DIAGNOSTIC PLAYBOOK
A bounce names a different recipient than the one you sent to
A delivery status notification can report a final recipient that differs from the original address because of aliases or forwarding. Follow the reported routing context before suppressing the wrong contact.
HealthCheck Email editorial team · · Examples are illustrative
How to investigate
- Read Original-Recipient, Final-Recipient, Action, Status and Diagnostic-Code where present.
- Compare those fields with the original envelope and any known forwarding or alias rules.
- Ask the destination administrator about the failing final address when the original address is valid.
What this looks like
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Mail to an alias forwards to an old mailbox and fails there. The bounce's final address identifies the downstream failure rather than a typo in your original send.
A mistake to avoid
Do not assume every DSN includes every optional field. Preserve the diagnostic text and avoid inferring missing routing details.
Keep the result in context
Inspect the original raw message rather than a forwarded screenshot. Headers can contain private addresses, message identifiers and routing information, so redact a separate copy before sharing. Give the most weight to results added by your own trusted receiving infrastructure.
Take the next step
Use the related check to gather evidence, then compare it with the affected message or service. Keep the result and time with your notes so a later change can be distinguished from the original problem.
Sources and further reading
The protocol references below explain the underlying behavior. Your sending or DNS provider supplies the account-specific settings for its service.