Message is Undeliverable

Problem

After sending a message, you receive a message that says the message you sent was undeliverable.

For example, let's say you sent a message with the subject "Social Dinner and Dance This Friday!" and you receive a message similar to this:

From: System Administrator
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:35 PM
To: your.name@ucsf.edu
Subject: Undeliverable:Social Dinner and Dance This Friday!

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

    Subject: Social Dinner and Dance This Friday!
    Sent: 7/26/2005 1:35 PM

The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

    someone@ucsf.edu on 7/26/2005 1:35 PM
        The e-mail account does not exist at the organization this message was sent to. Check the e-mail address, or contact the recipient directly to find out the correct address.
        <mailserver.university.edu #5.1.1>

The message you receive might not look exactly like the one above, but it says in some way that the message you sent was undeliverable.

Details

You have successfully sent messages to that e-mail address in the past.

Solution

Do either or both of the following:

Contact the person by another method, such as telephone, fax, or snail mail, to confirm that the address you have is correct. Some possibilities:

A miscommunication was made.
His or her e-mail address has changed.
He or she has left the organization where he or she was employed, and his or her e-mail account has subsequently been closed.

If you're using Microsoft Outlook, it's possible that Outlook is using cached information which is no longer current. This is more likely to be true if your intended recipient has recently changed his or her e-mail address. This problem can occur even though mail sent to your intended recipient's old e-mail address was expected to forward to his or her new e-mail address.

To prevent Outlook from using cached information for a particular name or e-mail address:

Start Outlook.
Create a new mail message by selecting File > New > Mail Message.
Begin typing your intended recipient's name or e-mail address (as you normally do). A pop-up listbox appears listing possible matching names or e-mail addresses. In this example, we'll delete cached information for Lee, Robert E.:
Use the Up and Down arrow keys on your keyboard to select your intended recipient's name so that it is highlighted. In the example below, we pressed the Down arrow 3 times:
Press the Delete key on your keyboard. The selected name or address is removed from the list. This removes the cached information for that name or e-mail address.

From this point on, Outlook should be able to send messages successfully to your intended recipient.

If you have tried both of the solutions above and are still having problems, please call 415/514-4100 (Option 2). If possible, be at an internet-connected computer with your e-mail application open.

More Information

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UCSF School of Pharmacy