Outlook Not Sending or Receiving Emails? How to Tell If It’s Microsoft or You

Quick answer: If Outlook is not sending or receiving emails, first check whether Microsoft 365 is having an outage. Open Microsoft's service status page, then try Outlook on the web from your phone on mobile data. If webmail also fails and Microsoft lists an incident, the problem is Microsoft and you should wait and use another channel. If webmail works, the problem is your Outlook app, mailbox or setup, and the fixes below will usually sort it out in minutes.

The 2 minute test: is it Microsoft or you?

Work through these checks in order. Stop as soon as you find the answer.

1. Check Microsoft's status. Look at the Microsoft 365 status page or the @MSFT365Status account on X. Business admins should open Service health in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, which shows incidents for your own tenant.
2. Try Outlook on the web. Go to outlook.office.com on another device. If webmail works, Microsoft's servers are fine and the problem is your Outlook app or computer.
3. Switch networks. Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and try the Outlook app on mobile data. If it works, your office network, firewall or VPN may be the cause.
4. Send yourself a test. Email your work address from a personal Gmail or iCloud account. If it never arrives and webmail also struggles, incoming mail is being delayed upstream.
5. Ask a colleague. If everyone in your business has the same problem at the same time, it is almost always the provider or your domain settings, not one person's device.

Signs it is a Microsoft 365 outage

• Outlook on the web, the mobile app and desktop Outlook all fail or are very slow.
• Teams, OneDrive or Copilot are also playing up, because they share the Microsoft 365 platform.
• Microsoft lists an active incident on its status page or in Service health.
• Downdetector shows a sudden spike of reports from other people.
• Inboxes load but new emails arrive hours late, or sent emails sit in the Outbox.

If these match, there is nothing to fix on your side. Do not reinstall Outlook or reset your password. Follow the steps in what to do instead while Outlook is down and keep clients informed by phone or text.

Signs the problem is on your side, and how to fix it

If Microsoft shows no incident and webmail works, one of these is the usual cause.

Outlook not receiving emails

• Mailbox is full. A full mailbox rejects new mail. Empty Deleted Items and archive old messages with large attachments.
• Emails are going to Junk or Other. Check the Junk Email folder and the Focused or Other tabs. Mark wanted senders as Not junk.
• An inbox rule is moving or deleting mail. Open Settings, then Rules, and switch off any rule you do not recognise. Unknown forwarding rules can also be a sign that the account has been hacked.
• Outlook is offline or out of sync. Check that Work Offline is turned off, then close and reopen Outlook.
• Your domain MX records are wrong. If nobody at your business receives email after a website or hosting change, the MX records in your DNS may have been changed or deleted.

Outlook not sending emails (stuck in the Outbox)

• Attachment too large. Microsoft 365 limits message size. Send big files as a OneDrive or Google Drive link instead.
• Saved password has expired. If Outlook keeps asking for a password, sign out of Outlook and sign back in. Only do this when Microsoft has no active outage.
• Offline mode or a stuck message. Turn off Work Offline, then drag the stuck email to Drafts, open it and send it again.
• Sending limits. Sending a large batch of emails at once can hit Microsoft limits. Use an email marketing tool for newsletters.

Website contact form emails not arriving

This is the most common email problem I fix for small businesses. Many websites send form notifications without proper SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, so Microsoft quietly blocks them or sends them to junk. My contact form email delivery fix sends forms through an authenticated mail service and saves a copy of every enquiry on your website, so leads are not lost even when Outlook is down.

What to do if it is Microsoft

• Leave queued emails in the Outbox. They usually send once service returns.
• Use the phone, SMS or a chat app from a different provider for anything urgent. Teams is not a reliable backup because it runs on Microsoft 365 as well.
• Post a short notice on your website and Google Business Profile saying email is delayed and giving a phone number.
• Ignore emails or texts asking you to "verify your Microsoft account" to fix the outage. They are scams.
• For the full list and live updates on the current outage, read why Microsoft Outlook email is down and what to do instead.

Make the next email problem a non-event

• Keep a backup mailbox on your own domain with a different provider. See my domain and business email setup.
• Make sure you can log in to your domain and DNS so MX records can be checked or changed quickly. My domain, hosting and DNS setup service tidies this up.
• Export your client contact list regularly so you can call people when email is down.
• If Microsoft 365 is not the right fit, I move businesses between providers with my Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 email migration service, without losing old emails.

Still not sure whether the problem is Microsoft or your setup? Book a free 15-minute website consultation and I will check your email, forms and domain with you.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Outlook not receiving emails today?

If it is 13 November 2026, the most likely reason is the global Microsoft 365 outage (incident EX1550543), which has delayed email for Outlook users worldwide. Check the Microsoft 365 status page or Service health in the admin centre. If there is no active incident, check that your mailbox is not full, your junk folder and any inbox rules.

How do I know if Outlook is down or if it is just me?

Log in to Outlook on the web at outlook.office.com from a different device or network. If it fails there too and Microsoft lists an active incident, the problem is Microsoft. If webmail works but your desktop Outlook does not, the problem is your device or app.

Why are my emails stuck in the Outbox?

Emails stay in the Outbox when Outlook cannot reach the server, when Outlook is set to work offline, or when an attachment is too large. During a Microsoft outage they usually send by themselves once service returns, so leave them there and check your Sent folder afterwards.

Will emails sent to me during an outage be lost?

Usually not. Sending servers keep retrying, and during the November 2026 outage Microsoft extended its email timeout window to 48 hours to protect delayed messages. Most mail arrives late rather than not at all, but ask senders to resend anything urgent.

Why are my website contact form emails not arriving in Outlook?

Form emails often fail because the website sends them without proper authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), so Microsoft filters or blocks them. They also stop arriving during a Microsoft outage. The fix is to send forms through an authenticated mail service and save every entry on the website as a backup.

Should I switch away from Microsoft 365 after an outage?

Not automatically. Every provider has outages. A backup plan (a second inbox for forms, an exported contact list and a ready-made outage notice) usually matters more than which provider you use. If outages keep costing you work, compare Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 before deciding.

Last updated 13 November 2026. Written by Mark Serdina, web developer at iScreenviewer, based on Microsoft's public documentation and status updates.