Common Reasons Why Outlook Is Not Receiving Emails
There are surprisingly many reasons that can cause the Outlook not receiving emails issue, including:
| Common Reasons | Solution |
|---|---|
| Your mailbox is full or nearing capacity | Clean Your Mailbox |
| Microsoft's servers are experiencing downtime | Check Outlook Server Status |
| Your internet connection isn't functioning correctly | Troubleshoot Internet Connection |
| Outlook is configured to work offline | Switch to Online Mode |
| Emails are mistakenly classified as spam | Check Your Spam Folder |
| Emails might have been delivered or moved to an unexpected folder | Go Through Your Email Folders |
| Your email profile has become corrupted | Repair Your Profile |
Obviously, with so many possible answers to the question "why emails are disappearing from your inbox," pinpointing the right fix isn't immediately obvious. This is why we recommend following our step-by-step approach in the next section to help you diagnose and resolve the issue effectively.
What to Do When You're Not Receiving Emails in Outlook
Facing the issue of not receiving emails in Outlook can be frustrating, but often, the solution is simpler than you think. In this section, we'll guide you through targeted solutions to the most common problems, starting with one of the simplest yet most overlooked fixes.
Solution 1: Clean Your Mailbox
Helps when: Your Outlook mailbox is full or nearing capacity
Free users of Outlook.com are provided with 15 GB of email storage space. While that may seem like a lot, experience tells us that it can take just a few years of regular mail use to experience issues with Outlook not receiving emails due to the Outlook mailbox being full.
Freeing up storage space is simple in theory (just delete emails you don't need), but it can be extremely time-consuming in practice. This is why you should clean your Outlook mailbox the smart way—with the help of Clean Email.
Clean Email is a capable mail organizer app that can quickly analyze your Outlook inbox, identify old and unnecessary emails (as well as many other categories of messages), and help you remove them with just a few clicks.
To clean your Outlook mailbox using Clean Email:
- Visit Clean Email's website and sign in with your account.
- Select Suggestions in the left sidebar.
- Go through the cleaning suggestions and click the action button next to each to apply those you find useful (such as Trash, Archive, or other actions).
While Cleaning Suggestions make it easy to tidy a messy inbox, Clean Email's Auto Clean rules can help you keep it clean forever by applying actions to incoming emails based on your preferences.
Good to know: It's possible to recover deleted emails in Outlook if you act quickly enough, so don't be too afraid of making a mistake during cleanup.
Solution 2: Check Outlook Server Status
Helps when: Microsoft's servers are experiencing downtime
Sometimes, the issue of Outlook not receiving emails is due to server-side problems at Microsoft. This can manifest as an inability to receive (or send) emails despite your internet connection working normally. In such cases, there's not much you can do apart from checking the server status and waiting for Microsoft to resolve the issue.
To check the server status, visit the Office 365 Service Health portal. There, you can see the current status of all Microsoft services, including Outlook. If there's an ongoing outage or maintenance, it will be displayed on the portal. Otherwise, you should see the "Everything is up and running" message.
Solution 3: Troubleshoot Internet Connection
Helps when: Your internet connection isn't functioning correctly
If you're not only having trouble with Outlook not loading emails but also can't access the Office 365 Service Health portal page to check the status of Microsoft's servers, then your internet connection might be to blame. In this case, follow these troubleshooting tips:
- Restart your router: Sometimes, a simple router restart can resolve connectivity issues. Unplug your router, wait for about 30 seconds so that capacitors can discharge fully, and then plug it back in.
- Use a wired connection: If possible, connect your computer directly to your router using an Ethernet cable. This can help determine if the problem is related to Wi-Fi signal strength.
- Contact your ISP: If restarting your router and checking other devices doesn't help, contact your ISP for assistance. They may be experiencing an outage or have issues with your specific connection.
Solution 4: Switch to Online Mode
Helps when: Outlook is configured to work offline
In the Outlook desktop application, you have the flexibility to make it work online or offline with your mail server. If Outlook is set to work offline, it won't be able to receive (or send) messages. To switch to online mode:
- Windows: Navigate to the Send/Receive tab and click on Work Offline if the option is already selected.
- Mac: Open the Outlook menu and uncheck the Work Offline option or press Go Online button.
💡 Note: The same solution can also save the day if you're experiencing issues with a Hotmail account not receiving emails because it controls the behavior of the entire mail client—not just the Outlook.com mail service.
