503 Valid RCPT command must precede DATA

If you are receiving an error when sending email via our servers, it is important to look at the error message itself.  One error we get asked about is the following:

503 Valid RCPT command must precede DATA

This error indicates that your mail client is not authenticating to send email.

Open Outlook, select the account you are having this issue, go to:

  • File->click on Account Settings
  • Click on the dropdown of Account settings
  • Select Server settings
  • Under Outgoing mail settings make sure that the option My outgoing (SMTP) server require authentication is ticked and also select Use same settings as my incoming mail server
  • Click Next and you will receive a confirmation that your account has been successfully configured. 

You should now be able to send emails without any issues.

If you are still having issues, please submit a support ticket providing as much detail as possible including sender, recipient, date and time as well as the error message.  It is worth noting what you have checked also to avoid this being suggested first.

  • email, error, 503, sending mail
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