Overview of bouncing

When group messages cannot be delivered by email to a group member for some reason, the nondelivery events are called bounces. Those events put that member’s Groups.io account into a bouncing state that affects all the groups the member belongs to with that account’s email address.

Groups.io tries to notify a bouncing member by sending them an email message that has the subject line “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing.” Also, when a bouncing member logs in to the Groups.io website, a red banner at the top of the page informs them that their account is bouncing.

Note: When a Groups.io account is bouncing, the member can still log in to group websites and read and post messages there. Bouncing affects only email delivery; it does not affect the member’s ability to use group websites.

Checking recent email bounces

If you realize that you have not received any group email messages for a while, but you have not received an email notification that your account is bouncing, you can check your account to see whether group email messages are bouncing:

1. Go to your account settings.
2. Desktop browser: In the left menu, select Bounces.
   Mobile device: Tap the More icon at the bottom of the page, then tap Bounces on the More menu.
3. Review the Bounces page to see whether any messages are listed there and, if so, what the associated error messages are.

Tip: You can also check your email delivery history in individual groups you subscribe to. See Checking your email delivery history for a group.

What to do if your account is bouncing

When your Groups.io account is bouncing, you can try to “unbounce” your account using any of these methods:

• If you received a “Your Groups.io Account is Bouncing” email notification, click or tap the link in the email to unbounce your account.
• Make sure you are not logged in to Groups.io, and go to the Groups.io Log In page. Click or tap the Email me a link to log in button, then click or tap the login link in the email you receive. 
• Go to the Groups.io website (and log in if necessary). You will be directed to a web page with a red banner at the top stating that your account is bouncing. The page shows the most recent bounce messages and gives you the option to either change your email address or send an email (also known as a bounce probe) to the bouncing address with a link to unbounce it.

! Important: Group owners and moderators cannot do anything to unbounce their group members’ accounts. When your account is bouncing, you must address the underlying problem yourself, which might involve contacting your email service provider for assistance or investigation.

What to do if members in your group have bouncing accounts

From time to time, group owners or moderators might want to review their group’s member list to check whether any members are being reported as bouncing. 

! Important: Other than try to contact members and make them aware of their bouncing status, group owners and moderators cannot do anything to “unbounce” members’ accounts. Members must address the underlying problem themselves.

To check a group you own or moderate for bouncing members:

1. Display the member list.
2. In the list, review the Email column. Next to their email addresses, bouncing members have either a red B badge (“Bounced”—the system received no response to any bounce probes for 15 days) or a blue B badge (“Bouncing”—the system is sending bounce probes every 3 days).
   Tip: To see a list of only the members who are bouncing, click or tap the Filter button above the list, select the Bouncing checkbox in the filter list, then click or tap Apply at the bottom of the filter list. The page is refreshed and displays a list of only the bouncing members.
3. Review the email delivery history of each bouncing member to try and determine the reason why the account is bouncing:
   • On the Members page, click or tap in the row (anywhere except the checkbox) of a bouncing member. The Membership page for that member appears.
   • Click or tap the Membership button at the top of the page, then select Email Delivery History from the dropdown list.
   • On the resulting page, review the Bounces panel. It lists all recent bounces and the reasons for them.
     Note: This panel displays activity from only your group. Because the account’s bouncing status could have resulted from failed deliveries of messages in another group the member belongs to, you might have to direct the member to look up their own bouncing activity to see what is going on. An individual member can find that information on the Bounces page for their account. See What to do if your account is bouncing.

Tip: In the Bounces panel on a member’s email delivery history page:

• 400-level errors usually indicate a temporary condition, and the affected message could subsequently get delivered.
• 500-level errors are considered permanent.

These resources on SMTP error codes provide information that you might find helpful:

• What Those SMTP Error Codes Mean and Why You Should Care
• SMTP errors and reply codes