Outlook Not Receiving Emails? How to Find the Cause and Fix It
Nothing new has arrived for hours, or someone says they sent you an email you never got. The cause depends on your account and on which Outlook you use, so start with the quick checks, then go to the section that matches what you see.
In short: open your mailbox in a browser first. If the email is there, your Outlook app has stopped syncing: in classic Outlook, turn off Send / Receive > Work Offline; in new Outlook, select Sync on the View tab. If it is missing on the web too, look in the Other tab and Junk Email, then check your rules, blocked senders and forwarding under Settings > Mail. A full mailbox stops incoming mail, and mail sent to you meanwhile bounces back. On a work account, the message may be in quarantine or stopped by a rule only IT can see. If none of that explains it, ask the sender for the bounce message and check Microsoft’s service status.
Check These First
- Is the mail on the server? Sign in to Outlook on the web (Outlook.com for a personal account). If the email is there but not in your app, the app is the problem.
- Did it land somewhere else? Look in the Other tab and Junk Email, then search all folders for the sender.
- Is your mailbox full? A full mailbox stops incoming mail.
- Did the sender get an error back? A bounce message names the reason.
What You See and Where to Look
| What you see | Most likely cause | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Mail is on the web but not in your app | The app is offline or not syncing | Work Offline (classic), Sync (new Outlook), the account in the phone app |
| Other people’s mail arrives, one sender’s never does | Blocked sender or domain, Junk, a rule | Settings > Mail > Junk email; your rules |
| Newsletters and automated mail seem to stop | Focused Inbox | The Other tab |
| Nothing arrives from anyone | Full mailbox, forwarding, or a service problem | Storage, Forwarding, service status |
| The sender got a bounce message | Wrong address, full mailbox, or a block | The error code in the bounce |
| A Gmail or Yahoo account in Outlook stopped updating | Expired sign-in or IMAP settings | The account in Outlook, IMAP in Gmail |
| Work account, outside mail missing | Quarantine or a mail flow rule | Your quarantine page, then IT |
The Email Arrived but Went Somewhere Else
Microsoft’s missing email page lists the places to check:
- The Other tab. With Focused Inbox on, mail Outlook rates as less important lands there. See how Focused Inbox decides.
- Junk Email. In new Outlook and on the web, select the message and choose Report > Not junk. In classic Outlook, select the message and choose Home > Junk > Not Junk (if your ribbon has no Junk button, look for Report or Block, which Microsoft’s pages also use). Junk is emptied automatically: Microsoft says junk mail is deleted between 10 and 30 days after it arrives (its other pages say 30), so move mail out the same day.
- A rule or Sweep rule. In new Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com, go to Settings > Mail > Rules. In classic Outlook, go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts (Microsoft’s rules page).
- Archive, if you or a shortcut key archived it.
- A filter on the list. In new Outlook and on the web, set Filter back to All.
If you saw the email and it vanished later, see where disappearing Outlook emails go. For a rule that should file mail and doesn’t, see Outlook rules not moving emails.
You Blocked the Sender, or Their Whole Domain
Mail from a blocked sender goes to Junk Email, or in classic Outlook to quarantine if your admin set that up, according to Microsoft’s block or unblock page.
- New Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com: go to Settings > Mail > Junk email and remove the address or domain from the blocked lists (select Save if Outlook shows it). New Outlook can’t block senders for Gmail, Yahoo or iCloud accounts, so check those on the provider’s website.
- Classic Outlook: on the Home tab, select Block > Junk E-mail Options, open the Blocked Senders tab and remove the entry.
Look for whole domains. Microsoft’s Outlook.com known issues page describes Gmail mail not arriving because gmail.com itself was blocked while blocking one Gmail user.
Your Mailbox Is Full
On a personal account, when your Microsoft cloud storage is full you can’t send or receive, and Microsoft’s send and receive page says messages sent to you meanwhile bounce back and can’t be recovered. Ask those senders to send again. A work mailbox at its limit rejects incoming mail and the sender gets a nondelivery report. Outlook mailbox full shows how to free space.
Outlook.com Account Problems
Microsoft’s send and receive page lists two account problems on Outlook.com: a changed password that an app still uses, and an account temporarily blocked after unusual sign-in activity. Microsoft’s missing email page adds that an Outlook.com mailbox nobody signs in to for a year is closed and its email deleted.
Classic Outlook Not Syncing: Offline, Disconnected or a Damaged Profile
From Microsoft’s can’t send or receive page and its work offline page:
- Read the status bar at the bottom of the window. Working Offline, Disconnected or Trying to connect… means Outlook isn’t reaching the mail server.
- For Working Offline, select Send / Receive > Work Offline. The button is highlighted while you are offline.
- Check your internet connection in a browser. If your password changed, sign in again with the new one.
- Repair the account: File > Account Settings > Account Settings, select it on the Email tab and choose Repair (steps). It isn’t offered in Outlook 2016 with an Exchange account.
- Start Outlook in safe mode (outlook.exe /safe) to rule out an add-in.
Microsoft’s repair steps don’t involve deleting anything, and you shouldn’t delete a profile or data file to fix syncing. It matters most with a POP account: by default each message is deleted from the server once downloaded, so the .pst file on your computer can be the only copy. That default also means an old device checking the same account by POP can take your mail first. The fix is Leave a copy of messages on the server: go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings, select the account on the Email tab, then Change > More Settings > Advanced. Do it on every computer that checks the account.
New Outlook Not Syncing
- Force a sync: select Sync on the View tab. Microsoft says this doesn’t work for Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud or other POP and IMAP accounts.
- Password changed: select the account name and sign in again.
