Fix Outlook Not Receiving Email From a Particular Sender

If you’re wondering, “Why am I not receiving emails from certain senders?”, there might be a synchronization issue, the email might be going straight to the junk folder, or your organization’s mail settings might be filtering out that email from that sender. In this post, we'll discuss the potential reasons for the ‘Outlook not receiving emails from specific sender’ error and the best methods to fix it.

Why is Outlook not receiving emails from specific sender?

Here are a few reasons why users face the Outlook not receiving certain emails error:

• Low internet bandwidth, making Outlook to server connection unstable.
• Your emails are being received in the Junk Email folder and not in the Inbox.
• The emails are reaching Outlook.com but not getting synced with the Outlook application.
• An Outlook rule is moving the emails to junk folder or deleting the emails altogether.
• Aggressive anti-virus tools or firewall rules can interfere with the Outlook incoming emails.
• Your Outlook storage is full, leaving no room for new emails.
• Microsoft 365 may flag the email as high-risk and stop it from reaching to your server.
• A transport rule may be redirecting your emails to another server.
• Corrupt OST or PST file may be interfering with the email sync process.

Note: To pinpoint the exact reason, you should use the Message tracking feature of Exchange.

Quick troubleshoot to fix Outlook not receiving emails?

Before making changes to the Outlook configuration, try these hacks:

• Check if you’re receiving the emails in your Outlook on the web mailbox. If you do, the problem is probably related to synchronization or mail filtering.
• Restart your Outlook software. And if that doesn’t work, reboot the system. Believe me, a simple restart can do wonders.
• Check the internet. Make sure you have stable bandwidth. A disturbance in the network may prevent email delivery.
• Sometimes, you are receiving emails, but Outlook is not displaying them at the top, and you think your Outlook email is not receiving emails. To fix it, open the Inbox folder and sort the items by date in ascending order. Also, switch to All email mode from Focus mode.

How to fix ‘Outlook not receiving emails from a particular sender’?

To resolve the Outlook not receiving emails from a particular sender issue, we have tried and tested the top methods based on different situations. Follow the steps carefully and fix the error in no time.

Method 1: Check the junk folder in Outlook

If you're not receiving email from a particular sender, the first thing you should check is your Junk Folder in Outlook. Email from unknown or unverified senders is often routed to the Junk Folder, so it's possible that the message you're expecting is there. And if it is there, you must add the sender to the safe list to receive email in the Inbox folder.

To check your Junk folder:

Step 1: Launch Outlook, and under the Home tab, select the Junk option.

Step 2: Select Junk E-mail Options from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Select the Safe Senders tab and click on Add.

Step 4: Enter the email address or domain name to be added to the list. Click OK.

Step 5: Also check the option “Also trust email from my Contacts” so that Outlook will not move the emails to the Junk folder that are received from anyone on your contact list. Then, click OK to save the change.

Note: The above steps work well for classic Outlook but may not work for New Outlook. To search for your emails in New Outlook, go to Settings > Mail > Junk email > Safe senders and domains. In the given spaces, enter the sender's email address/ domain and click Add to make sure they don’t get moved to the Junk folder again.

Method 2: Check if emails are reaching Outlook on the web

If the junk folder is empty, go to the web version of Outlook (Outlook.com). Check the inbox or search for emails from that particular sender. If the emails are there, then everything is working on the server side. The issue is with your Outlook desktop client app, causing the emails not to sync.

It could be due to a corrupt OST file that is failing to connect and sync email correctly with the Exchange Server. In such a situation, you have to recreate the OST file in Outlook. Creating a new OST file will force Outlook to download the latest emails from the server, fixing the Outlook not receiving email issue.

Method 3: Check if mailbox storage is full

If your Outlook mailbox is not receiving any messages but has no problem sending them, maybe the issue is with the storage capacity. If your mailbox storage is full, you won't be able to receive any more emails until you delete some of the messages that are already in there.

A full mailbox might reject or bounce incoming emails. To fix the problem, delete some of the messages in your inbox to make room for new ones. You can go to Junk/Spam/Inbox or any folder and delete all the unwanted emails. Or you can use the Clean Up function of Outlook.

