Why am I not receiving emails in Gmail?
Someone says they sent it and it never arrived. Eight things to check, in the order most likely to find it.
Someone tells you they sent the email. You refresh. Nothing. Most of the time the email did arrive and is sitting somewhere you did not look. Check these in order.
1. Spam
Open Spam on the left (under More if you cannot see it). If the email is there, open it and click Report not spam. Gmail learns from that.
2. The other tabs
If your inbox has tabs, the email may be in Promotions, Social or Updates. Drag it to Primary and Gmail asks whether to do that for future emails from the sender.
3. All Mail
A filter may have archived it, so it skipped the inbox. Click All Mail and search for the sender's address.
4. Filters
Open Settings (the gear), then See all settings, then Filters and Blocked Addresses. Look for a filter that deletes, archives or skips the inbox for that sender or subject. Delete or edit it.
5. Blocked addresses
On the same page, look at the list of blocked addresses. Unblock the sender if they are there.
6. Forwarding
Under Settings, then Forwarding and POP/IMAP, check that forwarding is not sending your mail to another address and deleting the copy.
7. Storage
If your Google storage is full, new email bounces back to the sender. Check the storage bar at the bottom of the left menu, or visit one.google.com/storage. Clearing old email with big attachments (larger:10M) is the quickest win.
8. The sender's side
Ask them to check the address they used, and whether they got a bounce message. A typo in one letter is the most common reason of all.
Still nothing?
Wait an hour. Large attachments and some company mail servers delay delivery. If it still has not come, ask the sender to send it again without attachments to see whether the file was the problem.
How Perfect Mail helps
- Search for it. Press ⌘S and type the sender's name. Search finds the email even if it was archived and never reached your inbox.
- Spam is one click away. Open the folder menu and choose Spam. Select the email and click Not spam to move it back to your inbox in Gmail.
- See when it last synced. Hover the refresh button: it says when your mail was last updated, or that it is catching up.