If new emails aren't showing up in Outlook, they're often being filed somewhere else (Junk, the Other tab or a rule), or the mailbox is full or offline. Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 also have occasional outages that delay mail.
Is Outlook down?
Check our Outlook status page for live reports. During an outage, mail is usually delayed rather than lost.
Things to check
- Search for the sender in the search box, with "All folders" selected.
- Check Junk Email, and mark wanted messages as "Not junk".
- Check the Other tab if you use Focused Inbox.
- Check your rules and Sweep settings, which can move or delete messages automatically.
- Check Blocked senders in Settings, Mail, Junk email.
- Check your storage. When your mailbox is full, Outlook stops receiving new mail.
- In the desktop app, make sure Work Offline isn't switched on (Send / Receive tab), and try Outlook on the web to see whether mail is arriving there.
If emails arrive on the web but not in the app
Your mailbox is fine and the app isn't syncing. Restart it, check for updates, and remove and re-add the account if needed. On phones, check background refresh and battery-saving settings for the Outlook app.
Questions
Why is Outlook not receiving emails?
The emails may be in Junk or the Other tab, a rule or Sweep may be moving them, your mailbox may be full, or Outlook may be offline or having an outage.
How do I tell if Outlook is down?
Try Outlook on the web and check a live status page with user reports. If others report problems at the same time, it's an outage.