not receiving email

Question

i receive spam emails but not regular emails on outlook classic, the login pops up but my password won't work

Answer 1

Hi @TIM LEWIS

Thank you for sharing your concern. 

Based on your description, looks like your current Outlook Classic is experiencing both a synchronization and an authentication issue. Since you’re receiving spam emails but not regular emails, this usually indicates that your Inbox is not syncing properly. At the same time, the repeated login pop-up and your password not being accepted suggest there may be an authentication issue with your account (for example, outdated/corrupted saved credentials, or a mismatch between your current password and what Outlook has stored). 

To troubleshoot this, you could follow these steps:

Confirm your password works by logging in via Outlook Web App 

Access your account on OWA using your password to verify it works normally. If you can log in successfully, the issue is likely isolated to the Outlook desktop app. If not, please reset your password and try again. 

Additionally, check whether you are receiving emails normally in your Inbox via OWA. If you are not receiving emails on OWA either, check if any rules are automatically moving emails to Junk, Deleted Items, or another folder. 

Also review Mail > Junk email settings to ensure legitimate senders are not blocked. 

Clear any saved credentials and re-enter your login 

If you recently changed your password or your current password is not working properly in Outlook Classic, you can try to clear and re-enter your credentials: 

Close Outlook completely. 

Go to Control Panel > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials.

Remove any entries related to Outlook, Office, or MicrosoftOffice/ADAL. 

Reopen Outlook and sign in again when prompted. 

Recreate your Outlook profile  

If the above steps do not help, you could consider recreating your Outlook profile: 

Close Outlook. Go to Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles. 

Click Add and create a new profile. 

Re-add your email account. Set the new profile as default, then open Outlook and check if the issue persists. 

Reference:  

Create an Outlook profile - Microsoft Support  

I hope this helps. 

Please understand that our initial reply may not always immediately resolve the issue. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.  

---

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.   

Answer 2

Follow these steps in order:

1. Confirm Outlook is online

• In classic Outlook, look at the bottom status bar.
• If it shows Working Offline, go to the Send/Receive tab and click Work Offline to turn it off.

2. Check internet and server connectivity

• Open a web browser and confirm other sites work.
• If this is a work (business) mailbox, confirm with IT that the Exchange/ mail server is up and your mailbox is not blocked.

3. Fix the password issue (login popup, password not working)

• If the password was changed recently on the email website/portal, it must also be updated in Outlook.
• For classic Outlook, follow Change or update your email password as referenced in:
  • Change or update your email password.
• Also verify Caps Lock is off and that the username is the full email address (for example, ******@contoso.com).
• If Outlook keeps asking for a password after entering the correct one, the password may have expired or changed on the server; reset it on the provider/organization side, then update it in Outlook again.

4. Verify account type and settings

• If this is not an Exchange/ Microsoft 365 mailbox (for example, an IMAP/POP account), confirm the incoming/outgoing server names, ports, and encryption settings match the provider’s documentation. Use the values from the provider and compare them with Outlook’s settings as described under POP and IMAP server name reference and POP and IMAP account settings.

5. Check for account or data issues

• If still unable to receive normal mail but spam arrives, there may be filtering or mailbox issues on the server side (rules, junk filter, or quota). For Outlook.com accounts, verify that cloud storage/mailbox is not full and that the account is not blocked.

6. Repair Outlook profile and data

• If send/receive problems persist:
  • Repair the Outlook profile: follow Fix your Outlook email connection by repairing your profile.
  • Run the Inbox Repair Tool to fix the local .pst file if used, as described in Repair your Outlook personal folders file (.pst).

7. Check antivirus and add-ins

• Some antivirus products block mail when scanning finds an issue. If mail suddenly stopped, check with the antivirus help desk.
• Start Outlook in safe mode (outlook.exe /safe). If mail works there, create a new Outlook profile and disable problematic add-ins.

If, after updating the password correctly and confirming connectivity, Outlook still cannot authenticate, the next step is to repair or recreate the Outlook profile and, if this is a business Exchange account, escalate to the organization’s IT/Exchange admin to verify the mailbox and credentials on the server.

---

References:

• Troubleshoot Outlook email setup
• I can't send or receive messages in Outlook
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com