Why Your WordPress Emails Are Blocked: Understanding 'Probation' and 'Allowance Exhausted' Errors

If you've configured the Easy WP SMTP plugin and suddenly start seeing errors like "Your probation email allowance is exhausted" or find your site is "locked from sending emails", it can be incredibly frustrating. This guide will explain what these errors mean and the most common steps to resolve them.

What Do These Errors Mean?

Errors mentioning "probation," "allowance exhausted," or being "locked" are almost never generated by the Easy WP SMTP plugin itself. The plugin acts as a bridge, handing off emails to your configured mailer service (like Gmail, Office 365, or your web host's SMTP server). These specific errors are rejection messages coming from your email service provider. They indicate that the service you are using to send mail has temporarily or permanently blocked the sending activity.

Why Does This Happen?

Email services impose limits to prevent spam and abuse. Here are the most common reasons for these blocks:

• Outgoing Email Limits: Many web hosts enforce strict hourly or daily limits on the number of emails a site can send. This is especially common on shared hosting plans. Once you hit this limit, you'll be blocked until the limit resets.
• New Account "Probation": Some SMTP services, particularly new accounts or those on free tiers, start with a lower sending limit or a probationary period. Exceeding this initial allowance triggers a block.
• Blacklisted Recipient: As seen in one thread, attempting to send an email to a recipient whose email address or domain is on a known blacklist can sometimes cause your entire sending service to be temporarily suspended as an anti-spam measure.
• Spam-like Activity: If your site sends a large volume of emails in a short time or has a compromised form sending spam, the email service may automatically block the account to protect its reputation.

How to Troubleshoot and Resolve the Issue

Since the error is originating from your email service, your first point of contact should always be them. Follow these steps to diagnose and fix the problem.

Step 1: Contact Your Email Service Provider or Web Host

This is the most critical step. Reach out to the support team for your SMTP service (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Brevo) or your web hosting provider if you're using their SMTP server. Ask them directly:

• Are there any sending limits on my account?
• Has my account or sending IP address been temporarily blocked for any reason?
• Did I recently hit a sending limit or probationary cap?

They can check their logs, confirm the block, and often lift it immediately or advise you on your account's specific limits.

Step 2: Check for and Prevent Spam at the Source

As highlighted in one support thread, while Easy WP SMTP ensures email delivery, it delivers all emails—both legitimate and spam. If your website forms are being abused by bots, you could quickly hit sending limits. To prevent this:

• Install a CAPTCHA or anti-spam solution (like reCAPTCHA) on all your forms.
• Use a form plugin that includes robust spam prevention tools.
• Regularly monitor your site for signs of compromise.

Stopping spam submissions conserves your email allowance and hosting resources.

Step 3: Review Your Sending Volume and Limits

Investigate if your site's legitimate email volume is simply too high for your current plan. If you run a WooCommerce store or a membership site, you may be sending hundreds of transactional emails. You may need to:

• Upgrade your web hosting plan to one with higher email limits.
• Switch to a dedicated transactional email service like SendGrid, Mailjet, or Amazon SES, which are designed for high-volume sending.

Step 4: Rule Out Plugin Conflicts (For Other Issues)

While not directly related to "allowance exhausted" errors, a general best practice for any SMTP issue is to rule out conflicts. If you are experiencing other problems, like the test email function locking up your admin panel, try this:

1. Temporarily disable all other plugins except for Easy WP SMTP.
2. Try sending a test email again.
3. If it works, reactivate your plugins one-by-one to identify the one causing the conflict.

Understanding that the Easy WP SMTP plugin is a conduit for your email—not the source of the limits—is key to solving these problems. By working with your email service provider and ensuring your site isn't generating spam, you can resolve these blocking issues and achieve reliable email delivery.