I am only receiving emails from the same @ as mine but not receiving any external emails - keep getting undelivered message

Question

I am only receiving emails from the same @ as mine, I have two other people who use the same @example.com as me and we are only able to receive/send emails to one another. We are not receiving any external emails from outside the same @. Any clue how we can fix this? Much appreciated, thank you!

Answer 1

Hi @Shellie,

I understand this is urgent and that your IT contact is currently unavailable.

Based on the error message you shared, the issue appears to be related to your domain's SPF (Sender Policy Framework) configuration rather than Outlook itself. The message indicates that emails are failing SPF validation because the sending IP address isn't authorized in your domain's SPF record, and the SPF policy is configured with a hard fail (-all), which can cause messages to be rejected.

Since SPF records are managed in your organization's DNS settings, the fastest path to resolution would be to contact your IT administrator and ask them to review the domain's SPF configuration and mail flow settings. Microsoft provides official guidance on configuring and troubleshooting SPF records here: Set up SPF to identify valid email sources for your Microsoft 365 domain

Because SPF records are stored in your organization's public DNS and mail flow configuration, only an appropriate administrator can make the required changes. Regular users do not have permission to modify SPF records, Exchange Online mail flow settings, connectors, or domain DNS records. Since the error indicates an SPF authentication failure, resolving it requires administrative access to review and update the domain's email authentication configuration.

Your administrator can also refer to Microsoft's email authentication troubleshooting guide for additional diagnostic steps: Troubleshoot email authentication in Microsoft 365

If any new mail gateway, relay service, or mail routing changes were recently introduced, those sources may also need to be authorized in the SPF record. Microsoft's document notes that SPF failures commonly occur when the sending IP address is not included in the domain's SPF record.

I hope this information helps, and please don't hesitate to reply if you need any further asssitance.

Answer 2

Hello @Shellie,

Good day! I hope you are doing well.

To help provide the most accurate and effective solution for your issue, could you share a bit more detail about your setup:

• Are you using Microsoft 365 or another email hosting service (Gmail for Business, GoDaddy,...)?
• Are you unable to receive emails from all external senders, or only from specific domains or senders?
• When did you first notice this issue, and was email from external senders working correctly before?
• Could you share the exact error code or message from the undelivered email?
• Have any recent DNS or mail server changes been made for your domain?
• Does this issue occur only in Outlook on the web, or do you also experience it in New Outlook, Classic Outlook, or other versions of Outlook?

This additional context will help us understand your environment and the steps already taken so we can tailor the guidance to resolve the issue effectively.

I apologize if I could not jump straight to a solution. I want to avoid suggesting anything that might be inaccurate or unhelpful. Once I have the details above, I’ll be able to assist you more effectively and guide you toward the right resolution.

Looking forward to your response so we can get this sorted out for you together.

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