I am not receiving normal emails into the Inbox for my @hotmail.com account which is accessed via Outlook. Spam\junk emails are still coming in.

Question

I am not receiving normal emails into the Inbox for my @hotmail.com account which is accessed via Outlook. Spam\junk emails are still coming in.

A W 20

Problem was first noticed on 07/30/26 – last regular email came in around 9:15 AM EST. All folders have been updated multiple times. From other email accounts, I sent multiple emails to @hotmail.com address but they seemly were never received.

Thinking that I might have encountered some space limit, I started deleting thousands of emails, usually focusing on the largest size emails first. Unfortunately, I did not get a total folder size before starting to delete (mostly via ‘Shift+Delete to avoid having to maintain the "Deleted Items" folder). I suspect that several gigabytes have been deleted. Current storage stats are showing Email Storage - Total used = 6.6GB/15GB (44%).

Oddly, junk mails are still coming in ... some received as recently as 08/02/26.

I also thought that the problem might be due to the laptop being relatively old and it is running Windows10. So, I logged into the same @hotmail.com account via Outlook.com and the online Inbox is also not showing any recent emails (most recent is from 7/30/26). Since the Outlook.com Inbox is also not updated, I am relatively convinced that the problem is not with the laptop Outlook application running on Windows10. Research suggests the due to the age of the laptop, it can not be simply upgraded to Windows11.

Other actions taken:

The laptop has been restarted multiple times.
Eset Security has been installed for years and a full system scan was done on 7/31 … no issues identified

I was laid-off a couple of weeks ago ... so not receiving emails from recruiters and potential employers is adding additional stress.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!!

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Answer 1

Chloe-V 11,275 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi A W

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, especially while waiting for time-sensitive messages from recruiters and potential employers.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

Since new messages are also missing when you sign in directly at Outlook.com, while junk mail is still arriving, the issue does not appear to be caused by your Windows 10 laptop, the Outlook desktop app, or the laptop’s eligibility for Windows 11.

Your mailbox is currently using 6.6 GB of 15 GB, so it is not full now. However, if the mailbox or Microsoft cloud storage was full before you deleted messages, emails sent during that period may have been rejected and would not be delivered automatically afterward. Please ask one of the senders to check whether they received a non-delivery report.

In Outlook.com, please check the following:

Select Settings > Mail > Rules and temporarily disable any rules that move, forward, or delete incoming messages.
Select Settings > Mail > Forwarding and make sure forwarding is turned off.
Select Settings > Mail > Junk email and review the blocked senders and domains list.
Check the Other, Archive, Deleted Items, and Junk Email folders, then set the message list to Filter > Sort > Date.
In Deleted Items, select Recover items deleted from this folder to check whether any messages can still be restored.

After completing these checks, send another test email from a different provider. If it still does not appear anywhere in Outlook.com, please contact Outlook.com Support by selecting Help in Outlook.com, entering the issue, scrolling to Still need help?, and selecting Yes.

Thank you for your understanding.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes". If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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.

A W 20 Reputation points

2026-08-04T15:57:51.8233333+00:00

Chloe, I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into responding to my request for help to solve the problem ... Thank you!!

Your suggestions were very helpful ... particularly the one about forwarding emails. I noticed that one of my recently created folders had grown much more than expected. Recognizing that led me to a new (incorrectly designed) rule that I created on 7/30 which was redirecting ALL new Inbox emails to the new folder. I found many, many emails (that should have been in the Inbox) within the new folder. I moved the emails from the new folder to the Inbox and will correct the rule.

The cause of the problem was self-inflicted and probably happened because I got distracted while creating the rule ... and then got caught up in responding to the consequences of the root cause of the problem (the incomplete rule).
A W 20 Reputation points

2026-08-04T16:03:53.8866667+00:00

Chloe, I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into responding to my request for help to solve the problem ... Thank you!!

Your suggestions were very helpful ... particularly the one about forwarding emails. I noticed that one of my recently created folders had grown much more than expected. Recognizing that led me to a new (incorrectly designed) rule that I created on 7/30 which was redirecting ALL new Inbox emails to the new folder. I found many, many emails (that should have been in the Inbox) within the new folder. I moved the emails from the new folder to the Inbox and will correct the rule.

The cause of the problem was self-inflicted and probably happened because I got distracted while creating the rule ... and then got caught up in responding to the consequences of the problem ... rather than root cause of the problem (the incomplete rule).I really appreciate your help in helping to guide me to the cause of the problem. I am relieved to have that associated stress and frustration behind me!
Chloe-V 11,275 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-04T23:35:52.56+00:00

Hi A W

You’re very welcome, and thank you for taking the time to share the cause of the issue.

I’m glad to hear that you located the rule that was redirecting your incoming messages and that your emails are now back in the Inbox. Your update may also help other users who experience similar behavior.

Please feel free to reach out again if you need any further assistance.