Today, we’ll see the main reasons why users get an “email address rejected by server” error and how we help to resolve it.
Convenience at your fingertips – That’s why mobile devices are now widely used for sending and receiving emails.
But when email errors pop up, it can be a nuisance for users. At Bobcares, we resolve many email errors as a part of our Technical Support Services for web hosting companies.
One such email error is “email address rejected by server” which is seen when iPhone or iPad customers try to send mail from their Apple devices.
“Email address rejected by server” – when do you see this error?
Apple devices come with their custom iCloud backup. Most users backup their phone settings to this backup, and restore it when needed.
These backups are useful in cases where users migrate to a new Apple device or when they restore their lost data to an existing device.
While the backups work fine in most cases, in certain scenarios, customers report that they get this error when trying to send emails after a backup restore.
“Cannot Send Mail. A copy has been placed in your Outbox. The recipient email address rejected by server because it does not allow relaying.”
The same error is reported by iPad and iPhone users who configure their emails for the first time on their devices. In certain cases, an already working mail stops functioning all of a sudden.
Customers who report these errors are usually able to download or fetch mail into their mobile devices and get this error only when trying to send emails.
What causes ’email address rejected by server’ error in iPhone devices
In our experience handling the error ’email address rejected by server’ in iPhone devices, we’ve noticed these as the major causes.
1. Incorrect mail settings
The major cause for the error ’email address rejected by server’, is the incorrect mail server settings in iPhone. These include aspects such as:
- Wrong mail server name
- SMTP server, not ON
- SSL authentication not turned on
- Incorrect SMTP ports
When the iPhone is not able to connect to the mail server at the specified port, it will give out the error “Cannot Send Mail. A copy has been placed in your Outbox. The recipient email address was rejected by the server because it does not allow relaying.”
When you configure mail on your iPhone, you need to specify both the incoming and outgoing mail servers associated with that account, along with the username and password.
The iPhone settings show outgoing mail server details as optional, and so many users tend to ignore those fields.
2. Wrong password
Periodic password resets are required for email account security. But sometimes users forget to update this changed password in their mobile mail settings.
In cases where accounts are migrated, deleted, or re-configured, the password may not be updated on the mobile device, and that can lead to email errors.
3. Mail server errors
It may happen that in some cases, the mail server is facing errors accepting connections to its SMTP port. This can be due to any firewall settings or other email server configuration errors.
4. Software bugs
iOS releases periodic software updates for their devices. Some of these versions such as iOS 11 have some bugs that cause email delivery errors.
5. Incomplete copy of info
When we restore a backup onto a different device some info is not copied over. For example, email password. So, we need to configure the account again.
We can do it by opening “Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > select the account > account name”. Then tap on SMTP (under the ‘Outgoing Mail Server’ heading) and then tap on Primary Server. Then we can try entering the email account and password.
How to fix the ’email address rejected by server’ error in iPhone devices
The primary thing to fix is the email settings on the mobile. The parameters to be checked are:
- Email account username
- Email account password
- Incoming and Outgoing server details
- SMTP port
- SSL support
iPhone mail settings
To update the mail settings on the iPhone,
1. Go to Settings -> Mail Account settings. In the Account settings, choose the “Outgoing Mail Server” section and tap on “SMTP.”
2. Enable your Primary Server by tapping on ‘On’. Fill in the username and password under Outgoing Mail Server.
3. For SSL settings, ‘Use SSL’ must be turned on and Authentication set to Password. For SSL, the port is 465. Otherwise, it is port 25.
4. Update the settings by clicking on “Done” and the emails should work fine without errors.
Email account settings on iPhone
If the device mail settings are fine, but the error persists, the issue can be related to the mail server or due to connectivity issues with the iPhone and the mail server.
We then check the mail server to see if there are any configuration errors, DNS issues, routing mistakes, or firewall blocks that could be causing the error and fix them.
Conclusion
“Email address rejected by server” error happens in iPhone devices mainly due to wrong mail settings. Today we have discussed the top 5 causes for the error and how our Support Engineers fix them.
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Asking me to reset password but I don’t know it
I tried also but the username and password in my iphone is optional
Hi Kahdija,
Please contact our support through live chat(click on the icon at right-bottom).
