Not Receiving Emails

The November 12–13 Outlook disruption is still affecting some users, so avoid changing account configuration until service recovery is complete; then retest external delivery in both directions using new plain-text messages. The ability to email yourself only confirms delivery within the Outlook.com mailbox—it does not verify external mail routing. Public reporting indicates recovery is underway but may not yet be complete for everyone.^1^

Check whether messages are delayed, rejected, or hidden

1. Send a new plain-text message without attachments:
   • Outlook.com → Gmail or AOL
   • Gmail or AOL → Outlook.com
2. Check Sent Items on each sending account.
3. Wait for a non-delivery report, then record its exact error text and code. A delivery-failed message can identify whether the receiving server rejected or could not accept the message.^2^
4. In Outlook.com, inspect:
   • Inbox → Other
   • Junk Email
   • Deleted Items
   • Filter → Sort → Date
5. Open Settings → Mail → Rules and disable any rule that moves or deletes incoming messages.
6. Open Settings → Mail → Forwarding and ensure mail is not being redirected unexpectedly.

These are Microsoft’s documented checks for apparently missing Outlook.com mail.^3^

Check storage before sending more tests

Open Outlook.com Settings → General → Storage and verify that both Microsoft cloud storage and mailbox storage have available space. A full storage allocation prevents both sending and receiving. Messages sent while storage was full are bounced to the sender and cannot later be recovered, so those senders must resend them after space is available.^3^

Interpret the result

• Mail starts arriving after recovery: The messages were likely delayed by the service disruption. Keep checking Junk and the message date order.
• Gmail/AOL receives a bounce when sending to Outlook.com: Preserve the complete bounce message. If the Outlook.com address is correct and storage is available, the sender can use Microsoft’s sender-support guidance.^4^
• Outlook.com receives a bounce when sending externally: Follow the action stated in that report. Microsoft lists invalid addresses, full recipient mailboxes, receiving-server issues, and spam filtering among common causes.^3^
• Messages remain missing in both directions without any bounce: In Outlook.com, select Help, describe the bidirectional external-delivery failure, run the offered self-help, then scroll to Still need help? → Yes. Include:
  • Approximate send times and time zone
  • Sender and recipient providers, without posting full addresses publicly
  • Whether each message appears in Sent Items
  • Any non-delivery error text
  • Confirmation that storage, Rules, Forwarding, Junk, and Other were checked

That escalation path is the documented way to reach Outlook.com support when the standard checks do not resolve the problem.^3^

References

1. Microsoft Outlook mostly fixed after 24 hours. See outage updates
2. Sent email in Outlook.com comes back "delivery failed" | Microsoft Support
3. Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com | Microsoft Support
4. Sender Support in Outlook.com | Microsoft Support