Software & Apps > MS Office How to Fix Outlook When It's Not Receiving Emails First, check your internet connection and make sure you're in online mode By Tricia Goss Tricia Goss Facebook Twitter Writer Pima College Tricia Goss has been a writer and editor for 10+ years. She's written tips and tutorials for Microsoft Office applications and other sites. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 6, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Causes of Outlook Errors Solutions to Try Frequently Asked Questions If you were expecting an email and it never arrived or are missing new messages in Microsoft Outlook, troubleshooting can help you pinpoint and resolve the problem. Instructions apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010 for Windows; Outlook for Mac 2019, 2016, and 2011; and Outlook.com, Microsoft's free web-based email client. Why Am I Not Receiving Emails in Outlook? There are a few reasons why you may not be receiving new emails. Below are a few possible causes: No internet connection. Messages go to the Junk Email folder. A corrupt email profile. A bad email rule. Outlook is set to work offline. Outlook could be down. (Read Is Outlook Down? to help you determine if that's the problem.) How Do I Fix Outlook Not Receiving Emails? This issue can occur in a Windows system, macOS, and the online version of Outlook. Restart Outlook. On occasion, Outlook (and other applications) may hang up, or stop working altogether. Closing and re-opening Outlook could clear up any issues that prevent the receipt of emails. Check the internet connection. If you see Disconnected, Working Offline, or Trying to connect statuses on the Outlook status bar, there may be some network connectivity issues, or Outlook is set to work offline. To change Outlook to work online, select Send/Receive > Preferences > Work Offline. Check offline settings. If you have issues on a Mac and have disabled Work Offline, you may need to sign in to your email account and change your settings. Check other Outlook folders for messages. If you don't see new emails in the Inbox, those messages may be going to the Junk Email folder. If you use Outlook.com, those messages may be in the Other section. Check your other devices. You may have downloaded the message to another device such as a phone, tablet, or work computer. If the POP email in Outlook is not set to save a copy on the server, your missing email may be on the device where you first checked your email. Create a new Outlook profile. Outlook uses something called a profile to store information about the email accounts you set up and the configuration settings you chose to determine where your email messages are delivered and stored (such as on the mail server or your computer). If your Outlook profile is corrupt, it can cause you to stop receiving email. Clear the Outlook cache. Sometimes emails get stuck in the incoming processing in Outlook, which sometimes stores these emails in a hidden ItemProcSearch folder. Clearing the cache should reveal the missing email. Check your email rules. If you created any rules, it's possible that your emails are being routed away from your Inbox, forwarded to another email account, or being deleted. FAQ How do you archive emails in Outlook? Outlook automatically archives emails by default, but if you want to archive something manually you can. Select File > Info > Tools > Clean up old items and choose the Archive this folder and all subfolders option. Select which folders you want to archive. How do you block emails in Outlook? To block someone in Outlook, select the messages or senders and select Junk > Block (or Spam > Block depending on your version of Outlook). To mark an email as spam, select it and choose Junk > Junk (or Spam > Spam). How do you auto forward emails in Outlook? Select Settings > View All Outlook Settings > Mail > Forwarding. From here, select Start forwarding, then enter the address you want to send your mail to and select Save. Select the Keep a copy of forwarded messages check box if you want to keep copies of your forwarded emails in Outlook. How do you search emails in Outlook? The search bar is located about the Outlook ribbon. Use it to search for a name, subject, or phrase. Use quotation marks around a set of words to search for that exact phrase. How do you group emails in Outlook? To create contact groups in Outlook, go to the Navigation bar and choose People, then go to Home > New Contact Group and enter a name for the group. Next, select Contact Group > Add Members and pick from one of the offered options (Select From Outlook Contacts, Select From Address Book, or Select New E-mail Contact). Add contacts and select OK, then choose Save & Close. How do you back up Outlook emails? Select File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Export to a file > Next > Outlook Data File (.pst) > Next. Choose the folder you want to back up and select Next, then choose a location and name for your backup file. Select Finish to complete the backup process. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit