I'm no longer receiving email

Has your mail stopped arriving, or are messages from certain senders missing? The steps below help you find out whether mail isn't reaching the server, or whether it does arrive but doesn't show up in your mail program. That distinction determines the solution.

First, three questions

• Is nothing arriving at all, or are only some messages missing? Nothing arriving at all points to the mailbox, the package or DNS. A few missing messages points to spam filters or the sender.
• Since when? Did you change anything around that time, such as a move, DNS, a password, or your email with Microsoft 365 or Google?
• Did the sender get an error message back? Ask them to forward it to you. The code in it tells you exactly what went wrong (see the table below).

Step 1: check the webmail

Open the webmail and log in with the email address and password (see Opening webmail). This rules out your own mail program.

• Is the mail in the webmail? Then it has arrived correctly and the issue lies with your mail program or phone. Go to step 4.
• Is it not there either? Check the Spam and Junk folders, then go to step 2.

Step 2: the most common causes on the server

1. The mailbox or package is full

A full mailbox rejects new mail. The sender then gets a message such as mailbox full or quota exceeded. Check E-mail Accounts to see how much space the mailbox is using (see Storage per mailbox and what happens when it's full) and the DirectAdmin dashboard to see how full the whole package is (see Storage full: where's the space going?). Empty the trash and spam folder, or give the mailbox more space.

2. A spam filter is blocking the mail

Check SpamAssassin Setup to see what happens to spam. If it's set to delete, you'll never see mail wrongly marked as spam (see SpamAssassin Setup). Also check SPAM Filters to see whether a sender, domain or word has been blocked (see SPAM Filters: blocking senders, domains and words).

3. The MX records point elsewhere

After a move, or if your email runs with another provider such as Microsoft 365, the MX record determines where mail arrives. Check it with Domain Health Check at www.weboke.nl/en/domein-gezondheid, on the MX (receiving) line. You can read how it should look in MX records: where does your e-mail arrive? and Email with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, website with WebOké.

4. A forwarder or catch-all is redirecting the mail

If a forwarder exists with the same address, the mail goes there instead (see Forwarders: forwarding mail to another address). Mail to an address that doesn't exist only arrives if the catch-all handles it (see Catch-All E-mail: mail to non-existent addresses).

5. The domain is no longer working

If the domain has expired or been suspended because the owner's email address hasn't been verified, mail will no longer arrive. Domain Health Check shows this under Status and expiry and Owner verification (see My domain isn't working yet after a transfer or change).

Step 3: track a message with E-mail Tracking

With E-mail Tracking in DirectAdmin, you can see whether a message from a particular sender has arrived, and what happened to it (see E-mail Tracking: where did my mail go?). Enter the sender's address and check the status. This tells you for certain whether the mail reached the server.

Step 4: the mail is in the webmail, but not on your device

• Your password has been changed. Update it in your mail program and on your phone too (see Sending or receiving doesn't work: how to fix it).
• Your IP address has been blocked. A device with an old password can cause the firewall to block your IP address. In that case, your website will also stop working from that connection. Check this with Am I blocked? in the Support Centre (see Solving login problems).
• You're using POP3. If another device collects the mail with POP3 and then deletes it from the server, your other device will never see it. Use IMAP on all your devices (see IMAP or POP3: what's the difference?).
• A rule in your mail program is moving the mail to another folder.

Error messages the sender receives

Tip: With the Email Health Check at www.weboke.nl/en/emailcheck, you can check your domain's MX, SPF and DMARC records and whether you're on a blocklist, all in one go.