> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mailofly.com/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.


## Related topics

- [Delivery statuses](/logs/delivery-statuses.md)
- [Email Suppressions](/sending/email-suppressions.md)
- [Deliverability Insights](/sending/deliverability-insights.md)
- [Introduction](/sending/introduction.md)
- [Migration Guide](/audience/migration-guide.md)