Is there an email sending limit for Gmail? The answer is yes.

To get into details, Gmail has strict email sending limits to crack down on spam emails 

The sending limits in Gmail indicate the maximum number of emails you can send via Gmail everyday. Google (and other major ESPs) implement this to offer Gmail users a spam-free and safe user experience. 

If you are a cold email marketer or a SDR using Google Workspace (G Suite) or standard free Gmail account for outreach, you might need to know how many emails you can send to your prospects every day without blacklisting your domain. 

Sending bulk emails without knowing the Gmail sending limit might get you blacklisted as a spammer, which can harm your outreach efforts significantly. So it’s better safe than sorry.  

In this blog post, let’s look at the Gmail sending limits so you can outreach safely and scale your operation. We have also included ways you can send more emails to scale your outreach, bypassing Gmail sending limits. 

Gmail Vs. Google Workspace (Formerly, G Suite)

• Gmail is free, but Google Workspace is a paid subscription based service with three different pricing plans starting from $6 (USD) and ranges up to $18 per user per month. 
• Gmail users (free account) get the domain name google.com or googlemail.com. On the other hand, Google Workspace users can connect their own domains for sending sales emails. For example, sattwik@smartlead.ai.  
• Each Gmail user gets access to 15 GB cloud storage. Google Workspace users get 30 GB to 5 TB pooled storage per user based on their pricing plans. 
• Both the free Gmail account and Google Workspace get access to productivity tools such as Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Google Meet, Keep Sites, Calendar, Chat, Forms, and Current. Beyond that, Google Workspace offers in-depth security control, smart search capabilities, and more. 

What is the Maximum Number of Recipients in Gmail Per Day? 

Gmail’s email sending limit from a free trial account or a Google Workspace trial account is 500 emails per day. With a Google Workspace paid account, the daily sending limit per user account is 2000 emails per day. 

Besides the daily sending limit, there are some minute differences between Gmail account and Google Workspace. Let’s take a close look to understand better: 

1. Gmail Free Account

Gmail email sending limit per day: 500 recipients or emails 

The free Gmail account offers you 500 emails or recipients, which means the maximum number of recipients you can reach out to in a day is limited to 500. It means you can send a single email to 500 recipients or 5 emails to 100 recipients each.

The sending limit is not set apart by a specific time in a day, rather it is applied over a rolling 24-hour time period. 

2. Google Workspace Account (G Suite) 

Email sending limit per day: 2000

Recipient limit per day: 10000

Each individual email address in Google Workspace (G Suite) is considered in every email sent. It means if you send 10 emails to 30 recipients each, it will be counted as 300 recipients. 

Although the g suite email limit per day is 10000, if you send 2000 emails to 2000 individuals, you can’t send email to the other 8000 recipients in the next 24 hours. To bypass the sending limit and reach all the 10000 recipients, you can send 2000 emails to 5 recipients each using the ‘CC’ and ‘BCC’ fields. 

Important Note: All the email addresses entered in the ‘To’, ‘CC’, and ‘BCC’ fields are counted as individual recipients per message. 

Not just email sending limits, there are attachment and file size limits in Gmail as well. You can send attachments up to 25 MB in total. If your files exceed this limit, Gmail will provide a Google Drive link instead of including them as attachments.

If you exceed the daily cold email sending limit on Gmail, your Gmail account may get suspended from sending emails for a period of 24 hours. This suspension occurs with a specific error message that reads: "550 5.4. 5 Daily sending quota exceeded."

During this suspension, you won't be able to send any emails from your Gmail account, and any attempts to do so will result in the error message mentioned above.

How Many Unique Recipients Can I Reach with the Gmail Sending Limits 

If you're curious about how many distinct individuals you can email each day using your Gmail account, you'll want to consider the "unique recipients per day" limit. This limit focuses on unique email addresses, meaning each recipient is only counted once within a 24-hour period, regardless of how many messages you send to them. For instance, sending five emails to the same address still counts as just one unique recipient.

What does this mean?  

The unique recipient limit refers to the total number of distinct email addresses you can reach in a single day.  

Gmail’s unique recipient limits:  

You can email up to 3,000 unique recipients per day.  

Of these, a maximum of 2,000 can be external recipients (those outside your organization).  

