The standard email warmup timeline is 2-4 weeks, but that range masks important nuances.
A brand-new domain launching cold outreach needs more time than an established domain recovering from a brief pause. Warming up to send 50 emails daily takes less time than preparing for 500.
Here’s a quick skim of schedules and concrete daily targets based on your scenario:
| Phase / Week | Typical Day Range | Daily Volume Target | Primary Goal | Who You Send To | Non-Negotiables |
| Setup (Pre-Week) | — | 0 | Technical readiness | None | Domain aged 7–14 days, SPF/DKIM/DMARC live |
| Week 1 – Foundation | Days 1–7 | 5 → 25 | Establish baseline reputation | Team, close contacts, guaranteed engagers | 90%+ opens, 50%+ replies, zero complaints |
| Week 2 – Expansion | Days 8–14 | 25 → 50 | Broaden engagement safely | Warm prospects, subscribers | Pause if opens <40% or any complaint |
| Week 3 – Scaling | Days 15–21 | 50 → 100 | Enable cold outreach | Warm + first cold prospects | Keep warmup running alongside campaigns |
| Week 4 – Stabilization | Days 22–28 | 50–100 | Reach steady sending level | Real campaigns + warmup pool | 30–40% volume remains warmup |
| Week 5–6 (High Volume) | Days 29–42 | 100 → 250 | Controlled scaling | Mixed cold/warm | Max 1.5× daily increases |
| Week 7–8 (Aggressive / IP) | Days 43–56 | 250 → 500+ | Full reputation maturity | Production campaigns | Double-day method, daily monitoring |
| Ongoing Maintenance | Continuous | Target volume | Protect sender reputation | Campaigns + background warmup | Consistency > volume, weekly audits |
You can adjust based on your starting point, but you must resist compressing timelines, as mailbox providers have seen every shortcut.
How long does email warmup actually take?
Two to four weeks covers most scenarios. A brand-new domain with aggressive volume goals might need six weeks. An established domain adding a new mailbox might be ready in two.
| Starting point | Minimum | Recommended | Volume goal |
| Brand new domain | 3 weeks | 4-6 weeks | 50-100/day |
| New mailbox (existing domain) | 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 50-100/day |
| Returning from inactivity | 1-2 weeks | 2-3 weeks | Previous volume |
| Damaged reputation | 4-6 weeks | 8+ weeks | Start conservative |
These timelines assume proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is already configured.
Also, rushing is never good. Gmail processes over 15 billion spam messages daily. Their algorithms have catalogued every warmup acceleration tactic. Sudden volume spikes from new domains trigger immediate scrutiny, and one spam complaint can undo a week of careful reputation building.
What does a week-by-week warmup schedule look like?
This four-week framework provides concrete daily metrics for cold email and marketing campaigns.
Week 1: Foundation
Send only to people who will open, read, and respond. This is reputation construction, not outreach.
| Day | Volume | Focus |
| 1-2 | 5-10 | Team members, close contacts |
| 3-4 | 10-15 | Colleagues, business partners |
| 5-7 | 15-25 | Professional network, warm leads |
Target should be 90%+ open rates, 50%+ reply rates, by sending messages that invite responses.
Week 2: Expansion
Begin testing contacts who aren’t guaranteed to engage, while maintaining high overall metrics.
| Day | Volume | Focus |
| 8-10 | 25-35 | Warm prospects, newsletter subscribers |
| 11-14 | 35-50 | Mix of warm and lukewarm contacts |
If open rates drop below 40% or you see spam complaints, pause immediately.
Week 3: Scaling
Two weeks of trustworthy behavior change provider perception. Cold outreach becomes possible.
| Day | Volume | Focus |
| 15-18 | 50-70 | Introduce cold prospects |
| 19-21 | 70-100 | Full campaign structure |
Keep warm-up emails running alongside real campaigns — positive engagement buffers against cold recipient variability.
Week 4+: Maintenance
You’ve reached the target volume. Warmup shifts from building to maintaining.
| Day | Volume | Focus |
| 22+ | 50-100 | Real campaigns with ongoing warmup |
Plan for 30-40% of daily volume to remain warm-up emails. The ongoing positive signals protect against rough campaigns.
What’s the math behind volume increases?
Never send more than double the previous day’s volume during active scaling.
| Stage | Daily volume | Increase |
| Day 1 | 10 | — |
| Day 2 | 20 | 2x |
| Day 3 | 40 | 2x |
| Day 4 | 80 | 2x |
| Day 5 | 160 | 2x |
Slowdown thresholds
As volume climbs, reduce the multiplication factor. Under 100 emails daily, 2x increases work. Between 100 and 500, slow to 1.5x. Above 500, drop to 1.25x. Enterprise senders targeting thousands daily need 6-8 weeks minimum.
Conservative alternative
For high-stakes scenarios, plateau at each level before climbing.
| Day | Volume | Notes |
| 1-2 | 10 | Hold steady |
| 3-4 | 25 | Hold steady |
| 5-6 | 50 | Hold steady |
| 7-8 | 75 | Hold steady |
| 9-10 | 100 | Target reached |
Takes longer but virtually eliminates the risk of email spam filtering.
How do you structure daily sending for the best results?
Spread emails throughout business hours with natural distribution — bunching looks automated.
| Time block | Volume distribution |
| 8-10 AM | 25% |
| 10 AM-12 PM | 30% |
| 1-3 PM | 25% |
| 3-5 PM | 20% |
Spacing requirements
Space emails with at least 2-3 minutes between sends. Vary intervals — don’t send at exactly 3-minute intervals. Automated warmup handles this automatically, while manual warmup requires discipline.
