Why am I not receiving some emails?
Some messages arrive and some never do. Where to look before blaming the sender — filters you forgot, a full mailbox, a forwarding rule, and the two folders almost nobody checks.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 25 min
- Read
- 5 min
Short answer
Check webmail rather than your email program, and search for the sender's address across all folders including junk, deleted and archive — a rule or a filter is far more likely than a message never being sent. If webmail has it and your program does not, the fault is the program. If webmail does not have it either, ask the sender to check for a bounce message, which usually states the reason.
Email that does not arrive has a longer list of hiding places than people expect, and almost all of them are on the receiving side. A rule created years ago and forgotten, a blocked sender added by accident, a mailbox that has quietly filled, an alias that no longer forwards, a program set to download only recent messages, a message sitting in a junk folder your program does not display. The sender being at fault is possible and is the least likely explanation until the others are eliminated, which is why the first step is always to search your own account thoroughly rather than to send a message asking whether they sent it.
Step by step
- Search webmail, not your email program.Sign in on the provider's website and search for the sender's email address, not their name, across all folders. This bypasses every local rule, filter and folder-selection setting your program applies, and it shows what the provider actually holds.
- Look in junk, deleted and archive specifically.Search sometimes excludes junk and deleted by default, so open those folders and look. Archive is the third: a swipe on a phone archives rather than deletes, and archived mail leaves the inbox without going anywhere obvious.
- Review your rules and filters.A rule made to tidy one sender can match far more than intended, particularly rules matching a word in the subject. Look at every rule, including ones that move messages to a folder you never open, and ones that delete.
- Check the blocked senders list.It accumulates. An address blocked years ago, or blocked accidentally by an unsubscribe action, silently discards everything from it. Some providers apply blocks at the domain level, which catches far more than intended.
- Check the mailbox is not full.A full mailbox rejects incoming mail, and the sender gets a bounce that you never see. This is common on old accounts and on ones with a small provider allowance. The catalogue's guide on freeing up email storage covers clearing it properly.
- Check forwarding and aliases.If mail to this address is forwarded elsewhere, or arrives via an alias, the chain can break at any point. Forwarding to an address that no longer exists loses mail silently, and forwarding through a domain provider is a frequent point of failure.
- Check what your program is set to download.Many programs default to keeping only recent mail locally, and some accounts set up to download and remove from the server mean a second device sees nothing. The catalogue's guide on IMAP or POP explains why one device can take mail away from all the others.
- Ask the sender for the bounce, not for a resend.If a message genuinely failed, the sender received an automated explanation naming the reason — mailbox full, address unknown, rejected as spam. That message answers the question directly, and it is more useful than another attempt that fails identically.
Common mistakes
- Asking the sender to resend before searching your own account — The message is usually there. A search of webmail for the sender's address across all folders takes thirty seconds and resolves most cases without involving anyone else.
- Deleting rules you do not recognise — Some were made for a reason you have forgotten and some are created by the provider. Disable rather than delete, so you can put things back if something else stops working.
- Assuming junk mail filtering is only ever wrong in one direction — A filter aggressive enough to catch everything unwanted will catch wanted mail too. If you have never looked in junk, look now — the useful setting is one that errs slightly towards letting things through, with a habit of checking the folder weekly.
If it doesn't work
In webmail but not in the program
Cause: A local rule, a folder not being synced, or a download limit — Fix: Check local rules and the folders the program is set to sync. Many programs sync only subscribed folders and hide the rest.
One specific sender never arrives
Cause: Blocked, filtered, or being rejected as spam — Fix: Check the blocked list and rules first. If they are clear, ask the sender for the bounce message — their domain may have an authentication problem that causes rejection.
Messages arrive hours or days late
Cause: Greylisting, or a queue at either end — Fix: Some receiving systems deliberately delay a first message from an unknown sender. Consistent long delays are worth raising with your provider.
Nothing at all since a certain date
Cause: Mailbox full, an expired account, or a forwarding change — Fix: Check the storage figure and the account status. A date-specific cutoff usually names the event — an expired domain, a lapsed subscription, or a changed password.
Arrives on the phone but not the computer
Cause: The account is set to download and remove from the server — Fix: Whichever device collects first takes the mail away from the others. Move the account to leave messages on the server, which is what IMAP does by default.
Legitimate mail keeps landing in junk
Cause: Filtering judgement — Fix: Mark it as not junk and add the sender to your contacts or safe list, which trains the filter. The catalogue has a guide on stopping your own emails going to junk, which covers the sending side of the same problem.
Questions people ask
Can someone else be receiving my email?
It is worth ruling out. A forwarding rule added by someone with access to the account is a standard step after an account compromise, and it is invisible unless you look at the rules. If you find one you did not create, treat the account as compromised — the catalogue's guides on a hacked email account cover what to do.
Why do some senders always go to junk?
Filtering weighs the sending domain's reputation and authentication records. A small business sending from a badly configured domain, or a newsletter service with a poor reputation, will be filtered whatever you do — adding them to contacts and marking them not junk is the strongest signal you can give.
Does having several email accounts make this worse?
Considerably, because each has its own rules, junk folder and storage limit, and messages arrive in the one you were not looking at. Consolidating onto fewer accounts, or bringing them all into one program, removes a lot of this.
What is a bounce message?
An automated reply to the sender explaining that delivery failed, with a reason and usually a code. It is the single most informative piece of evidence in this whole situation, and it goes to the sender rather than to you — which is why asking for it is more useful than asking for a resend.