Gmail
Gmail 452 4.2.2 — the recipient's mailbox is over quota
452 4.2.2
The account you're writing to has run out of Google storage, so Gmail is temporarily refusing new mail for it. The 4xx class means "try again later" — your server will retry automatically — but delivery only succeeds if the recipient frees space or buys storage. Nothing on your side is misconfigured.
How to fix it
- 1
For a single recipient: reach them another way
Your mail server keeps retrying for a few days before returning a permanent failure. If the message matters, contact the person through another channel — they may not know their storage is full, since Gmail, Drive, and Photos share one quota.
- 2
For senders: watch the retry window
Standard SMTP behavior retries 4xx responses automatically for up to several days (your ESP shows these as deferred, not bounced). No action needed unless the deferral converts to a permanent bounce.
- 3
For repeated 4.2.2s on a list: treat as disengagement
A mailbox that stays full for weeks is usually abandoned. Recipients who defer with 4.2.2 across multiple campaigns should move to a suppression or re-permission segment — continuing to mail dead mailboxes drags engagement metrics and eventually reputation.
- 4
Don't confuse it with your own quota errors
4.2.2/5.2.2 is about the recipient's storage. If Gmail is rejecting mail you send because of your limits, that's 550 5.4.5 — a different page.
Meaning current as of 2026-07-25, cross-checked against the provider's own documentation. Providers do occasionally redefine codes — if this doesn't match what you're seeing, the source link is the authoritative reference.