Weekend sending
Don’t pause entirely — a complete stop resets momentum. Reduce volume by 50-70% on weekends but maintain activity. Avoid sending heavy B2B emails on Fridays that go unread for 48 hours.
What factors extend or shorten your timeline?
Several variables shift your timeline from the standard 2-4 weeks.
Here are factors that extend timelines:
| Factor | Impact | Why |
| Brand new domain | +2-3 weeks | Zero reputation baseline |
| High volume (500+/day) | +2-4 weeks | More scaling stages |
| Previous blacklisting | +4-8 weeks | Overcoming negative history |
| Cold email focus | +1-2 weeks | Lower engagement expected |
Here are factors that shorten timelines:
| Factor | Impact | Why |
| Established domain (5+ years) | -1-2 weeks | Existing trust |
| Warm audience (opted-in) | -1 week | Higher engagement |
| Previous good reputation | -1 week | History helps |
| Low volume (<50/day) | -1 week | Fewer stages |
Also, domain age is important. Brand new domains face the steepest climb — spam accounts for roughly 47% of global email traffic, so providers assume new domains might be spammers. Wait 7-14 days after registering before starting warmup.
How do you handle dedicated IP warmup differently?
IP warming requires 4-8 weeks because all reputation builds from zero.
| Week | Daily volume | Notes |
| 1 | 50-100 | Highly engaged only |
| 2 | 100-250 | Expand cautiously |
| 3 | 250-500 | Monitor closely |
| 4 | 500-1,000 | Transition campaigns |
| 5-6 | 1,000-2,500 | Scale toward the target |
| 7-8 | 2,500-5,000+ | Full capacity |
Double-day method
Send the same volume for two consecutive days before increasing. Day 1: 100. Day 2: 100. Day 3: 200. Day 4: 200. This reduces spike signals.
Using dedicated IPs
Most senders don’t need them. Shared IP pools work well for up to 100K monthly. Dedicated IPs become valuable at 100K+ monthly, for complete reputation isolation, or when managing multiple brands. The tradeoff is that full control means full responsibility.
What monitoring should happen during warmup?
Track these metrics daily:
| Metric | Healthy | Warning |
| Open rate | 40%+ | Below 30% |
| Reply rate | 10%+ | Below 5% |
| Bounce rate | Under 2% | Above 3% |
| Spam complaints | 0 | Any |
Use Google Postmaster Tools for Gmail reputation, and Microsoft SNDS for Outlook. An email deliverability test can help you find your inbox placement. For bounces and complaints, your ESP dashboard can help.
Also, STOP immediately for sudden open rate drops (20%+), any spam complaints, bounce rates above 2%, or domain reputation declining. Pause 48-72 hours, diagnose, and resume lower.
What mistakes derail warmup timelines?
Here are some of the mistakes you must always avoid:
1. Volume spikes
You send 10 emails Monday. Tuesday, pressure hits — you send 200. The spike flags your account. Now you’re starting over with worse reputation than before.
2. Poor recipient quality
Emailing bad addresses damages reputation faster than not warming at all. Every bounce counts against you. Verify addresses before including them.
3. Inconsistent patterns
50 daily for a week, nothing for three days, then 100 to “catch up.” Erratic behavior triggers scrutiny.
4. Skipping authentication
A warmup without SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is ineffective — fix authentication first.
5. Stopping too early
Two weeks of warm-up followed by aggressive campaigns. As a result, sender reputation gets overwhelmed. Warmup should continue alongside real sending.
The schedule matters — but so does ongoing execution
A perfect warm-up timeline is meaningless if you abandon good practices afterward. Maintain consistent volume, continue background warmup, monitor metrics weekly, and clean lists before major sends.
EmailWarmup.com handles this automatically — personalized schedules based on your situation, with unique content, human-like patterns, real-time monitoring, and automatic pauses for issues.
Here’s what we offer:
- Diverse verified inbox network
- 24/7 support from deliverability experts
- Free deliverability test across 50+ providers
- Schedules matching your domain age, volume goals, and reputation
Schedule a free consultation with an email deliverability consultant today and see the difference we can make.
Frequently asked questions
Here are some commonly asked questions about email warmup timelines:
A new email address on an existing domain typically needs 2-3 weeks of warmup. A new address on a brand new domain needs 4-6 weeks because you’re building domain reputation simultaneously. Start with 5-10 emails daily to highly engaged contacts, increase by no more than double daily, and maintain high open and reply rates throughout the process.
A good warmup schedule starts with 5-10 emails daily during week one (to contacts who will definitely engage), increases to 25-50 daily during week two, scales to 50-100 during weeks three and four, then maintains that volume with ongoing warmup activity. Never increase by more than 2x from the previous day, and slow increases once you exceed 100 emails daily.
Start with 5-10 emails on day one and increase gradually. By week two, you should reach 25-50 daily. By week four, you can send 50-100 daily for most use cases. High-volume senders targeting 500+ daily need 6-8 weeks to reach those levels safely. The specific number matters less than the consistency and engagement quality.
Technically yes — but you’ll likely damage your reputation and need to start over. Every shortcut has been tried by spammers, and providers have adapted. If you absolutely must compress timelines, focus on maximizing engagement quality (90%+ open rates, 50%+ reply rates) rather than accelerating volume increases. Even then, compressing below 2 weeks for new domains is risky.
Yes. Stopping warmup when campaigns launch is a common mistake. The positive engagement from warmup activity offsets variable engagement from cold recipients. Plan for 30-40% of your daily volume to remain warmup emails even after reaching full campaign capacity. The ongoing positive signals protect your reputation during scaling.
