Gmail not receiving emails? 9 things to check

Why is Gmail not receiving emails?

Why does Gmail stop receiving email?

Gmail accepts a message in three stages. The sender's server delivers it, Google checks it for spam and rules, and your account stores it if there is room. A failure at any stage leads to the same symptom: nothing in your inbox. A message can be blocked before it arrives (a wrong address, a full account or a spam rejection), filed somewhere you are not looking (Spam, Promotions, All Mail), or removed by a rule you forgot you set. The checks below follow that order, from the easiest to the most technical.

Test whether Gmail works at all

Send yourself a message from another email account, or from a friend's. If it shows up in a minute or two, Gmail receives mail fine, and the problem is with one sender. If nothing arrives, the problem is with your account, such as storage, a filter or forwarding. Also send a message to yourself from Gmail. Mail you send to yourself should reach the inbox, unless a filter catches it.

Look for bounce messages

When Gmail cannot deliver a message to you, the sender usually gets a bounce message from Mail Delivery Subsystem. The notice includes a short code and text that tells you why. A 552 error with the words quota exceeded means your storage is full. A 550 error with the words no such user means your address is wrong. A message that says blocked or rejected points to a spam filter on the other side. Ask the sender to copy and send you the bounce message, which makes the next step much easier.

Filters that quietly hide your mail

Filters can skip the inbox, mark messages as read, apply a label or delete them. In Gmail on a computer, open Settings › See all settings › Filters and Blocked Addresses. Read each filter. A filter with the words Delete it or Skip the Inbox is the usual cause. Click Edit or Delete. Also check that a label view is not hiding the message, since a filter can put mail under a label and keep it out of the inbox. Search with in:anywhere and the sender's name to find mail wherever it went.

Forwarding, POP and other accounts

If you set Gmail to forward all mail to another address and delete the Gmail copy, the inbox looks empty. Check Settings › Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Also check the Accounts and Import tab for mail that Gmail collects from other accounts. A wrong password on such an account stops the fetch. If you use Gmail with a custom domain, the DNS mail records (MX records) must be correct, or mail does not reach Google. Your domain host or admin can check them.

Gmail on your phone: sync and notifications

If mail shows on a computer but not on your phone, the phone is not syncing. On Android, open Settings › Accounts › Google › Account sync and turn on Gmail, or check inside the Gmail app under Settings › your account › Sync Gmail. Also check that battery saver is not restricting Gmail. On iPhone, the Gmail app needs Background App Refresh and notifications turned on. For the Mail app on iPhone, see Gmail not working on iPhone.

Free up storage fast

Search for large mail with has:attachment larger:10M, delete the biggest ones and empty Trash and Spam, which still count toward storage until they are deleted for good. Then check Google Drive and Google Photos, since all three share the same 15 GB. Our guide to deleting emails from one sender shows how to remove thousands of old messages in a few clicks. If you need more space, Google One sells extra storage monthly, and a compare of the plans takes a minute.

When the problem is one sender

• Check Spam and the Promotions tab for that sender.
• Search for the sender with from:name.
• Make sure the sender did not put a dot, number or letter in the wrong place in your address.
• Ask the sender to try a different email provider. Some servers are blacklisted.
• Add the sender to your contacts, which lowers the chance of spam filtering.

Still missing? Contact Google or your admin

If you use a work or school address, the problem is often on the admin side, because organizations can block or quarantine messages. Ask your admin to check the message trace. For personal accounts, use the Google Account help page and the Gmail Help Community. Give the date, the sender's address and any bounce text. If your account looks hacked, change your password and see Gmail signing you out.

Prevent missed mail in the future

• Check your storage every few months at one.google.com/storage.
• Review your filters once a year and delete the ones you no longer need.
• Keep a second recovery email on your Google Account so you can always get back in.
• Use labels and stars for important senders, not rules that delete.
• Unsubscribe from newsletters you never read. It cuts clutter and storage.

If you rely on email for work, bills or school, consider a backup address, such as a second free account, and give it to the people who need to reach you when Gmail has trouble.

Are you looking in the right account?

Many people have more than one Google account on a phone. Tap your profile picture in the Gmail app, and check which account is open. A message sent to your work address will not show in your personal inbox. Also check that you are not signed in with a similar address, such as a name with a different number. A typo in the address you gave a company or a friend is one of the most common reasons mail never arrives, and it is easy to miss.

Delayed mail versus missing mail

Some emails are not lost at all, only slow. Large attachments, a busy sender or a spam check can hold a message for several minutes or even an hour. Wait a little, refresh the inbox by pulling down, and check the Spam folder again before you change any settings. If mail always arrives late on your phone but is on the web right away, the phone is the problem, so look at sync and battery settings.