Hello Sue. What kind of email are you trying to send? Are you forwarding something?
Can’t send email to contact list
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Sue Skyrme
0
Reputation points
Can’t send email to a contact list with about 40 email addresses. It says I have reached daily limit which I have not.
Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email
3 answers
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Emmanuel Santana 38,270 Reputation points Independent Advisor2026-03-26T08:00:36.76+00:00 -
Sue Skyrme 0 Reputation points
2026-03-26T08:03:08.8266667+00:00 No I’m not forwarding anything. Just a simple email to 40 or so people all of whom are in my contacts
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Emmanuel Santana 38,270 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-03-26T08:10:40.69+00:00 Thanks for the follow-up. Have you emailed this same group before, or is this the first time? Also, are some of those recipients new contacts you haven’t emailed before?
In situations like this, Outlook doesn’t rely only on a fixed “daily limit.” It also applies dynamic restrictions based on sending behavior, recipient patterns, and account reputation. For Outlook.com accounts, the limit is often around a few hundred recipients per day, but it can be lower depending on trust signals.
Keep in mind that one message sent to 40 people counts as 40 recipients.
More importantly, if the recipients are external, not regularly contacted, or all included in a single send, the system may flag the message as bulk activity and temporarily block it.
That’s why you can see a “daily limit reached” message even if you haven’t sent many emails overall. In most cases, the restriction clears automatically, but you’ll need to wait up to 24 hours before trying again.
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Sue Skyrme 0 Reputation points
2026-03-26T07:03:38.62+00:00 I have tried everything suggested here but no success
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Q&A Assist2026-03-26T07:00:37.85+00:00 AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn moreThe message is being blocked by Outlook.com sending limits, even if the overall daily limit has not been reached.
For Outlook.com:
- Large recipient lists and repeated sends can trigger protection limits even below the documented maximums. Try:
- Sending to fewer recipients at a time (for example, split the 40-address list into two smaller groups and send separately).
- Waiting several hours and trying again if the limit warning appears.
- If the account is relatively new, it may still be under a lower temporary sending quota. This is raised automatically as the account establishes credibility. See the sending limits guidance and follow the recommendations to increase limits (keep profile and security info complete and up to date, communicate regularly with contacts, and use Microsoft Authenticator).
- Ensure all recipients are saved in Contacts in Outlook.com; this is recommended for improving trust and deliverability.
If the problem persists for normal, low-volume personal use after following these steps, use the Outlook.com support options (in Outlook.com: Settings → Help) and reference that the account is incorrectly hitting the daily sending limit.
References:
- Large recipient lists and repeated sends can trigger protection limits even below the documented maximums. Try: