Intermittent Email Issues

Question

Intermittent Email Issues

Mindset Michele Gennoe 0

Hi,

I am intermittently having emails not reaching my Inbox. Sometimes it is from existing people (who emailed the week before) and sometimes it is from new people (from the same organisation with valid emails that are not on a spam watch).

My junk mailbox is also receiving over 50 emails that I have blocked for the last few months that each day are being received again.

I did try to limit the junk email by making changing my filter from standard to strict to try and control this spamming but it may have also stopped me receiving valid emails so I have returned the setting to standard.

These ongoing spamming, missing emails, etc. have been getting worse over the years. Microsoft when they do respond do not read what I have explained and give time wasting, incorrect instructions.

My question is how many people are giving up on Microsoft as too hard and just moving all of their operations to something else? With AI it is likely that this poor attention to detail and time wasting activities will get worse.

What are other people doing to save their time, sanity and data from this worsening mess?

Thanks,

[Moderator Note: Personal Info Removed]

Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-20T10:50:01.2133333+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

My junk mailbox is also receiving over 50 emails that I have blocked for the last few months that each day are being received again.

The Blocked Senders list can only take an email that would have been delivered to your Inbox and move it to the Junk folder. Adding a Sender to the Blocked Senders List has no effect on emails already received in your Junk folder.

Everybody wishes there was a way to automatically delete certain emails that are delivered to Junk, but you can't. All you can do is:

Create a Rule and run it manually on the Junk folder:

See the Answer by "Hornblower409 Apr 18, 2026" in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5863133/junk-phishing-emails-from-ending-in-online-rule-do

Vote for these Feature Request:

Truly blocking a sender
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/fcafdbe4-a053-f011-95f3-7c1e5299279a

Allowing Rules to affect the Junk Folder
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/6a30bc19-85d7-ef11-95f6-0022484d7a88

(You must "Sign In" at the top right of the Feedback page before you can vote).
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-24T00:23:51.4233333+00:00

My question stands. I have now gone down rabbit holes and found out more than I want or need about SCLs. What are other people doing about their email accounts given that you can't get a response from Microsoft when something goes wrong? Are they choosing other services besides Microsoft? When I ask AI what to do it says to leave a 'failing' system. Have others moved their important tasks away from this failing company?
Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-24T01:37:20.22+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

Have others moved their important tasks away from this failing company?

I'm sure that if you post that question on a public forum (e.g. Reddit Outlook) you will get plenty of people who will tell you to move to XYZ email service. And just as many who will tell you that XYZ is as bad or worse than Microsoft.

I've used a number of free email services and they all are severely lacking any kind of real support or control over your email account.

My decision was to get a MS 365 Business Standard Subscription and a private domain. This give me almost complete control over my account and access to Microsoft Support if there is a problem I can't fix. But I realize that this is not an option for most people who just want a plain and simple email account.
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-24T02:19:39.75+00:00

Thanks for the responses @Hornblower409 . It is not practical to pay for my everyday life email account when I already pay for my business email accounts to be protected elsewhere. Like many people I have had a Hotmail account since almost the start of the internet. It just confounds me that Microsoft (like many others) does not value the Brand they have built and instead has over many years eroded trust in their products. I will move my account elsewhere over the next few years as I don't want to still be having these 'intermittent' issues in future.

2 answers

Your answer

Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-20T10:50:01.2133333+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

My junk mailbox is also receiving over 50 emails that I have blocked for the last few months that each day are being received again.

The Blocked Senders list can only take an email that would have been delivered to your Inbox and move it to the Junk folder. Adding a Sender to the Blocked Senders List has no effect on emails already received in your Junk folder.

Everybody wishes there was a way to automatically delete certain emails that are delivered to Junk, but you can't. All you can do is:

Create a Rule and run it manually on the Junk folder:

See the Answer by "Hornblower409 Apr 18, 2026" in
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5863133/junk-phishing-emails-from-ending-in-online-rule-do

Vote for these Feature Request:

Truly blocking a sender
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/fcafdbe4-a053-f011-95f3-7c1e5299279a

Allowing Rules to affect the Junk Folder
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/6a30bc19-85d7-ef11-95f6-0022484d7a88

(You must "Sign In" at the top right of the Feedback page before you can vote).
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-24T00:23:51.4233333+00:00

My question stands. I have now gone down rabbit holes and found out more than I want or need about SCLs. What are other people doing about their email accounts given that you can't get a response from Microsoft when something goes wrong? Are they choosing other services besides Microsoft? When I ask AI what to do it says to leave a 'failing' system. Have others moved their important tasks away from this failing company?
Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-24T01:37:20.22+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

Have others moved their important tasks away from this failing company?