Solution 5: Check Your Spam Folder
Helps when: Emails are mistakenly classified as spam
Sometimes, legitimate emails may be marked as spam by mistake and moved to the spam folder. To check your spam folder in Outlook.com or in the Outlook desktop email client, you simply need to navigate the Junk Email folder and review the messages that have ended up there.
Suppose legitimate messages are being classified as spam regularly. In that case, you should also check your junk mail filters and verify that they are not causing legitimate emails to be marked as spam. If they are, you need to unblock senders in Outlook.
To do this in Outlook.com:
- Click the Settings icon (gear icon) in the top-right corner of the page.
- Navigate to Mail and then Junk email.
- Review active junk mail filters and delete those you don't need.
📌 Tip: The Junk mail settings section is where you can whitelist an email address by adding them to Safe senders so that all messages sent to you from it will always be delivered to your inbox, bypassing the junk filter.
The same steps can also be used to check your junk mail filters in the new version of the desktop email client for Windows.
If you're a Mac user, then you need to open the Settings window ( Command ⌘ + , ) and navigate to the Junk section instead.
Solution 6: Go Through Your Email Folders
Helps when: Emails might have been delivered or moved to an unexpected folder
It's not unusual for Outlook emails not to show up in your main inbox due to being mistakenly sorted into the wrong folder. This could be the result of rules you've set up previously or your own forgotten manual inbox organization effort.
The solution—methodically going through your inbox and other folders—can be tedious unless you leverage Clean Email's Smart Folders and sorting options. Like this:
- Use Clean Email's Smart Folders to instantly apply predefined filters to your inbox. This allows you to focus on specific types of messages with just one click.
- Take advantage of the search feature to display emails based on your selected criteria, such as a sender's address or subject line.
- Once you have your filtered search results, sort the messages by size, date sent, or other relevant parameters.
When you find emails not showing up in Outlook with the help of Clean Email, you can move them to a different folder or reply to them directly—there is no need to switch to Outlook. In other words, you can use Clean Email to not only clean your Outlook mailbox but also to communicate with your contacts.
Solution 7: Repair Your Outlook Profile
Helps when: Your email profile has become corrupted
Believe it or not, your Outlook profile can become corrupted. When that happens, you might start to notice several telltale signs indicating something isn't right with your Outlook. These issues can range from minor inconveniences such as temporary freezes to Outlook emails not showing up at all. The good news is that Microsoft provides its users with effective profile repair solutions.
If you're a Microsoft 365 user, then you can download and install the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. Then you just need to run the application, and it will diagnose and fix any issues with your Outlook profile automatically.
If you're an Outlook 2013 or 2016 user, then you can open the File menu and go to Account Settings. There, navigate to the Email tab and choose your account (profile). Finally, select the Repair option and follow the wizard.
💡 Note: The Repair option isn't available if you're using Outlook 2016 to connect to an Exchange account.
Optimize Your Outlook Inbox with Clean Email
In this article, we've mentioned several ways to optimize your Outlook inbox with Clean Email, such as using Cleaning Suggestions, Auto Clean rules, and Smart Folders. However, the inbox organizer has far more to offer.
Two notable features of Clean Email that I personally couldn't live without as an Outlook user are Unsubscriber and Screener.
The former helps you quickly unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters and promotional emails, while the latter automatically screens new senders, giving you the choice to approve or reject their messages.
These features are fully compatible with Outlook.com and Hotmail accounts, and you can try them for free on any device. You just need to visit Clean Email and sign up with your email address.
Wrap-Up
Fixing issues with Outlook emails not showing up can be a straightforward process with the right tools and guidance. By following our step-by-step solutions, your Outlook inbox can be running smoothly in no time. To ensure that it stays that way, we recommend you make Clean Email part of your regular email management routine so that it can continue helping you maintain a clean and organized inbox.
FAQs
How to check for Outlook issues today?
Visit the Office 365 Service Health portal to check the current status of Outlook and other Microsoft services for any reported issues or ongoing maintenance.
How do I fix Outlook or Hotmail not receiving emails?
If emails stop coming through, start by checking your internet connection, ensure Outlook is set to online mode, clean your mailbox if it's near capacity, and check the server status.
Why is my Outlook email not working?
Common reasons your Outlook email is not updating include internet connectivity issues, server problems at Microsoft, a full mailbox, or settings that may have set the application to work offline. Check these areas first to diagnose the issue.
Why is my Outlook inbox not showing received emails?
This issue of emails not showing up in Outlook could be due to emails being mistakenly sorted into the wrong folder, a full mailbox, or the app being set to offline mode. Check your email rules, clear out space if necessary, and ensure that Outlook is set to online mode.
