not receiving emails

A current Microsoft Outlook disruption is affecting email access and delivery today, so first check Microsoft’s service-health page and wait for service restoration if an incident is shown.^1^ The reported disruption includes both business and consumer Outlook users, which is consistent with an MSN.com mailbox suddenly stopping on both desktop and mobile.^2^

Distinguish the outage from a mailbox problem

1. Open Outlook.com in a web browser and sign in with the same MSN.com account.
2. Send a test message to the MSN address from another email account.
3. Check Inbox, Other, and Junk Email, then select Filter → Sort → Date.
4. Interpret the result:
   • The message does not arrive on the website, desktop, or phone: this is not a device-sync problem. If service health reports an incident, wait until Microsoft marks it resolved and test again.
   • The message appears on the website but not in the apps: the mailbox is receiving mail, and the remaining issue is synchronization in Outlook.
   • Only messages from one sender are missing: ask that sender whether they received a non-delivery report.

If service health is normal

In Outlook.com, check these account-level settings:

1. Go to Settings → Mail → Rules and disable or delete any rule that moves, deletes, or redirects incoming messages.
2. Go to Settings → Mail → Forwarding and turn off forwarding you do not recognize.
3. Review Junk Email and blocked-sender settings.
4. Check mailbox/cloud storage. If Microsoft cloud storage is full, the account cannot send or receive email; messages sent while it was full are bounced to the sender and cannot be recovered.^3^
5. If anything suggests unauthorized access, review the account’s recent sign-in activity and secure the account. Unexpected rules and forwarding can cause incoming mail to disappear from the Inbox.^4^

Avoid removing and recreating the MSN.com alias while troubleshooting. A removed Microsoft email alias can be permanently deleted.^5^

If mail returns on the web but not in New Outlook

Do not use the classic Outlook troubleshooters: Microsoft states that they do not apply to new Outlook for Windows.^6^ After the service incident is resolved, restart New Outlook and the phone app. If web mail works but either app still does not synchronize, use Help in Outlook.com or New Outlook to contact support rather than changing mailbox rules or aliases.

References

1. Microsoft service health status
2. Microsoft's Outlook email hit by new outage | TechCrunch
3. Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com | Microsoft Support
4. Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox | Microsoft Support
5. MSN email issues - Microsoft Q&A
6. Issues sending and receiving email | Microsoft Support