Gmail Is Not Sending or Receiving Messages

Use this guide when Gmail will not send a message, expected mail has not arrived, or messages appear to be missing. Complete the checks in order and avoid deleting mail or changing several settings at once.

1. Confirm the scope

Open Gmail on the web in a supported browser and verify that you are signed in to the correct account. Send a short test message to yourself and note what happens. If Gmail works on the web but not in Outlook, Apple Mail, a phone app, or another client, the issue is likely limited to that app or its synchronization settings. Also check the Google Workspace Status Dashboard for a current Gmail incident.

2. If messages will not send

Look in Drafts, Outbox, and Sent. A message in Drafts or Outbox has not completed sending. Reconnect to the internet, reopen Gmail, and try once more. Do not repeatedly resend a message with many recipients or a large attachment.

If Gmail returns an automated failure notice, open the message from Mail Delivery Subsystem and read the exact error. Google’s bounced or rejected email guide explains common causes, including a mistyped or nonexistent address, recipient spam filtering, a temporary recipient-server problem, a full recipient mailbox, or a sending limit. Check the recipient address for spaces, extra punctuation, or spelling errors. If appropriate, remove unusual links or attachments and send a simple test. Never bypass a company security warning or upload sensitive information to a personal file-sharing service.

A daily sending limit or security restriction normally requires time or administrator review; creating another account to evade it is not an appropriate workaround.

3. If messages are missing or not arriving

Check your Google storage at Google One storage. Gmail, Drive, and Photos share storage; when the account is full, sending and receiving can be affected. Remove content only if you understand the retention impact, and empty Trash only when you are certain the items are no longer needed.

Search all locations rather than only the Inbox. In Gmail, click the search-options icon, set Search to Mail & Spam & Trash, then search by sender, subject, date, or a distinctive phrase. Also review Spam, Trash, All Mail, and category tabs. Google notes that Spam and Trash are permanently deleted after 30 days. Follow Google’s missing messages checklist for the current search procedure.

On a computer, go to Settings > See all settings:

1. In Filters and Blocked Addresses, look for filters that use Delete it or Skip the Inbox. Edit only a filter you recognize.
2. In Forwarding and POP/IMAP (or Forwarding), confirm that mail is not being forwarded, archived, or deleted unexpectedly.
3. Check whether another synced device or mail client deleted the message. Gmail maintains one synchronized copy, so deletion in another connected app can affect Gmail too.

Ask the sender whether they received a bounce notice and have them verify the exact address. Do not ask them to send confidential content to another address as a test.

4. Capture evidence and escalate

Contact your organization’s support team if multiple users are affected, a security warning appears, mail to or from an entire domain fails, you cannot change a managed setting, or the problem continues after the checks above. Provide:

• Your affected email address and the sender or recipient address
• Approximate time, time zone, and message subject
• Whether the problem occurs in Gmail on the web and another device
• The full bounce error text or SMTP code, if present
• A screenshot with message content and personal data redacted
• Troubleshooting steps already completed

Do not send your password, 2-Step Verification code, backup code, or session cookie. Administrators may need to review routing, quarantine, account storage, audit logs, or domain authentication; those checks are not available to ordinary end users.