Understanding Google Mail Sending and Sync Limitations

You can manage your email usage effectively by understanding Gmail's sending and sync limitations, including daily message caps and bandwidth restrictions.

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Instructors, Staff, Students

Sending Limits

In order to prevent spam, Google will temporarily disable accounts that send a lot of email in a short time.

It's important to be aware of Google's sending limits:

  • Messages per day (2,000)
  • Recipients per message (2,000/ 500 external)
  • Total recipients per day (10,000)
  • External and unique recipients per day (3,000)

For alternatives, consider sending emails through Google Groups, Broadcast Email Messaging, or LISTSERV.

Bandwidth/Sync Limits

Similarly, Google Apps accounts also have limits on bandwidth and sync: "Certain activities that transfer large amounts of data in a short period of time, like synchronizing a Gmail account to a mobile phone or mail client, can cause an account to reach the bandwidth limit." If you're using Google Apps email to send many large files, a better tool that will help you avoid these bandwidth limits is Google Drive sharing.

See Bandwidth limits and Sync limits for more information. 

This Content Last Updated:
05/13/2025

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This KB Article References:
This Information is Intended for:
Instructors, Staff, Students
Estimated Read Time:
1 minutes
This Content Last Updated:
05/13/2025