To keep our systems healthy and your accounts safe, all Google Apps accounts limit the amount of email a user can receive per minute, hour, and day. Setting up the account to receive frequent automated messages, such as log files, increases the likelihood of reaching the limits.
If an account reaches the limit, a user cannot receive any new email and may experience general account degradation, such as slow searching. All incoming messages are bounced back to the sender.
Receiving limits by interval
The following table shows limits for different time periods. These limits apply for Google Apps for Business or Education editions. The value of these limits may change without notice in order to protect Google’s infrastructure.
| Description | All email addressed to the account; may appear as threaded and non-threaded Gmail conversations |
|---|---|
| Per minute | 180 |
| Per hour | 3600 |
| Per day | 86,400 |
Effects
The restriction on receiving new mail typically lasts for one hour, but can last as long as 24 hours. A user can access and use the account normally after this period, at which time the receiving limits are automatically reset. After an account is reset, a user cannot recover any messages sent to the account during the restriction period.
Recommendations
Here are best practices to avoid reaching the storage limit:
- Send message logs and automated emails to Google Groups. Using Groups, you can use a web interface to read very large or frequently mailed announcements that quickly hit the receiving limits of your email account.
- Avoid using a single account for multiple users, and use Google Groups for sharing mail. Map 10 or fewer email aliases per account. Use groups to create shared mailboxes or to allow many people to send and receive mail with a single address.
- Subscribe to the daily digest forms of heavily trafficked email lists.
- Avoid using catch-all accounts. Spammers often try to guess email addresses in your domain. When they guess incorrectly, the spam is delivered to the catch-all address. The high mail volume can quickly exceed the Gmail receiving limits.
