email issue - no new mail

Question

one of our email accounts is not receiving new mail since 10/25. It was able to send out emails just not receive.

[Moderator note: personal info removed]

Answer 1

As this forum is a public platform, we’ve taken steps to help protect your privacy by removing your organization’s domain name from your message. To ensure your data remains secure, we kindly recommend avoiding the inclusion of personal or organizational details such as domain names or screenshots with sensitive information in future posts.  

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Hi @Luis Mahiquez, 

Thank you for taking the time to share the timeline and the affected address. 

Based on the details shared, the mailbox has not received any new messages since October 25, although it can still send email successfully. 
This behavior usually occurs when inbound messages are being filtered, redirected, or blocked before they land in the Inbox, even though outbound sending continues to work normally. Common causes include mailbox rules, blocked senders, Junk or Quarantine filtering, mailbox storage limits, or a domain level routing issue such as an MX record pointing to the wrong destination. 

Below is a clear and detailed guide to walk you through the steps that can restore your user’s ability to receive emails. If you don't have a permission, please contact IT's administrator and tell them to follow the steps: 

1/ Run Message Trace and review Audit logs to pinpoint where inbound mail stops  

• Please involve your admin to run a message trace in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC). This will help determine whether the email was ever received by EOP and provide visibility into its delivery status. Run a message trace and view the results in the Exchange admin center in Exchange Online | Microsoft Learn 
• If the trace shows no record of the email, it confirms that the message did not reach Exchange and may have been blocked or failed at the connector level.   
• Review Audit Logs in Microsoft Purview to identify any unusual activity or configuration changes.  

• For your reference: Search the audit log | Microsoft Learn  

2/ Review mail flow rules, anti-spam policies that can block delivery 

Sometimes, mail flow rules or spam filters may prevent emails from reaching the inbox.  

• Go to the Exchange Admin Center.  
• Navigate to Mail Flow > Rules and check for any rules that might redirect or block incoming emails.  
• Also review Anti-Spam Policies under Microsoft 365 Defender > Policies & Rules.  

Make sure there are no filters or rules targeting the affected user’s mailbox.  

3/ Check Accepted domains configuration 

• In EAC, go to Mail flow > Accepted domains.  
• Ensure that the user's email domain is correctly listed as an "Authoritative" accepted domain. If it's not, or if there's a misconfiguration, it could prevent incoming mail.  

4/ Check individual mailbox settings 

•  Junk Email Settings (Outlook/OWA): While less likely to completely block all incoming mail, an aggressive junk mail setting or a large "Blocked Senders" list could be preventing legitimate emails. Have the user check their own blocked senders list in Outlook/OWA.  
• Mailbox Quota: Is the user's mailbox full? If so, they won't be able to receive new emails. Check their mailbox quota and usage in EAC under Recipients > Mailboxes.  

5/ You can try to check for account restrictions or security actions applied to the mailbox 

After an account compromise, Microsoft may automatically restrict email capabilities to protect the environment.  

• Visit the Restricted Users page: Security & Compliance 
• If the user appears on this list, follow the prompts to remove the restriction.  

This action ensures the account is no longer blocked from receiving messages.  

6/ After that, Reset credentials and enable Multi Factor Authentication 

Since the account was compromised:  

• Reset the user’s password.  
• Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to prevent future unauthorized access.  

This step strengthens account security and prevents recurrence.  

7/ You might want to review Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs)  

If senders are receiving bounce-back messages, these reports can provide useful clues.  

• Ask the sender to share any error messages they received.  
• Common errors like 550 5.7.606 may indicate the sending IP is blocked.  
• You can request removal via Delist IP - Delist IP  

8/ Contact IT administrator:   

Since your account is managed by your organization, please contact your IT administrator to review your permissions and policies. If the issue persists after these checks, ask your IT administrator to submit a support request directly to Microsoft Support team.        

They can raise a support ticket by visiting: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn  

As community moderators, we appreciate your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.      

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If you have any updates regarding the issue, please feel free to share them with me.        

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I look forward to continuing the conversation. 

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Answer 2

Use the following targeted checks for an account that can send but not receive new mail since a specific date:

1. Confirm mailbox and cloud storage are not full
   • If Microsoft cloud storage is full, the mailbox cannot receive email. Messages sent during this time are bounced and cannot be recovered.
   • Check mailbox storage using the mailbox storage page referenced in the Outlook.com article and delete or archive items to free space if needed.
2. Verify the account status and credentials
   • If the password for this mailbox was changed on the provider’s website, update the same password in every Outlook profile or mail app where this account is configured.
   • If the account was temporarily blocked due to unusual sign‑in activity, follow the steps in the unblock‑account guidance to restore normal mail flow.
3. Check directly in webmail/Outlook.com for missing messages
   • Open the mailbox in a browser and:
     • Check the Other tab (if Focused/Other inbox is enabled) to see if new messages are landing there instead of Focused.
     • Open the Junk Email folder and Junk Email settings. If valid messages are there, right‑click them and choose Mark as not junk to move them back to Inbox.
     • Make sure no filters are hiding messages and that sorting is correct by choosing Filter > Sort > Date so the newest mail appears at the top.
4. Review rules, forwarding, and hidden diversions
   • Check all inbox rules for this mailbox. Disable or delete any rule that moves, deletes, or redirects incoming mail. A misconfigured or hidden rule can divert all new mail (for example, to RSS feeds or another folder), as seen in similar cases.
   • Verify whether email forwarding is enabled. If forwarding is turned on, confirm the destination address is correct or temporarily disable forwarding to see if new messages then appear in the Inbox.
5. Client‑side checks in classic Outlook (if used)
   • Confirm Outlook is not in Working Offline mode. If the status bar shows Working Offline, go to the Send/Receive tab and select Work Offline to turn it off.
   • Confirm the device has internet access by browsing to any website.
   • Compare the account’s POP/IMAP settings with the POP and IMAP server name reference and correct any discrepancies. Incorrect server names, ports, or security settings can prevent new mail from syncing.
6. Third‑party or non‑Microsoft mail apps
   • If a non‑Microsoft mail app is used, ensure it supports modern authentication and IMAP as required.
   • If IMAP or POP connections are causing sync conflicts, temporarily disable IMAP/POP for this account and reconfigure the app following the POP/IMAP guidance.
7. If the problem persists
   • Remove and re‑add the email account profile in Outlook to clear any corrupted profile or connection settings.
   • Re‑check for any server‑side rules or policies in the mail service or Microsoft 365 admin tools that might be redirecting or rejecting incoming mail for this specific address.

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References:

• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Troubleshoot Outlook email setup
• I can't send or receive messages in Outlook
• Stopped receiving emails on my account. - Microsoft Q&A
• Not receiving emails in a timely manner. - Microsoft Q&A
• Outlook is using a temporary email and I cannot receive emails - Microsoft Q&A
• MSN email issues - Microsoft Q&A
• Class outlook is not working properly after Windows 11 version 25H2 update - Microsoft Q&A