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Hard bounce vs soft bounce in HubSpot, and what happens next

A hard bounce usually means the address will not work again. A soft bounce is temporary.

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Short answer

HubSpot's KB: a hard bounce usually indicates a permanent error, though a strict security filter can also cause one. A soft bounce is a temporary problem with the recipient's server. The contact property Email hard bounce reason stores the last hard bounce reason. If the address hard bounced globally but never from your account, that property can be empty.

1. Where to look

Bounce data is in each sent email's performance. My demo portal has five marketing emails, mostly drafts.

Marketing Email list with Manage, Templates and Analyze tabs and a table of emails
The email tabs (1) and the email list (2).

2. What to do

  • Hard bounce from a typo: correct the email address.
  • Hard bounce from a dead address: stop marketing to it. See bounced contacts still marketing.
  • Repeated soft bounces: check the recipient's server or your sending reputation.

3. Related

Deliverability checklist.

Sources

New field notes by email

One email when a new article publishes.

Still stuck?

If this did not fix it, the problem is probably specific to your setup. Book a call and we will look at it together.

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