I Get Emails, But Sender Gets Delivery Failure Notice

Outlook
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Many users are getting a "Message Delivery Failure" error, claiming their emails can't be delivered or are rejected, yet the recipients are actually receiving them. What's causing this issue?

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Hey there,

The infamous “Message Delivery Failure” mystery Don’t worry, it’s more common than you think, and there are a few reasons why this might be happening.

Here are the top culprits:

1. Misconfigured Spam Filters or Anti-Spam Services

Sometimes, the sender’s email server or their ISP’s spam filters might flag the email as spam, resulting in a delivery failure notice. However, if the recipient’s email server doesn’t consider it spam, the email will still be delivered.

2. DNS or MX Record Issues

Problems with the sender’s domain name system (DNS) or mail exchange (MX) records can cause delivery failures. If these records are not set up correctly, it can prevent the email from being delivered… or so it seems.

3. Email Content or Formatting

The content or formatting of the email itself might be triggering the delivery failure notice. This could be due to the presence of suspicious keywords, attachments, or even HTML formatting issues.

4. Overzealous Recipient Email Servers

Occasionally, the recipient’s email server might be too aggressive in flagging emails as spam or undeliverable. This can happen even if the email is legitimate.

5. Bounces Due to Server Load or Maintenance

If the recipient’s email server is experiencing high load or undergoing maintenance, it might send a delivery failure notice to the sender, even if the email was delivered successfully.

So, what can you do to troubleshoot this?

  1. Check the email content: Review the email for any suspicious keywords, attachments, or formatting issues. Make sure the email is formatted correctly and doesn’t contain anything that might trigger spam filters.
  2. Verify DNS and MX records: Ensure the sender’s DNS and MX records are correctly set up. You can use tools like Dig or WhatsMyDNS to check these records.
  3. Check spam filters and anti-spam services: If the sender is using any spam filters or anti-spam services, verify their settings and adjust them if necessary.
  4. Contact the recipient’s email provider: Reach out to the recipient’s email provider to see if they’re experiencing any issues with their email servers.

By following these steps, you should be able to identify and resolve the issue causing the “Message Delivery Failure” notices.