As an email recipient, you might occasionally notice that important emails are missing from your inbox or end up in your spam folder. These issues can be frustrating, especially when you're expecting crucial information. Understanding the common causes of email deliverability problems can help you take steps to ensure you receive all your important messages.
In this guide, we'll explore how to identify and address email deliverability issues from a receiver's standpoint. By the end of this article, you'll be equipped with the knowledge to troubleshoot and resolve common email deliverability problems, ensuring you never miss an important message again.
Check the server first.
Emails are delivered to your mail server before you download them into your mail program (outlook, thunderbird etc.). The easiest way to check if emails are on the server is to use webmail. Webmail is a direct connection to your email account on the server.
To login to webmail open a new web browser tab and type in the webmail. followed by your domain. For example: webmail.myowndomain.com.au.
Enter your full email address and your email password to log in.
If you don't know your email password, you can reset it in your hosting control panel: cpanel | plesk.
Once you log in to webmail, if there are emails present that are not in your mail program, please skip down to the section Check Mail Program Settings below.
Check your mailbox is not full
If you are missing emails, first check that your mailbox is not full. Each mailbox has a maximum storage allowed setting. If your mailbox goes over this storage allocation, you will no longer be able to receive emails.
In cPanel webmail, you can see your mailbox usage at the bottom left:
In Plesk webmail, you can see your mailbox usage at the bottom right:
If your mailbox is at 100% (or more), you will need to change your mailbox size. Do this in your control panel. Change Mailbox Sizes: cpanel | plesk
If your mailbox is already at the maximum allowed, you will need to either upgrade your plan or remove emails to free up space.
Check your mail is being delivered to the correct server.
A common reason for emails not being delivered is due to an incorrectly configured domain and DNS settings.
To get a full DNS report on your domain, use the website https://www.intodns.com/.
Type in your domain name (do not include any slashes or the https part) and click on the Report button:
If you see an error message like 'Can't get nameservers at parent server!' check you have entered your domain name correctly and also check that your domain is still registered.
Check Nameservers
In the first section, check your nameservers are correct.
cPanel accounts should look like the following:
Plesk accounts should be set to your host server (psi, sigma, etc.) and ns3. For example:
Note: If your nameservers are provided by a third party (such as Cloudflare, Microsoft), you will need to check the DNS settings via their platform.
If your nameservers are not correct, you can update them here: Edit Nameservers
Check MX record
Scroll down the IntoDNS results page and look for the MX section. Here you will see your MX records:
You should see your domain name with a prefix of mail.
If you see mailchannels, then you are using our premium mail filter so these settings are correct:
If you don't see either of the above, then your email will not be delivered to your hosting account and you should check your DNS settings.
If you see something like mail.protection.outlook.com you are using Microsoft 365 for email and should contact Microsoft support.
If you see something like smtp.google.com you are using Google Workspace and should contact Google support.
Request Support
If everything above looks correct, please create a helpdesk ticket, and we'll assist.
Check Mail Program Settings
If you are seeing emails in webmail but they are not appearing in your email program, there may be a configuration problem.
Due to the many different types of mail programs available it's impossible to provide detailed instructions. However, all mail programs require the same settings.
See here for cPanel based settings: Configure devices for cPanel email
See here for Plesk based settings: Configure devices for Plesk email
POP or IMAP
If your mail program is configured to use POP instead of IMAP you may run into synchronisation issues.
IMAP is a better protocol as it allows you to connect multiple devices to the same mail account and will synchronise your mailbox across those devices.
POP, on the other hand, is designed to remove the email from the server by downloading it to your device. If you have multiple devices, then only the first device to download the email will receive it. Any other device that connects to the server later will not see the downloaded email. POP is not recommended.
Emails going to spam or junk
If legitimate emails that are being sent to you end up in your junk mail or spam folder, it may not be an issue with your mailbox. It's more likely the sender has not configured their outgoing emails correctly or the content of their email has triggered known spam content rules.
If you trust the sender, you can add them to your whitelist. Most email programs will provide this function but it won't work if the mail server has already classified it as junk. You will need to add the sender to the whitelist on your server.
How To Whitelist An Email Address on cPanel
How To Whitelist An Email Address on Plesk
How To Whitelist An Email Address on Mailchannels
Still having issues?
If you're still not able to resolve your incoming mail issues please create a helpdesk ticket and we'll assist.
