QuasarGmail sending limits
Gmail and Outlook sending limits and bulk sender rules (2026)
Current Gmail, Google Workspace, Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 sending limits, the bulk sender rules and a safe sending plan for cold email.
Short answer: A personal Gmail account can send 500 emails a day; Google Workspace allows 2,000 messages per user per day. Outlook.com with a Microsoft 365 subscription allows 5,000 recipients a day (1,000 of them new contacts), and Exchange Online 10,000 recipients a day. These are ceilings, not targets: for cold email, stay well under 100 per mailbox per day, authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and put a one-click unsubscribe in every message.
Gmail and Google Workspace sending limits
| Account | Daily limit | Other limits |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Gmail | 500 emails | Up to 500 recipients per email |
| Google Workspace | 2,000 messages per user | 10,000 total recipients, 3,000 external recipients, 500 external recipients per message |
| Google Workspace (trial) | 500 messages | Limits do not rise during the trial |
Source: Google's Gmail and Google Workspace Admin Help pages. Limits apply over a rolling 24 hours and can change. If you exceed them, Gmail blocks sending for up to a day.
Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 sending limits
| Account | Daily limit | Other limits |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook.com with Microsoft 365 subscription | 5,000 recipients | 500 recipients per message, 1,000 non-relationship (new) recipients per day |
| Outlook.com free / new account | Lower, rises with history | Microsoft does not publish a fixed figure |
| Exchange Online (Microsoft 365 business) | 10,000 recipients per mailbox | 500 recipients per message by default |
Microsoft announced, then in January 2026 cancelled, a 2,000-per-mailbox external recipient limit for Exchange Online. It is instead rolling out a tenant-level external recipient limit during 2026; check Microsoft's current Exchange Online limits page for the figure that applies to you.
The bulk sender rules: Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook
Since February 2024 Gmail and Yahoo have required more from bulk senders, and Gmail began stepping up enforcement — with temporary and permanent rejections — in November 2025. Outlook.com followed on 5 May 2025 for domains sending more than 5,000 messages a day, rejecting non-compliant mail with the error 550 5.7.515 Access denied.
| Requirement | Gmail (5,000+/day) | Outlook.com (5,000+/day) |
|---|---|---|
| SPF | Required | Required |
| DKIM | Required | Required |
| DMARC | At least p=none, aligned with SPF or DKIM |
At least p=none, aligned with SPF or DKIM |
| One-click unsubscribe | Required for marketing mail (RFC 8058) | Recommended (functional unsubscribe link) |
| Spam rate | Below 0.3% in Postmaster Tools (aim for under 0.1%) | Keep complaints low |
Even below 5,000 a day, Google requires SPF or DKIM from every sender, and every mailbox provider ranks mail by authentication, complaints and engagement. Treat the bulk sender list as the minimum for cold email.
Setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC
Each is a DNS record on your domain:
- SPF lists the servers allowed to send for your domain. For Google Workspace:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all - DKIM signs every message. Generate the key in the Google Workspace (or Microsoft 365) admin console and publish it as a TXT record.
- DMARC tells receivers what to do when SPF and DKIM fail and sends you reports. Start with
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com, read the reports for a few weeks, then move towardsquarantineorreject.
One-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058)
One-click unsubscribe means two headers in the message:
List-Unsubscribe: <https://example.com/unsubscribe/abc123>, <mailto:unsubscribe@example.com>
List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click
Gmail shows an "Unsubscribe" link next to the sender; one click sends a POST request to your URL and the person is removed — no login, no confirmation page. Google asks senders to honour it within two days. Add a visible unsubscribe link in the body as well.
A safe sending plan for cold email
- Warm up new mailboxes. Week one: about 20 a day, then 30, 50, 80.
- Space your sends. 30–90 seconds between messages, never hundreds in a burst.
- Personalise every message. Name, city, industry and one specific observation; identical bodies attract filters and complaints.
- Keep it short. 80–120 words, one question, no attachments, at most one link.
- Remove bounces immediately. Hard bounces hurt your reputation fast.
- Stop on the first no. Unsubscribes and "not interested" replies go on a permanent suppression list.
- Watch the numbers. Google Postmaster Tools for spam rate, and your own bounce and reply rates.
How Quasar does this
Quasar sends from your own Gmail account. It waits 30–90 seconds between messages, enforces a daily limit and a warm-up per mailbox, adds RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe headers and a visible link to every email, and permanently suppresses anyone who unsubscribes or bounces. You select leads in the results table and start a bulk send in one click; if the day's limit is reached, sending stops, and when you start the same selection again the next day, leads that were already sent are skipped automatically.
Next: how to find local business leads and cold email templates that get replies.
Frequently asked questions
How many emails can I send per day with Gmail?
A personal Gmail account can send 500 emails per day, with up to 500 recipients per email. A Google Workspace account can send 2,000 messages per user per day, to at most 10,000 recipients in total and 3,000 external recipients; trial accounts are limited to 500.
What are Outlook's sending limits?
Microsoft documents 5,000 daily recipients, 500 recipients per message and 1,000 daily non-relationship recipients for Outlook.com with a Microsoft 365 subscription; free and new accounts get less. Exchange Online mailboxes in Microsoft 365 can send to 10,000 recipients per day.
What are the Gmail bulk sender requirements?
Senders of more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail must authenticate with SPF and DKIM, publish a DMARC policy of at least p=none, align the From domain, offer one-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058) in marketing mail, honour unsubscribes within two days and keep the spam rate reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.3%.
Do the bulk sender rules apply if I send fewer than 5,000 emails a day?
The hard requirements are aimed at bulk senders, but Google requires SPF or DKIM from everyone, and mailbox providers judge every sender by authentication, complaints and engagement. Setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC is the baseline for any cold email.
What happens if I exceed the Gmail limit?
Gmail temporarily blocks sending from the account, usually for up to 24 hours, and you see an error such as 'You have reached a limit for sending mail'. Repeatedly hitting the limit harms your account's reputation.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check current rules and your own situation with a professional.