Didn't receive my initial login email from my enrolled University

Ali Asghar 0 Reputation points
2026-10-21T04:45:27.13+00:00

Previously, I used my Hotmail account to enroll in a diploma course from my local university. I got all the important emails just fine (initial logins and other data).

Now a year later, I have enrolled in the same university for another program. This time I haven't received my initial login details in the aforementioned Hotmail account.

The IT support of the university says the email was successfully sent from their end.

I have tried to:

  1. Check if I have blocked the university's domain.
  2. Checked my Spam/Junk folder.
  3. Checked the Rules in the account Settings.
  4. Reset my password.
  5. Logged out and relogged to all the devices
  6. Tried to sync my emails.
Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy
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  1. AI answer

    2026-10-21T04:47:04.52+00:00

    Check your Microsoft cloud storage and Outlook.com forwarding settings, then have the university resend the login message; if it still does not arrive, university IT should inspect its outbound delivery logs rather than relying only on a “sent” status.

    1. Check the two remaining recipient-side settings

    You have already checked Junk, blocked senders, inbox rules, synchronization, and your password, so those steps do not need repeating.

    1. Check storage capacity
      • In Outlook.com, open Settings → General → Storage.
      • If Microsoft cloud or mailbox storage is full, delete enough content to restore available space.
      • Ask the university to generate and send a new login email afterward. Messages sent while storage was full are bounced to the sender and cannot be recovered later.^1^
    2. Check forwarding separately from inbox rules
      • Open Settings → Mail → Forwarding (in some layouts, Forwarding and IMAP).
      • If forwarding is unexpectedly enabled, turn it off and save the change.
      • Ask the university to resend the message.
    3. Only if a third-party mail application is connected through POP or IMAP: temporarily disable POP/IMAP under the same settings area, then request another test message. This is relevant to connected applications, not normally to Outlook.com webmail itself.^1^

    Also verify that the university has your complete current Hotmail address recorded correctly. A stale or mistyped address can produce a mailbox-not-found response.^2^

    2. Ask university IT for delivery evidence

    “Successfully sent” can mean only that their enrollment system handed the message to an outbound mail server; it does not confirm acceptance into your Hotmail mailbox.

    Ask IT to:

    1. Generate a fresh login message rather than forwarding the original.
    2. Confirm the exact recipient address used.
    3. Inspect their available message trace or outbound SMTP logs for that attempt.
    4. Provide the final SMTP response, including:
      • Date and time, with time zone
      • Recipient domain
      • Delivery status
      • SMTP status/error code
      • Whether Outlook.com accepted, deferred, or rejected it
    5. Check for a non-delivery report (NDR). Its diagnostic section can identify an invalid recipient, policy rejection, authentication failure, or other delivery problem.^3^

    Do not post the complete report publicly without removing email addresses, message IDs, IP addresses, and other identifying information.

    3. If Outlook.com rejected or never accepted the message

    University IT or its email provider—not the recipient—must investigate its sending configuration. Microsoft documents that Outlook.com delivery can be affected by sender IP/domain reputation, SPF and other authentication signals, reverse DNS, and sending-server configuration.^4^

    If their configuration is valid but delivery to Hotmail remains unsuccessful, IT should use the Outlook.com Sender Support issue-submission route documented on that page. Adding the university as a safe sender may not help when a message is rejected before reaching the mailbox.

    For immediate access, ask the university whether it can:

    • Reset or issue the login credentials through its authenticated student portal.
    • Send the enrollment message to another verified address.
    • Provide the credentials through another university-approved secure channel.

    4. If IT shows Outlook.com accepted the message

    If storage and forwarding are clear and IT can demonstrate that Outlook.com accepted the newly generated message, contact Outlook.com support from Help → enter the delivery issue → Still need help? → Yes. Include the sanitized SMTP response, sending address/domain, and exact timestamp. Microsoft provides that escalation path after the standard receive-mail checks fail.^1^

    References

    1. Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com | Microsoft Support
    2. Sent email in Outlook.com comes back "delivery failed" | Microsoft Support
    3. Microsoft’s Exchange & @hotmail.com / @outlook.com domains Spam problem. - Microsoft Q&A
    4. Sender Support in Outlook.com | Microsoft Support
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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