Google sending limit reached

Google limits how much each Gmail and Google Workspace account can send. When an account hits that limit, Google refuses more mail for a while. That covers everything the account sends, including Distro campaigns and your normal Gmail use. Distro notices when Google says "slow down", holds off, and tries again later.

Symptoms

• A campaign's Delivery tab shows many emails as Retry scheduled.
• Sending is much slower than your schedule suggests.
• Gmail shows a message, or you get a bounce, saying you've reached a sending limit.
• You can't send normal emails from Gmail either.

What Distro does when Google pushes back

• It stops pushing. When Google answers with a rate or quota limit, Distro pauses sending from that Google account for a short time, and longer if Google says how long to wait.
• It retries later. Affected emails are marked Retry scheduled and tried again automatically.
• It doesn't double-send. A retried email is the same email, and Distro never sends it twice if Google already accepted it.
• It's per Google account. Every campaign and every alias on the same account shares the pause, because Google's limit applies to the whole account.

If Google keeps refusing for a long time, some emails may run out of retries and not be sent. Check the campaign's Delivery tab and the Recent activity page once things recover.

Fix it

1. Pause campaigns that send from this account if Google says you've been blocked. That includes Email + LinkedIn campaigns with email steps from this account. That stops new work piling up while the limit is in place. See Pause, resume or end a campaign.
2. Wait for Google to lift the limit. Google's help pages describe these blocks as temporary, often lasting up to a day. Distro can't lift a Google limit.
3. Lower your daily volume. In the campaign composer, open Autopilot and reduce Max emails per day. Remember that the limit is shared: add up every campaign on this account, plus what you send by hand from Gmail. See Choose your daily sending volume.
4. Check bounces. Lots of emails to invalid addresses can lead Google to restrict an account. Clean your list before resuming. See Keeping your prospect list clean.
5. Resume gradually, especially on a new account. See How to prepare a new sending account.

Distro's limits vs Google's limits

These are different things:

• Distro's limits (your campaign's Max emails per day, sending hours, spacing, and any plan limits) are pacing Distro applies before an email is sent. Reaching them just means "continue tomorrow".
• Google's limit is enforced by Google on the whole account. Reaching it means Google refuses mail, from Distro and from Gmail, until it resets.

Staying well below Google's limit is good for your sender reputation too. Gmail sending limits explained explains the difference between Distro's campaign limit, Google's own limits and a sensible volume for cold outreach.