly online.
• Mail Tester: Check your email reputation and spam score.

Further Assistance

If you continue to experience rate limit errors after following the above steps:

• Double-check all forwarders and reduce usage where possible.
• Review your outgoing mail logs for abnormal activity.
• Consult our Email Hosting Knowledge Base for additional guides.

For unresolved issues, please raise a support ticket with details of your setup and affected addresses. Our support team will be happy to help.

By understanding how forwarding impacts your sending limits and following these best practices, you can maintain reliable email delivery on your Brixly shared hosting account.