For example, if you aim to maximize this limit, you could send emails to 1,000 colleagues within your organization and 2,000 external contacts like vendors or clients. Regardless of how many times you email each recipient, they are only counted once toward this unique recipient limit.

Email Limit in Gmail: At a Glance

Gmail Email Sending Limit for Mobile Devices

If you use Gmail app in mobile, the same sending limits apply as the sending limit for Gmail in web browser. And in the case of Gmail for mobile apps in IMAP, SMTP sending limits are applicable. 

Read more: Office 365 SMTP Settings

How to Increase Gmail Sending Limits?

If you’re looking to send more emails than Gmail’s default limits allow, there are legitimate ways to do so without breaking any rules or risking account suspension. In this guide, we’ll explore three effective methods to increase Gmail’s daily sending limits and ensure your email outreach campaigns stay on track.

1. Using Multiple Accounts

One straightforward way to bypass Gmail’s sending limits is by adding multiple accounts within your Google Workspace. Each account comes with its own daily limit, allowing you to send a higher combined total of emails.

While this approach works, it might not be practical for everyone due to the added cost and complexity of managing multiple accounts. If you’re looking for easier and more affordable alternatives, keep reading.

2. Using Google Groups

Google Groups is another option for overcoming Gmail sending limits. By grouping your audience into a single Google Group, you can send one email to the group, and Gmail counts it as a single recipient. Sounds great, right? But there’s a catch.

Even with Google Groups, Gmail’s limits for external recipients still apply. For example, Google Workspace allows you to email up to 3,000 unique external recipients per day. Once you reach this cap, no more emails can be sent to external addresses, even through groups.

3. Using Third-Party Tools Like Smartlead

For a more scalable and hassle-free solution, third-party tools like Smartlead are the best way to overcome Gmail’s limits. These tools are specifically designed to send high volumes of emails while maintaining compliance with Gmail’s rules and ensuring maximum deliverability.

How Does Smartlead Help You Send More Emails?

If Gmail’s sending limits are restricting your email outreach, Smartlead offers a powerful solution to bypass these constraints and scale your email campaigns seamlessly. Designed for marketers, sales professionals, and businesses looking to send bulk emails without compromising deliverability, Smartlead leverages advanced technology and strategic features to help you reach more prospects effectively. 

Here’s how you can send more emails using Smartlead:

1. Connect Multiple Domains and Email Accounts

Smartlead allows you to connect unlimited domains and email accounts, effectively multiplying your sending capacity. For example, if each email account can send 2,000 emails per day, connecting five accounts increases your daily limit to 10,000 emails. 

Smartlead integrates with multiple domains and email service providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, or custom SMTP) to distribute your email campaigns across several accounts. This ensures that no single account exceeds its daily limit, keeping your campaigns compliant and efficient.

This reduces the risk of account suspension. Since you are spreading your email volume across multiple domains for better deliverability, you can scale campaigns effortlessly while maintaining compliance.

2. Automate Email Warm-Up

New email accounts require a warm-up phase to build a positive sender reputation. Smartlead automates this process, sending small volumes of emails initially and gradually increasing them over time. The platform also ensures high reply rates by sending realistic, personalized conversations among email accounts.Smartlead’s warm-up feature mimics human-like interactions, sending emails, replies, and follow-ups between inboxes to establish credibility with email service providers (ESPs).

Consistent warmup establishes trust with ESPs like Gmail and Outlook and improves inbox placement rates significantly.

3. Segment Your Campaigns for Higher Volume

Instead of sending emails to your entire contact list at once, Smartlead allows you to segment your audience into smaller groups. By doing this, you can stay within Gmail’s limits for each account while still reaching your full audience in a staggered manner.

Divide your contact list into manageable segments based on criteria such as geography, job title, or engagement level. Schedule emails to different segments at different times to avoid triggering spam filters.

4. Personalize Your Emails with AI

Personalized emails have a much higher chance of being opened and responded to. Smartlead makes it easy to create highly personalized email campaigns using AI-driven tools, merge tags, and spintax features.

Use Smartlead’s merge tags to insert personalized data (e.g., name, company, or industry) into every email. Leverage spintax to create variations in your email content, ensuring that no two emails look identical. Avoid spam triggers caused by repetitive email content.

