Gmail Rate-Limiting

Overview

If you encounter a warning in Superhuman indicating that Gmail is temporarily throttling requests, it may lead to delays in sending or receiving emails:

The Gmail API imposes upload and download limits. When these limits are exceeded, Gmail may temporarily restrict your account's ability to utilize third-party applications such as Superhuman.


Common Causes of Rate-Limiting

Third-party applications that excessively download your Gmail message history are a common cause of rate-limiting. There are several types of applications known to do this:


Additionally, sending large volumes of emails or a high number of requests to Gmail in a short period is another common cause of restrictions. You can read more about the specific limits that impact your account here.


Resolving Rate-Limiting Issues

We recommend identifying any third-party applications that are using a significant portion of your Gmail bandwidth. Adjusting the settings of these applications to reduce their data usage can help mitigate further rate-limiting issues. If adjustments are not sufficient or possible, consider disconnecting the problematic application from your Gmail account to ensure that all of your Superhuman messages are sent and received.

If your account is throttled by Gmail, the restrictions should be lifted after 24 hours of decreased bandwidth usage.


You can check which applications have access to Gmail like so:

  1. Access your Google Account
  2. Click on Data & privacy in the left sidebar
  3. Scroll down and click on Third-party apps & services
  4. Filter by Access to Gmail


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