550 5.4.7: Delivery Time Expired
The 5.4.7 bounce means the message expiry time was exceeded before delivery. Learn the difference from 4.4.7 and what to do.
Published · Last verified · Maintained by TamingDNS
550
5.4.7
Delivery Time Expired
Common
🔢 Enhanced Status Code Breakdown: 5.4.7
| Component | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Class | 5 | Permanent failure (Hard bounce) |
| Subject | 4 | Network and routing |
| Detail | 7 | Delivery Time Expired |
Per RFC 3463 Enhanced Mail System Status Codes. Class (X) = severity, Subject (Y) = category, Detail (Z) = specific condition.
💬 What This Error Means
Your email ran out of time! It's like a package that sat in a delivery truck for too long and had to be returned. Your server tried to deliver it, but the deadline you (or your server) set was reached before the recipient's server answered.
Common Causes
- Your mail server is set to give up very quickly if it can't deliver right away
- The recipient's server was unreachable for the entire time your server was trying
- A specific "Expiry" rule was attached to the message that has now passed
How to Fix This
- Check if your email system has a message expiry setting that is too short
- Verify the recipient domain is reachable
- Try resending manually
📚 Official Documentation
📋 Real-World Example Messages
These are real bounce message formats you might receive. Paste yours into the Bounce Decoder for instant analysis.
550 5.4.7 Message expired - unable to deliver
🔗 Related Error Codes
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