Emails being blocked

Question

Dear Community,

Any advice please - a number of emails are being blocked automatically by outlook.com, they are not appearing in Junk and I have no blocked senders or rules. Many of these emails I used to receive and I am now unable to manage a number of online accounts where for example I need to reset a password.

Any advice would be welcome.

Answer 1

Hi Dean Corcoran

I understand you are having a problem with some incoming emails not arriving in Outlook.com (including password reset emails), even though you don’t see anything in Junk and you don’t have blocked senders or rules. I am happy to help. Please confirm:

• Are the missing messages from specific services/senders only (for example, password reset “no-reply” addresses), or are random senders affected too?
• Are any of the missing senders Gmail addresses?
• Does the sender receive a bounce/failed delivery notice, or does it deliver successfully to another provider mailbox (Gmail/Yahoo)?

Meanwhile, please test out:

1) Check whether mail is going somewhere other than Inbox

Check these locations when messages aren’t visible in Inbox:

• Other tab (if Focused Inbox is enabled)
• Deleted Items (and recover if applicable)
• Archive

2) Add the reset-email sender or domain to Safe Senders

To ensure important transactional senders (like password reset “no-reply” addresses) aren’t diverted by mailbox-side filtering, add the exact sender address or domain to Safe Senders in Outlook.com.

For Outlook.com:

• Open Safe Senders settings
• Under “Safe senders and domains,” choose “Add safe sender,” enter the email address or domain, select OK, then Save
• Reference: Safe Senders in Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

3) Confirm your Microsoft cloud storage is not full (mail flow can be blocked)

• If your Microsoft cloud storage is full, you cannot send or receive email. Messages sent to you while storage was full are bounced back to the sender and are unrecoverable.
• Reference: Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

4) Check whether automatic forwarding is enabled

• Forwarding can change where messages end up. Verify and toggle forwarding in Outlook.com under Mail > Forwarding, including the “Keep a copy of forwarded messages” option.
• Reference: Turn on or off automatic forwarding in Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

5) If the missing mail is from Gmail senders

Please check via: Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!  

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Answer 2

Try these checks in Outlook.com to find why messages are missing even though there are no visible blocked senders or rules:

1. Verify messages are not being classified as junk

• In Outlook.com, check both the Junk Email folder and Junk settings:
  • Go to Settings > Mail > Junk email.
  • Review any entries under Blocked senders and Blocked domains and remove anything that might match the missing senders.
  • In the Junk Email folder, if any legitimate messages appear, right-click them and choose Mark as not junk so future messages from those senders go to the Inbox.

2. Check focused/other and filters

• Make sure messages are not hidden by Focused Inbox or filters:
  • In Outlook.com, check both Focused and Other tabs.
  • Select Filter > Sort > Date to ensure messages are shown in chronological order.
  • Confirm there are no filters applied that would hide some messages.

3. Review forwarding and “keep a copy” behavior

• If mail is being forwarded to another account, it may be removed from Outlook.com:
  • Go to Settings > Mail > Forwarding.
  • If forwarding is enabled, ensure keep a copy of forwarded messages (or equivalent option) is turned on so messages still appear in Outlook.com.
  • If this option is off, messages can be forwarded successfully but never appear in Outlook.com, which matches the behavior where accounts remain usable elsewhere but not in Outlook.

4. Confirm there are no hidden rules or devices affecting mail

• Check Settings > Mail > Rules and remove any rules that might move or delete messages.
• If a particular device is not showing messages, remove and re-add that device’s connection to Outlook.com as described in the sync guidance.

5. Ask the sender to check Outlook.com sender support

• For specific senders (such as services sending password reset emails) that never arrive and show no error on their side, ask them to review Sender Support in Outlook.com so they can verify their sending configuration and reputation. Outlook.com may be rejecting or dropping messages before they reach the mailbox if the sender does not meet required standards.

6. Check storage and account status

• Ensure Microsoft cloud storage and mailbox are not full; if they are, messages sent during that period are bounced and unrecoverable.
• If there are sign-in or account issues, resolve those first, as a blocked or partially restricted account can affect mail delivery.

If, after these checks, messages are still missing and not in Junk, not forwarded, and not filtered, contact the affected senders and have them confirm whether they receive any NDR (bounce) messages and follow the Outlook.com sender guidance.

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References:

• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Where are my email messages or calendar events in Mail and Calendar for Windows 10?
• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com
• I haven't received any email in Outlook for several months - Microsoft Q&A
• Outlook.com doesn't send any emails to junk folder - Microsoft Q&A