5. Schedule Emails for Better Deliverability

Smartlead allows you to schedule emails in batches over time, ensuring you don’t overwhelm ESPs like Gmail with a sudden spike in sending volume.

Set custom sending schedules for each email account. Use Smartlead’s AI to randomize sending times and mimic natural email behavior. This reduces the risk of emails being flagged as spam. Once the emails maintain a sending gap between them, it imitates a human-like sending patterns and maintains high deliverability. 

6. Monitor Performance and Optimize Campaigns

With Smartlead’s advanced analytics and tracking tools, you can monitor the performance of your email campaigns and optimize them for better results.

Track open rates, reply rates, and click-through rates in real time. Identify which email accounts or domains are performing poorly and adjust your strategy accordingly. 

7. Build and Maintain a Clean Lead List

Smartlead helps you validate and clean your email lists, ensuring that you’re only sending to active, valid email addresses. This reduces bounce rates and improves your sender reputation.

You can use Smartlead’s verification feature to identify and remove invalid or inactive email addresses from your list. Regularly update your contact lists to keep them fresh and accurate.

Best Practices for Sending High Volumes of Emails

To ensure your emails consistently reach the inbox, follow these best practices when using Smartlead:

• Authenticate Your Emails: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your domain to improve email authentication and deliverability.
• Provide an Easy Unsubscribe Option: Including a clear unsubscribe link in your emails helps you stay compliant and reduces the risk of spam complaints.
• Monitor Spam Reports: Keep spam complaints below 0.30% to maintain a good sender reputation.
• Validate Your DNS Records: Ensure your domains have valid forward and reverse DNS records for reliable email delivery.
• Gradually Scale Your Sending Volume: When using new email accounts, start with a warm-up phase to build reputation before scaling to higher volumes.

Gmail Sending Limits: Guideline to Follow from February, 2024

Starting February 1, 2024, Gmail introduced stricter requirements for accounts sending more than 5,000 emails per day. Here’s what you need to have in place:

• DKIM and SPF Records: Ensure these are properly configured for your domains.
• DMARC Policy: Set up DMARC authentication with an enforcement policy of “None.”
• DNS Records: Validate both forward and reverse DNS records for your sending domains.
• Spam Control: Keep spam complaints well below Gmail’s threshold of 0.30%.
• Unsubscribe Button: Provide recipients with a one-click unsubscribe option.

Gmail Error Messages: Troubleshooting

1. You have reached a limit for sending mail

This simply means you have exhausted your daily quota of sending emails. You should be able to send emails again in 1-24 hours. 

Pro Tip: To avoid this error, create a Google Group of all your recipients and send the messenger to the group’s email address. 

2. Messages you sent couldn’t be delivered

There are two probable causes: 

• You have entered an invalid email address
• Your email bounced from the recipient’s email server

Always cross check your recipient’s email address and weed out disabled accounts to ensure high deliverability. 

3. A contact is getting too much mail 

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

You might receive the above-mentioned Gmail error message when you send too many emails to a recipient within a short time span. Try communicating with the particular recipient in another way. 

Gmail Account Suspension: What to Do? 

If you exhaust your Gmail email sending limit per day, the Gmail account you are using might get temporarily suspended. To stay safe, it’s best if you don’t cross your Gmail daily email limit, as it might hamper email deliverability rates and reduce sender reputation and domain reputation. 

Using Gmail with IMAP or POP clients, the maximum number of recipients can be 100 people at a time. It also includes emails sent through smtp-relay.gmail.com or smtp.gmail.com. 

If your Gmail account gets suspended, you may see the error – “550 5.4.5 Daily sending quota exceeded.”

This happens when sent emails bounce back and/or if a large number of sent emails remain undelivered. This can also happen if you add too many nonexistent email addresses. 

So, it’s best to verify the email addresses of your recipients before adding them to the mailing list (email list). 

In case of account suspension, Google reactivates your account within 24 hours. 

Conclusion 

Gmail’s sending limits are essential for maintaining a spam-free environment but can hinder large-scale outreach. By understanding these limits and using tools like Smartlead, you can bypass constraints, scale your email campaigns, and maintain high deliverability.

Smartlead’s features—like automated warm-ups, segmentation, and personalization—enable efficient outreach while staying compliant with Gmail’s rules. Implement these strategies to optimize your campaigns and achieve better results. Start with Smartlead today!