# What are soft and hard bounces?

When an email is rejected by a subscriber's email server it is called a bounce. There are basically two types of bounces:

**Soft Bounce:** A soft bounce is a temporary error in email delivery. Mailblast will automatically convert subscribers who soft bounce at least 3 times in a 4 week window into hard bounces.

Some common examples of a soft bounce can be:

* Mailbox is full
* The recipient email server is offline

**Hard Bounce:** A hard bounce is a permanent failure in delivery of an email. Hard bounced recipients are immediately disabled from receiving any future emails from the respective list.

Some common examples of a hard bounce can be:

* Recipient email address does not exist
* Recipient mail server has blocked delivery of your email


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