Not Receiving Email: What to Check

When mail stops arriving, work through these checks in order.

1. Check Webmail first

1. Log in to cPanel. If you can’t log in, open a support ticket.
2. In the cPanel sidebar, click Email.
3. Find the address in the list, and click Manage in its row.
4. On the Overview tab, click Open Webmail. Webmail opens in a new browser tab.
5. Look in the Inbox and in the Junk or Spam folder.
6. Search for the sender’s address, and look in your other folders too.

If you see an Email Accounts icon instead, click it, then click Check Email next to the address. Or type the tool’s name in cPanel’s search box (Ctrl+K or Cmd+K). If you can’t find it, open a support ticket.

If the mail is in Webmail, the server received it, and the problem is your phone or mail app. Compare its settings with Set Up Mail Client (in Webmail, click Automatically configure my device). See how to find your email settings.

2. Check the address and ask for the bounce

• Ask the sender to check the exact spelling of your address.
• Ask for the text of any bounce message (an automatic email saying delivery failed). It usually names the problem.

3. Check the mailbox’s storage and status

1. On cPanel’s Email page, look at the storage the address uses and has left. The Near quota tab lists mailboxes that are almost full.
2. If it’s full, new mail bounces. If it’s nearly full, large messages can bounce. See how to fix a full mailbox.
3. Click Manage in the address’s row, open the Settings tab, and check Account Status. If the account is suspended and you didn’t do that, open a support ticket.

With an Email Accounts icon: check the address’s storage, then click Manage. Under Restrictions, Receiving Incoming Mail should be Allow.

4. Check filters and forwarders

1. In the address’s Manage view, open the Filters tab.
2. Look for a filter that moves, forwards or discards mail you want.
3. To change it, click Edit. To remove it, click the ⋯ menu, then Delete.
4. Open the Forwarders tab. If a forwarder is listed, mail for this address is sent on to that address, and it may not stay in this mailbox. Check there. If you don’t want it forwarded, click Delete next to the forwarder.

With the older layout, use the Email Filters and Forwarders icons. Can’t find them? Open a support ticket.

5. Check whether the message reached the server

If your cPanel has Track Delivery (search for it), enter your address in Recipient Email (optional), click Run Report, then select Show Blocked & Failed. The information icon in the Actions column shows why a message failed. Only recent mail is listed.

No Track Delivery, or the report is empty? Open a support ticket with the sender’s address and roughly when they sent the message, and ask us to check the mail logs.

6. Check your MX records

MX records are DNS settings that tell the internet which server receives your domain’s mail. If they point somewhere else, such as Microsoft 365 or an old host, mail never reaches your Blue Arctic mailbox.

• If your domain’s DNS is managed in your cPanel, check the MX records there. See how to set up MX records.
• If your DNS is hosted elsewhere, such as at your registrar or Cloudflare, check them there.
• Not sure where your DNS is managed or what the MX records should say, or they point to Blue Arctic and mail still doesn’t arrive? Open a support ticket with your domain, and ask us to check the MX records and email routing.
• After a change, allow time for it to spread. See how long DNS changes take.

7. Check for a service problem

Visit our status page. During an incident or maintenance, sending servers normally keep retrying, so delayed mail usually arrives afterwards.

How to tell it worked

From another account, such as a personal email address, send a message to the affected address. It should appear in Webmail and then on your devices.

Troubleshooting

• Only mail from one sender is missing: check Junk, and ask the sender for their bounce message.
• Mail is in Webmail but not on your phone: compare its settings with Set Up Mail Client. A device using POP3 can take mail off the server. Warning: it may hold the only copy of older mail, and our backups don’t include email. Save that mail, or open a support ticket, before you remove the account and add it again as IMAP.
• All mail stopped at once: first check in the Client Portal that your domain hasn’t expired and your hosting invoices are paid. Then check the storage, the MX records and the status page.

Still need help?

Open a support ticket from the Client Portal at my.bluearctic.com (see our support page). Include your domain, the affected address, a sender’s address and roughly when they sent the message, the bounce text if there was one, a screenshot, and what you already tried. Never include a password.