I'm sure that if you post that question on a public forum (e.g. Reddit Outlook) you will get plenty of people who will tell you to move to XYZ email service. And just as many who will tell you that XYZ is as bad or worse than Microsoft.

I've used a number of free email services and they all are severely lacking any kind of real support or control over your email account.

My decision was to get a MS 365 Business Standard Subscription and a private domain. This give me almost complete control over my account and access to Microsoft Support if there is a problem I can't fix. But I realize that this is not an option for most people who just want a plain and simple email account.
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-24T02:19:39.75+00:00

Thanks for the responses @Hornblower409 . It is not practical to pay for my everyday life email account when I already pay for my business email accounts to be protected elsewhere. Like many people I have had a Hotmail account since almost the start of the internet. It just confounds me that Microsoft (like many others) does not value the Brand they have built and instead has over many years eroded trust in their products. I will move my account elsewhere over the next few years as I don't want to still be having these 'intermittent' issues in future.

Answer 1

Mindset Michele Gennoe 0

Thank you for the responses about the Junk emails. I have been managing the blocked senders and settings to check for whether this was causing the issues for a while. It is not.

No one has given me an answer as to why emails from valid people/ companies are not reaching my Inbox? What has happened so that they are being blocked?

One week they come through and the next they are blocked?

Someone else from the same company emails me and it is blocked?

I HAVE NOT CHANGED ANY SETTINGS AND EMAILS ARE BLOCKED

No one has given me any insights into why this is happening for my inbox. Why valid emails are fine one day and blocked the next.

Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-22T03:36:36.9366667+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

Why valid emails are fine one day and blocked the next.

Simplified Answer (there are a lot more pieces in the puzzle) - Before the email gets to your mailbox the Microsoft Mail Filters give it a Spam Confidence Level (SCL)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-office-365/anti-spam-spam-confidence-level-scl-about

And based on the SCL it decides to: Bounce the message (it never gets to your mailbox), Send it to Junk (regardless of your client settings), Pass it to your client to decide if it's Junk or not.
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-22T03:50:21.17+00:00

The emails are not going to my Junk folder, they are not reaching me at all. One day they get to my inbox and then the next they don't get through at all
Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-22T04:11:21.36+00:00

And based on the SCL it decides to: Bounce the message (it never gets to your mailbox),
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-22T04:16:09.94+00:00

so how does the SCL change from week to week or day to day?
Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-22T04:34:12.89+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

so how does the SCL change from week to week or day to day?

I have no idea. You will need someone from the Microsoft Defender team to answer that.

I would suggest that you use the [Ask a question] button at the top of this page to start a new thread on that exact Question - How is the Spam Confidence Level (SCL) calculated?
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-24T00:17:00.82+00:00

Thank you for explaining what question I need to ask @Hornblower409 I'll see what Microsoft say. My emails are not reaching people intermittently as well, so it may be related to this.
Hornblower409 8,915 Reputation points

2026-04-24T01:06:36.1433333+00:00

@Mindset Michele Gennoe said

My emails are not reaching people intermittently as well, so it may be related to this.

Usually this is two different problems.

1 -- The Microsoft Mail filter is bouncing emails sent to you (because they have a high SCL) and you never see them.

2 -- Other mail system filters are bouncing email you send because they gave you their equivalent of a high SCL.

You probably want to deal with each problem separately. I am sorry I can't offer any additional advice.

Answer 2

Chloe-V 8,070 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Mindset Michele Gennoe,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.

To make sure I provide the right guidance, could you please confirm which type of account you’re using in New Outlook for Windows?

Personal (Outlook.com): @outlook.com / @hotmail.com / @live.com or
Work/School (Microsoft 365): your company/school email (for example, @company.com)

Once I have this information, I’ll share the appropriate troubleshooting steps based on your account type.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Chloe-V 8,070 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-19T23:22:26.3833333+00:00

Hi Mindset Michele Gennoe,

Is there any update from you?

If yes, please feel free to let us know.
Mindset Michele Gennoe 0 Reputation points

2026-04-20T00:45:46.2766667+00:00
Personal (Outlook.com): @outlook.com / @hotmail.com / @live.com or
Ian-T 7,745 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-21T08:27:48.3433333+00:00

Hi

First, I would recommend checking Hornblower's answer above in the comment above first

I would like to add that if messages from a blocked sender are still reaching the Inbox, official guidance says the sender may be using a different address or hiding the real address. In that case, Outlook suggests creating an Inbox rule based on common words to move those messages to Deleted Items.

Also, for the valid emails that are being missed, it is worth checking that those senders are not on the blocked list and adding them to Safe Senders, since Safe Senders should not be treated as junk.

For your reference: Safe Senders in Outlook.com | Mail goes to the Junk folder by mistake

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Intermittent Email Issues

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