The outgoing mail server part is greyed and I am not able to make any changes
You are not alone! This is an old problem and seemingly, no one has a fix
Hello Margaret,
This definitely has to do with your email settings. If you still have the error and need help, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
sections to input user name and password are greyed
Hello Christy,
This should be related to settings on your iPhone. Can you please check if any Restrictions are in place?
Where is the outbox. Drafted a very long email and got the message it had been rejected and copy sent to my outbox. Where is it, please??
I try logging in but it gives me an message that email address invalid. Just got a message 2 more tries before being logged out. Can reset account so I can use it
Hello Richard,
Can you confirm the validity of the email address? If you still have the error and need help, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
It is not my e mail address that cannot actually connect … my husband an I have different e mail addresses..we have the problem with the e mail address before it is split for the two of us. Saying cannot recognise the server. Looking closers it is an American e mail
Hi,
Please contact our support team via live chat(click on the icon at right-bottom).
Tried all of the above suggestions outgoing mail still unable to send
Hello Jenny,
This may need a closer look at the iPhone settings that you use.
Really need help fast. Need to send fundraising email. Keeps going to Outbox.
Please help! Thanks
Hi,
Our Experts can help you with the issue, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
Tried several times to change outgoing port which was defaulted on iPhone to 465. Just keeps indicating “verifying” but doesn’t change (the last episode was over five minutes and still no change)
Correction. the phone is defaulted to port 587
There is no “mail account settings” Bob!
Hello Kathleen,
Existing Mail Account settings can be updated through the Accounts & Passwords Settings section. If you still have the error and need help, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
Tried but to no avail
Same error message occurs—Cannot send mail server rejected recipients
All working good this am–once I changed my password all heck broke loose–COMCAST
Can receive but not send from phone and I pad
Desktop ok
Hello Wally,
This must be with the phone and iPad settings. If you need help, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
I was having the same problem. My fix was to go to mail>accounts>smtp and ended up on settings for port,SSL, etc. Where it said “optional” for username and password, I entered them and it worked. Evidently they are not optional to my provider.
You guys really help me out . I really need this information.
Thank you for the guidance..
Not helpful. My email accounts on my iPhone don’t even have this setting.
Hello Becca,
If you still have the error and need help, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
Thank you for your help. this information fixed my problem.
I always experienced this email address server problem when sending emails to my shopify customers using my mobile device. I’m not sure if the recipient email address is invalid or the way I have setup my email had a problem.
Hello Vins,
Bad email settings can cause problems when sending emails. If you still have trouble in emailing, we’d like to check the settings. We’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
I have the same issue, however, I go to the outbox, select the email again on iPhone or iPad, click on send arrow and most times it sends on second attempt. What is going on there?
Plus I have another issue with messenger that it flickers out after writing a mess and then clicking on send? How do I fix this?
Last fix, I can’t get my Apple Watch 4 to connect Bluetooth to my iPhone 8 plus since before iOS 13.5 update. Please help with these issues?
Cheers
Fiona
Hello Fiona,
These errors happen due to settings in iPhone.
If you still have errors and need help, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
Thanks. This really helped a lot.
Fixed! I simply put my user name and password in at the “outgoing” settings even though it said they were optional. Works like a charm.
THIS IS THE TRICK. IT WORKED FOR ME . TOO!!!!!!! Thank you!
Thank you for your help!
You are welcome.
Tried all, but no luck. The same email sends ok from my gmail account but not from my primary outgoing server. Can I change the primary outgoing server? If so, how?
Hi,
Our Experts can help you with the issue, we’ll be happy to talk to you on chat.
It says the email address cannot be saved when I try to send it
Hello Carol.
Our experts can help you on this. We’ll be happy to talk to you on chat (click on the icon at right-bottom).
Worked a treat Thank you ?
I have a list of 150 email addresses in the reply field. How can I simply have the iphone ignore the failing address(es) and send to the other recipients? It doesn’t tell me what address(es) are failing so I can’t remove them from the recipients.
Hello Gerald,
To send an email to multiple recipients while ignoring invalid email addresses, you may need to do the following:
– Check and manually verify each email address.
– Send Multiple Emails: Instead of sending a single email to all 150 recipients at once, consider sending multiple separate emails in smaller batches.
– Use BCC instead of the “To” or “CC” fields.
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback. We are glad to know that our article was helpful for you 🙂 .