Outlook Can't Send or Receive Email: How to Fix It
Messages sit in your Outbox and never leave, or no new mail comes in even though people say they've written to you.
Try these in order
- Check your storage. If your Microsoft cloud storage or mailbox is full you can neither send nor receive, and incoming mail bounces back unrecoverably (Microsoft Support).
- Confirm you're online. Try loading microsoft.com or bing.com in a browser; if neither loads, fix your network first (Microsoft Support).
- Force a sync. Use the Sync button on the View tab to manually check for new mail and push out queued messages (Microsoft Support).
- Look for an oversized attachment. Open the oldest stuck message in your Outbox; if the attachment is over about 20-25 MB, remove it and send a link or smaller file instead (Microsoft Support).
- Update your password in Outlook. If you recently changed it with your email provider, sign in again when Outlook prompts you (Microsoft Support).
- Read any bounce message carefully. Non-delivery receipts usually name the cause: wrong address, the recipient's mailbox is full, their server is down, or spam filtering blocked it (Microsoft Support).
- Remove the device partnership if only one device is affected. Delete the phone from Settings > General > Mobile devices in Outlook on the web, then restart the phone and sync (Microsoft Support).
Still stuck? If your account is temporarily blocked for unusual sign-in activity, follow Microsoft's unblock process, or use the account sign-in helper if you can't get in at all (Microsoft Support).
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