A Gmail, Yahoo or IMAP Account Stopped Syncing
- Outlook.com: Microsoft removed connected accounts such as Gmail, including syncing existing ones. It suggests an Outlook app (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) or forwarding the other account’s mail to your Outlook.com address.
- Gmail settings: Microsoft’s Google sync page says to turn on Enable IMAP under Gmail’s Forwarding and POP/IMAP settings, keep Show in IMAP on for Inbox, and allow up to 15 minutes.
- Classic Outlook after a password change: Outlook can stop syncing without asking you to sign in. Microsoft’s known issue page says it usually prompts within an hour and gives a Credential Manager workaround that it says doesn’t affect the account.
- New Outlook, as a last step: under Settings > Accounts > Your accounts, select Manage, then Remove, and add the account again. Microsoft’s account page says this removes the account only from Outlook, not the account itself, and deletes the copy kept on your computer. Choose to remove it from this device only: Microsoft warns that removing it from all devices also removes its Microsoft Cloud data, which might not come back when you add the account again.
Outlook for Mac and the Phone App
- Outlook for Mac: on the Outlook menu, make sure Work Offline isn’t ticked, then check the account under Tools > Accounts (Microsoft’s Mac page).
- iPhone and Android: in the Outlook app, open Settings, tap Accounts, tap the account and choose Reset Account (Microsoft offers this for accounts that aren’t IMAP or POP). As a last step, Microsoft’s setup page has you tap Delete Account > Delete From This Device and add the account again. Check first that the mail is on the web, because Microsoft doesn’t say what deleting does to mail on the phone.
Forwarding Is Sending Your Mail Somewhere Else
With forwarding on and Keep a copy of forwarded messages off, mail goes to the other address and doesn’t stay in yours. Check it, following Microsoft’s forwarding page:
- New Outlook and Outlook on the web: Settings > Mail > Forwarding.
- Outlook.com: Settings > Mail > Forwarding and IMAP.
- Classic Outlook: forwarding is a rule, so look in File > Manage Rules & Alerts for one that forwards or redirects.
Microsoft lists forwarding to unknown addresses among the signs of a compromised work account. If you find forwarding you didn’t set up, change your password, and at work tell IT.
Work or School Account: Quarantine and Mail Flow Rules
- Quarantine: Microsoft’s quarantine page for users sends you to https://security.microsoft.com/quarantine. Depending on your organization’s settings, you can Release a message, Request release, or neither. Mail quarantined as malware, as high confidence phishing or by a mail flow rule is visible only to admins by default. Quarantined mail is deleted for good after its expiry date.
- Mail flow rules: your organization can reject or quarantine mail with rules you can’t see. An admin can follow a message with message trace, which shows whether Microsoft 365 received, rejected, deferred or delivered it. It searches up to 90 days back, and the last 10 days also show whether it was quarantined.
The Problem Is on the Sender’s Side
If the sender got a bounce message (a nondelivery report), ask for its error code. Microsoft’s list of codes includes 5.1.1, usually a mistyped or no longer valid address, and 5.7.1, where the sender isn’t allowed to send to you, for example because of a rule. If there was no bounce, ask the sender to check the exact address they used.
Is Outlook Down? Checking Microsoft’s Service Status
- Personal accounts: the Outlook.com known issues page links to Microsoft’s service status page, and lists current Outlook.com problems itself.
- Work or school accounts: outages for your organization show under Health > Service health in the Microsoft 365 admin center, which needs an admin role, so ask IT.
When to Contact Microsoft Support or Your IT
- Work or school account: go to IT once the checks above find nothing, or straight away for quarantine you can’t release, a suspected mail flow rule or a mailbox limit. Give them the sender’s address, the time it was sent and any bounce code, which is what message trace searches on.
- Personal account: use the contact options at the end of Microsoft’s Outlook.com send and receive page when the mail is missing on the web too, your storage is under its limit, and nothing is blocked or forwarded.
- Gmail, Yahoo or another provider: if the mail is missing in the provider’s own webmail, ask the provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Outlook not receiving emails from one sender?
The sender or their whole domain may be on your blocked list, their mail may be going to Junk Email or the Other tab, or a rule may move it. Check Settings > Mail > Junk email and Settings > Mail > Rules (File > Manage Rules & Alerts in classic Outlook). If the sender got a bounce message, its error code gives the reason.
Why do I get emails on the web but not in classic Outlook?
Classic Outlook isn’t syncing with the server. If the status bar says Working Offline, select Send / Receive > Work Offline to go back online. If it says Disconnected, check your internet connection and password, then repair the account under File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
Why is Outlook not syncing my Gmail account?
Outlook.com no longer syncs Gmail; Microsoft removed connected accounts. In the Outlook apps, check that IMAP is turned on in Gmail’s settings and sign in to the account again in Outlook, especially after a Google password change. In new Outlook, removing the account from this device only and adding it again is the last step.
What happens to emails sent to me while my mailbox is full?
On a personal Outlook.com account, Microsoft says they bounce back to the sender and can’t be recovered, so ask senders to send again once you have freed space. A work mailbox at its limit also rejects incoming mail, and the sender gets a nondelivery report.
How do I know if Outlook is down?
For a personal account, check Microsoft’s service status page at status.cloud.microsoft and the Outlook.com known issues page. For a work or school account, your IT admin can see Service health in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Can my IT department block emails I never see?
Yes. On Microsoft 365, mail can be quarantined or rejected by a mail flow rule before it reaches your mailbox. You may be able to release some quarantined mail yourself, but mail quarantined by a rule, as malware or as high confidence phishing is visible only to admins by default.