As a security measure, the Google Groups for Business service has limits for message activity, group size, invitations, and membership. If you reach one of the limits, your activity is temporarily restricted. The restriction typically lasts an hour but can last as long as 24 hours. Learn more about the Groups for Business service.
The value of these limits can change without notice to protect Google's infrastructure.
Groups for Business limits
Note: Limits shown here may vary when in your free trial. See details below
Message and posting limits
| Type | Description | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Individual message size | Maximum total megabytes (MB) that can be sent | 25 MB |
| Total recipients* per group | Maximum total recipients a single group can send to | 6,200,000 per hour*** |
| Total external recipients** per group | Maximum number of external recipients a single group can send to | 50,000 per day |
| Total external recipients** per Google Workspace account | Maximum number of external recipients all groups can send to |
100,000 per day for domains up to 10,000 users 1,000,000 per day for domains with over 10,000 users |
| Total inbound emails per group | Maximum number of emails a group can accept from all senders combined | 300 per 5 minutes |
| Total emails per sender to any one specific group | Maximum number of emails any one sender can send to any one group | 1,800 per hour*** |
| Total message size | Maximum total gigabytes (GB) a single group can send | 2.4 GB per hour*** |
| Total emails per internal sender, across all groups in your Google Workspace account | Maximum number of emails from a single internal sender to all groups within your Google Workspace account | 18,000 per hour*** |
| Total emails per external sender****, across all groups in your Google Workspace account | Maximum number of emails from a single external sender to all groups within your Google Workspace account | 1,800 per hour*** |
| Total posts per member |
Maximum number of posts a member can make to an external group before completing CAPTCHA verification Maximum number of posts a member can make to an external group after completing CAPTCHA verification |
100 per day 500 per day (includes 100 prior to verification) |
| Forwarding and Cc limit for Collaborative inbox groups | Emails forwarded or Cc'd from Collaborative inboxes | 25 email addresses per message |
| Total messages stored in conversation history | Maximum number of emails stored in conversation history if this feature is enabled, per group | 300 per 5 minutes |
Definitions
* Total recipients is the total number of recipients, not the total number of unique recipients. For example, if one of the group members is a subgroup that has two members, the subgroup counts as three recipients: the subgroup and its two members. Learn more about subgroups.
** External recipients are recipients that are outside of your Google Workspace account. For accounts with multiple domains, recipients in all associated domains count as internal recipients. Learn more about multiple domains.
*** Per hour limits are an aggregate total across all groups in your account. A per minute rate limit also applies for new users.
**** External senders who are not Google Workspace customers have a lower sending limit.
Group invitation and size limits only apply to actions performed in the Google Groups UI, groups.google.com. Groups administrators can add more members to a group using the Admin console or the Google Workspace Admin SDK Directory API.
Note: Limits for trial users are lower and additional limits apply.
| Type | Description | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Joins per day | Maximum number of external groups a single user can join in a day | 30 per day |
| Total group creation | Maximum number of groups a user can create | Unlimited |
| Dynamic group creation | Maximum number of dynamic groups a customer can create** | 100 |
| Total group ownership | Maximum number of groups a user can be an owner of at any one time | 1,500 groups |
|
External group creations per week |
Maximum number of external groups a single user can create in a week Maximum number of external groups a single IP address can create in a week |
5 per week 50 per week |
| External member* additions at one time before CAPTCHA verification |
Maximum number of external members that can be added at one time using a web interface before completing CAPTCHA verification |
10 per session |
| Total member additions at one time | Maximum number of internal and external members that can be added at one time using a web interface | 200 per session (includes 10 external members added prior to CAPTCHA verification, if relevant) |
| External member* join request approval per day, per group | Maximum number of external member join requests that can be approved for a single group in a day | 100 per day, per group |
| External member* join request approval per day, per user | Maximum number of external member join requests for any groups that a single user can approve in a day | 100 per day, per user |
| External member* invitations per day, per group | Maximum number of external members that can be invited to a single group in a day | 500 per day, per group |
| External member* invitations per day, per user | Maximum number of external members that a single user can invite to any groups in a day | 500 per day, per user |
| Dynamic group membership query length | Maximum character count of a membership query for dynamic groups | 7,950 |
* External members are group members that are outside of your Google Workspace account. For accounts with multiple domains, members in all associated domains count as internal members. Learn more about multiple domains.
**This limit can be increased on a case-by-case basis—contact Google Workspace Support with your specific use case to request an increase.
If you're the owner or manager of a group, it counts as two memberships, one as a group member and one as the owner or manager. A user is an indirect member of a group if they belong to a different group that's nested in the group. Learn more about nested groups.
| Type | Description | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Total membership, per group | Maximum number of members a group can have | Unlimited |
| Direct membership, per user | Maximum number of groups a user can be a direct member of
Note: This limitation also applies to groups. That is, a group can be a member of 3,000 groups directly. |
Approximately 3,000 |
| Combined direct and indirect membership, per user | Maximum number of groups a user can be a direct or indirect member of
Note: This limitation also applies to groups. That is, a group can be a direct or indirect member of 7,500 groups. |
Approximately 7,500 |
If you're using Google Groups through a Google Workspace trial account, you might experience the following limits:
- Your sending limits might be lower than those stated above. Sending limits are automatically increased at the end of your trial period.
Important: Sending limits are not increased during your trial period. Your account must have started a subscription and ended the trial period before sending limits can be increased. - You cannot turn on auto-replies for anyone outside your organization, whether or not they are members of the group.
- You cannot set the option to allow posting of messages flagged by Google’s spam filters directly to a group.
Use limits are automatically increased when your domain has cumulatively paid at least $100 USD (or equivalent), and at least 60 days have passed since achieving that payment threshold. If you purchased your domain from Google, the amount required to increase your limits is $100 USD plus the cost of your domain.
To end your trial and convert to a paid account, go to Set up paid Google Workspace service.