Gmail sending limits in Google Workspace

To keep systems healthy and accounts safe, Google limits the number of Gmail messages users can send per day, and the number of recipients per message.

If your users exceed an email sending limit, they’ll get an error message, such as:

You have reached a limit for sending email.
You reached a Gmail sending limit.
You exceeded the maximum recipients.

After reaching one of these limits, users can't send new messages for up to 24 hours. However, they can still access their Google Workspace account, get incoming email, and use their other Google services. After the suspension period, sending limits are reset and users can resume sending mail.

Limits for trial accounts

You can try Google Workspace with a free trial account.

Free trial account limits

Google Workspace free trial accounts have different limits than paid accounts, and limits aren’t increased during the free trial period. Visit About your Google Workspace free trial to:

Find out when your trial ends
Convert your trial account to a paid account
Cancel your trial account

Convert to a paid account

To convert to a paid account, follow the steps in About your Google Workspace free trial.

Limits increase for paid accounts

After you convert from a free trial account to a paid subscription, your account sending limits automatically increase when both of the following are true:

Your domain has cumulatively paid at least USD 100 (or equivalent)
At least 60 days have passed since reaching that payment threshold

If you bought your domain from Google, the cost to increase your limits is the cost of your domain plus US 100.

Limits for Drive and Groups with free trial accounts

When using Google Drive through a Google Workspace free trial account, you can share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides with people inside and outside your organization. If you reach the Gmail trial limit, you can continue to share with people outside your organization, but they won't get the sharing email notifications.

When using Google Groups through a Google Workspace free trial account, you might experience the following limits:

Your sending limits might be lower than the limits in Sending limits, below.
You can only send group email to recipients inside your organization.
You can't turn on autoreplies to people outside your organization, even if they're members of a group.
You can't allow messages flagged by Google’s spam filters to be posted directly to a group.

Gmail sending limits

Sending limits can change without notice. Limits per day are applied over a rolling 24-hour period, not a set time of day.

Messages that counts toward user limits

Messages sent from a user's alternate address, or alias
Messages sent by delegated users
Messages sent by Gmail’s vacation responder

Notes:

Sending limits are different if your organization uses the SMTP relay service to route outgoing mail through Google. Instead, go to sending limits for the SMTP relay service.
Quotas might be different if you're using Google Apps Script.
The Google Groups for Business service has its own Gmail message and posting limits.

Limit type	Limit
Maximum messages per day Daily sending limit per user account*	2,000 1,500 for mail merge (previously called multi-send) 500 for trial accounts
Messages auto-forwarded Messages automatically forwarded to another account, not included in the daily sending limit	10,000
Auto-forward mail filters Account filters that automatically forward messages	40
Recipients per message Addresses in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields of a single message*	2,000 total per message (maximum of 500 external recipients )
Recipients per message sent with SMTP by POP or IMAP users Addresses that presented as "RCPT TO" commands; usually, the same amount of total recipients that you define in To, Cc, and Bcc*	100
Recipients per message sent with SMTP with the Gmail API Addresses that presented as "RCPT TO" commands; usually, the same amount of total recipients that you define in To, Cc, and Bcc*	500
Recipients per message sent with GWSMO Addresses in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields of a single message*	100
Total recipients per day Email addresses (recipients) count each time a message is sent; 5 messages sent to 10 addresses count as 50 total recipients*	10,000 1,500 for mail merge (previously called multi-send)
External recipients per day Email addresses outside your primary domain, including domain aliases and alternate domains	3,000
Unique recipients per day Each email address (each unique recipient) counts only once per day: 5 messages sent to 10 different addresses count as 10 unique recipients* 5 messages sent to a single address count as 1 unique recipient*	3,000 2,000 external 500 external for trial accounts

*Applies to internal and external recipients

Gmail sending limits for mobile devices

When you use the Gmail for mobile app in Google Sync mode, the same Sending limits apply as when you use Gmail in a web browser.

When you use the Gmail for mobile app in IMAP mode, the SMTP sending limits apply.

Restore a suspended Gmail account

If a user exceeds their sending limits, their account might be suspended. To get details about the number of messages a user has sent and received, follow the steps for Gmail in User reports: Apps usage.

You might be able activate a suspended account by following the steps in Restore a suspended Gmail account.

User accounts that send spam might be permanently restricted from sending email. For details, go to Google's Spam and abuse policy.

Recommended best practices email senders

To help reduce the likelihood that Gmail blocks your messages or marks your messages as spam, follow the guidelines in Prevent mail to Gmail users from being blocked or sent to spam.

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