> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: /docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email Bounces

> Understand hard bounces vs soft bounces and automatic handling in Mailofly.

# Email Bounces

When an email cannot be delivered, the receiving mail server generates an SMTP non-delivery report (bounce).

## Types of Bounces

* **Hard Bounce**: Permanent delivery failure (e.g. email address does not exist, domain is invalid). Mailofly immediately suppresses the recipient to protect your domain reputation.
* **Soft Bounce**: Temporary delivery failure (e.g. recipient mailbox is full, server timeout, message temporarily deferred). Mailofly automatically retries delivery with exponential backoff for up to 72 hours.

## Bounce Webhook Events

Subscribe to `email.bounced` webhooks to automatically mark inactive users in your application database.


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