--- title: "Bounced Email Notifications: How to Identify Which Recipient Bounced" description: When an email you send through CounselMore can't be delivered, you'll get a bounced email notification. If you sent that email to more than one address at once — like a student and their parent together — the alert won't tell you which of those addresses actually failed. This article walks through a common scenario and how to track down the bad address. --- [Skip to content](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/bounced-email-notifications-how-to-identify-which-recipient-bounced#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [![CounselMore College Planning Software Knowledge Base](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logos/CMLogo_CCS_wide_trans-w2000-1.gif?width=1116&height=125&name=CMLogo_CCS_wide_trans-w2000-1.gif)](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/?hsLang=en) Open main navigation Close main navigation - English Show submenu for translations Select below, or search by topic - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Knowledge Base : CounselMore Support](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/?hsLang=en) 2. [CLIENT MANAGEMENT](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/client-management?hsLang=en) 3. [Clients - Messages tab](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/client-management?hsLang=en#clients-messages-tab) # Bounced Email Notifications: How to Identify Which Recipient Bounced ## When an email you send through CounselMore can't be delivered, you'll get a bounced email notification. If you sent that email to more than one address at once — like a student and their parent together — the alert won't tell you which of those addresses actually failed. This article walks through a common scenario and how to track down the bad address. ### What a bounced email notification means A bounce means the receiving mail server rejected or returned the message — most often because the address is invalid, misspelled, full, or blocking your CounselMore email domain. You'll see this in two places: - **The notification bell** in the top nav shows an alert like *"Bounced email alert for \[Client Name\]"* (for example, "Bounced email alert for Valerie Cruz"). ![bounced](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/hs-fs/hubfs/bounced.png?width=291&height=122&name=bounced.png) - **The client's Messages tab** shows a bounce indicator alongside the Sent / Delivered / Read statuses. > ![bounce](https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/hs-fs/hubfs/bounce.png?width=514&height=200&name=bounce.png) **Example scenario** You're emailing a client update and you address it to **both the student and their parent(s)** in one message — say, to Valerie Cruz and her mom, cc'd together the way you normally would for a family update. A little while later, you see this in your notification bell: > ⚠️ **Bounced email alert for Valerie Cruz** The alert only names **Valerie Cruz** — the student record — not which address on that message bounced. Since the email went to both the student and the parent, you don't know yet whether it was Charlotte's own email or her parent's that failed. **Why this happens** The bounce notification is tied to the **client record**, not to the individual recipient address. When a message goes out to multiple contacts under the same client (student + one or two parents/guardians), a bounce on any one of those addresses triggers the same alert, worded the same way, regardless of which contact it was. **How to identify which address bounced** 1. Open the profile for the client named in the alert and check the **Messages** tab. 2. Send a short, separate test email to **one address at a time** — first to the student alone, then to the parent alone (don't cc both again). 3. Check the Messages tab after each send: - If it shows **Delivered**, that address is fine. - If it shows **Bounced**, you've found the invalid address. 4. Repeat for any remaining contact (e.g., a second parent) until you've confirmed exactly which address is bouncing. 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