Azure Communication Service send email to distribution list

Hi @saloni gupta ,

Thank you for reaching us regarding the issue.

• If I send an email to a distribution list (for example, all‑salesemployees) that contains 100 email addresses, does this exceed the 50‑recipient limit?

Azure Communication Services Email enforces a limit of 50 recipients per email request. This limit applies only to the recipient email addresses explicitly specified in the Send Email request (that is, the addresses listed in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields).

 If you specify a distribution list (DL) email address (for example, ******@company.com) as a recipient, Azure Communication Services treats that distribution list as a single recipient address. ACS does not expand the distribution list or count its individual members toward the 50‑recipient limit. The expansion of the distribution list and delivery to individual members is handled by the recipient’s email system (such as Exchange Online), after ACS hands off the message.

 As a result, sending an email to a single distribution list address does not exceed the 50‑recipient limit, even if the distribution list contains more than 50 members.

• When sending an email to a distribution list, is delivery status reported for the list itself or for each individual recipient?

Azure Communication Services provides delivery status and events (for example, via Get Email Status, Azure Monitor logs, or Event Grid) for the recipient addresses included in the Send Email request.

 When an email is sent to a distribution list:

• Delivery status is reported only for the distribution list address itself.
• Azure Communication Services does not provide delivery or bounce status for individual members of the distribution list.
• The internal expansion of the distribution list and final delivery to individual recipients occur within the recipient’s mail system and are outside the visibility of Azure Communication Services.

 You may see an informational delivery status indicating that a distribution group was expanded; however, this does not include per‑member delivery tracking.

Reference:

Azure Monitor Logs reference - ACSEmailStatusUpdateOperational - Azure Monitor | Microsoft Learn

Azure Communication Services - Email events - Azure Event Grid | Microsoft Learn

 Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

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