Missing emails

Question

I'm missing emails in outlook and hotmail and outlook as they aren't reaching me on either. one is a booking I had with a hotel chain. Is there someone in Microsoft I can speak to so they can look into it for me. It's so frustrating.

Answer 1

Hi RedX Dance

I understand how frustrating this is, especially when one of the missing emails is a hotel booking.

I can see there's already a Q&A Assist reply on your post, so to avoid repeating it, could you please confirm whether you already tried those suggestions? If yes, when you checked Junk Email, Other, Deleted Items, and Recover items deleted from this folder, did you find any of the missing messages there?

If the booking email is missing everywhere, please try the following:

1, Check if the sender is being filtered before delivery

Some automated booking systems are filtered at the service level, which means the message never reaches your mailbox and won’t appear in Junk or Deleted Items.

Please ask the hotel to confirm:

• the exact sender email address/domain used for the booking email
• whether they received any delivery error or suppression notice when sending to your address

2, Add the sender to Safe senders

In Outlook.com, go to Settings > Mail > Junk email > Safe senders and domains > Add the exact sender address or domain, then save.

Please feel free to let me know how it goes. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.

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Answer 2

Follow these steps to troubleshoot missing emails and then contact Microsoft support if needed.

1. Check Focused/Other tabs and filters

• In Outlook.com or Outlook on the web, open your Inbox.
• Check both Focused and Other tabs. The hotel email may be in Other.
• If you find it in Other, select the message and choose Move to > Move to Focused inbox so similar messages go to Focused in future.
• At the top of the message list, select Filter and make sure All is selected so no messages are hidden by filters.

2. Check Deleted Items, Archive, and Junk

• Open the Deleted Items folder and look for the missing messages.
  • If found, select the message and choose Restore (or Move to folder > Inbox on mobile).
  • If not visible, in Deleted Items select Recover items deleted from this folder, then restore if you see them there (available for 30 days after deletion).
• Open the Archive folder and check for the hotel booking email.
  • If found, select it and choose Move to > Inbox.
• Check the Junk Email folder in case the booking was treated as spam.

3. Check rules and forwarding

• Go to your Outlook.com Rules settings and review any Inbox or Sweep rules.
  • If a rule is moving messages away (for example, to another folder or RSS feed), edit or delete that rule.
• If you use forwarding from Hotmail/Outlook to another account, check your forwarding settings to ensure:
  • Forwarding is configured correctly.
  • The option to keep a copy of forwarded emails in the Outlook.com inbox is enabled, if you want to see them there.

4. Check blocked senders and sign-in activity

• In Outlook.com/Outlook on the web:
  1. Select Settings > Mail or Options.
  2. Go to Blocked senders or Block and allow.
  3. Make sure the hotel’s address or domain is not listed. If it is, remove it.
• Check your recent sign-in activity at the Recent activity page to ensure there is no suspicious access that might have changed rules or deleted mail.

5. Ask the hotel to resend and confirm delivery

• Ask the hotel to resend the booking email.
• If they receive a bounce or error, they should contact Microsoft support via postmaster.live.com as described in the guidance for senders whose email is not being delivered to Outlook.com.

6. Contact Microsoft support directly Since the issue affects both Outlook and Hotmail and is ongoing, contact Microsoft support so they can review the account on the service side:

• In Outlook.com, select Help on the menu bar and enter a brief description of the problem.
• If self-help does not resolve it, scroll down to Still need help? and select Yes to start a support request.
• If signing in is a problem, use the dedicated sign-in help link provided in the Outlook.com support page.

This will connect with Microsoft support, who can investigate account-level issues beyond what can be checked in the UI.

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References:

• Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox
• Where are my email messages or calendar events in Mail and Calendar for Windows 10?