Unable to receive emails: 550 5.1.1 Recipient not found

Symptoms

• While trying to send an email to a mailbox which is hosted in Plesk, the following bounce back message appears:

  CONFIG_TEXT: The response from the remote server was:
  550 5.1.1 john.doe@example.com Recipient not found. http://x.co/irbounce

  or

  CONFIG_TEXT: 550 5.1.1 The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try double-checking the recipient's email address for typos or unnecessary spaces. Learn more at  https://support.google.com/ mail/?p=NoSuchUser  u5sor6229229vkf.289 - gsmtp

  or

  CONFIG_TEXT: (521 No Redirect Entry for this address)

• Third party MX records are configured, for example:

  # dig example.com MX
  example.com MX 0 smtp.europe.secureserver.net.
  example.com MX 10 mailstore1.europe.secureserver.net.
  example.com MX 10 aspmx.l.google.com

Cause

3rd-party MX records are configured on the registrar side. Plesk cannot manage mailboxes in such cases.

Resolution

Configure DNS settings to pass mail management to Plesk:

1. Remove the following record in Plesk > Domains > example.com > DNS Settings (If such present):

   CONFIG_TEXT: example.com MX 0 smtp.europe.secureserver.net.

2. Create MX record similar to the record below, at Plesk > Domains > example.com > DNS Settings:
   

3. Make sure that the same MX records as from step 2 configured on the registrar side. For example, if DNS is managed by GoDaddy, MX records must be modified on the GoDaddy side.