Enhanced Status Code 5.7.13: User Account Disabled
Enhanced Status Code 5.7.13 means “User Account Disabled.” The account authenticated successfully and was then refused because an administrator has disabled it. Retrying and re-entering the password cannot help; the block is administrative and only an administrator can lift it.
550 5.7.13 Message Not Delivered: sender account disabledWhat does 5.7.13 mean?
Enhanced status code 5.7.13 means the user account is disabled. RFC 5248 registers it for the case where a system administrator has disabled an account, for reasons such as non-payment, abuse, or evidence of a break-in attempt. The distinguishing feature is the order of events: authentication succeeds first, and only then does the server refuse. That is what separates it from a wrong password.
In Microsoft 365 this is the code you get when a mailbox has had its sign-in blocked, its licence removed, or the user deleted while an application is still authenticating as it. Microsoft also returns 5.7.13 and the related 5.7.135 when a sender is not authenticated for a public folder. Because the credentials themselves are still valid, monitoring that only checks whether authentication succeeded will report the connection as healthy while every message is rejected.
For anyone running automated sending, this is a code worth alerting on separately. A disabled service account produces a total, silent outage: the sender keeps connecting and authenticating without error, and every message bounces. Unlike a reputation problem it will not recover on its own and will not improve by slowing down.
How 5.7.13 plays out
5.7.13 rejectionWhere 5.7.13 sits: soft vs hard bounce
| Soft bounce (4xx) | Hard bounce (5xx) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Temporary | Permanent |
| SMTP class | 4xx | 5xx |
| What to do | Let it retry | Suppress the address |
| Recoverable? | Often | No |
| 5.7.13 is | ✓ this code |
What each provider means by 5.7.13
A registered code does not oblige a provider to use it that way, and the large ones diverge. Match the wording in your own bounce, not the definition above.
Common causes of 5.7.13
- The sending mailbox has had its sign-in blocked in the directory
- The account licence was removed or expired, leaving the mailbox unlicensed
- The user was deleted while an application still authenticates as that account
- The account was disabled for non-payment or for suspected abuse
- A security incident triggered an automatic account lockout
- The sender is not authorised to submit to a public folder or shared mailbox
How to fix 5.7.13
- Check the account sign-in status in your identity provider, not just the password
- Confirm the mailbox still holds a valid licence
- Re-enable the account, or move sending to a service account that is not tied to a person
- For public folder or shared mailbox rejections, grant the sender explicit Send As rights
- Alert on 5.7.13 separately from authentication failures, since credentials still appear valid
- Stop the retry loop: this code will not resolve itself, and retrying wastes reputation