Step 1: Go to the Home tab and select the Clean Up option.

Step 2: Under the drop-down menu, you can either select Clean Up Conversation, Clean Up Folder, or Clean Up Folder & Subfolders.

Step 3: After that, restart Outlook to remove the problem of Outlook not receiving emails from a particular sender.

Note: You have to ask the sender to send the emails again after clearing up the storage.

Method 4: Release the email from quarantine

If you can’t find the email in the Junk folder of the Outlook application or Outlook on the web, it likely got quarantined by your organization’s Microsoft 365 protection settings. You’d need administrator access to check if this is the case.

Exchange Server allows admins to create a quarantine mailbox and automatically move spam emails to it using the Content Filter agents. When the Exchange Server quarantines the email, you will not see it in your inbox.

You have to ask your server admin to check if the Outlook email not receiving emails is due to the quarantine feature. If it is, release the emails to the original receiver and reconfigure the filter agent to allow messages from this sender.

Method 5: Check the work offline mode in Outlook

The Work Offline mode disconnects your Outlook from the server. In this mode, you cannot send or receive any email. Use these steps to check and disable the Work Offline mode:

Step 1: Open your Microsoft Outlook application.

Step 2: Then go to the Send/Receive tab and click on the Work Offline option.

Step 3: After that, you can confirm whether to work offline or online.

Step 4: Once you are done with it, restart your Microsoft Outlook application and see if the problem is solved or not.

Method 6: Check the blocked senders list

The blocked user list includes the users that you have specifically blocked from sending you emails. When my Outlook email is not receiving emails from a particular sender, I always check the Blocked User list. To check this list:

Step 1: Under the Home tab in Outlook, select Junk.

Step 2: Click on Junk E-mail Options.

Step 3: Select the Blocked Senders tab. If the email address from the particular sender is present, click on the name and select Remove. Click OK.

Method 7: Check Outlook rules

Outlook rules can forward, delete, or move the email to a specific folder based on settings you’ve configured. If you’ve set certain rules for a specific sender, then their emails will automatically move to another folder in the mailbox. This can appear as if you’re not receiving any emails from that particular sender. Another thing you should keep an eye on is the Others folder in your mailbox’s Focused folder. Your email might’ve moved to the other folder without your knowledge. You can check the Outlook rules with these steps:

Step 1: Select the File tab in Outlook.

Step 2: Under the Info tab, select Manage Rules & Alerts.

Step 3: Under the Email Rules tab, look out for the rules that alter the incoming emails. Uncheck the box corresponding to it. Click OK.

Method 8: Clear Outlook Cache

Clearing your Outlook cache will delete any temporary files that may be causing the email delivery issue. To clear your cache:

Step 1: Press Win + R and type “%localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook“. Then, press Enter.

Step 2: Find and open the RoamCache folder.

Step 3: Select all the files inside the folder and delete them.

Step 4: Restart the Outlook and ask the sender to resend the email.

Method 9: Create a new Outlook profile

A damaged Outlook profile can also lead to Outlook not receiving email. Events like power failure, virus attacks, etc., can cause it. Treat it as a last resort, as it involves reconfiguring your Exchange account in Outlook. You can create a new Outlook profile like this:

Step 1: Open Outlook, and under the File tab option, go to Info. Select Account Settings.

Step 2: Click the Show Profiles option. Then click Add button, provide a profile name, and click OK.

Step 3: Enter your account information, click Next, and provide the account password. Then, click Sign in.

Step 4: Outlook will test connection and configure the account. When the process is completed, click Finish..

Method 10: Check the sender side

If none of the methods work for you, then there is a high probability that the issue is not at your end but at the sender’s side. You must ask the sender to do the following:

• Make sure they’re not attaching an attachment larger than the email attachment limit of Outlook.
• Check if they have not reached the Outlook sent email limit.
• Verify if there is an Outlook rule or an Exchange Server email transport rule stopping the message from being delivered.

How I solved Outlook not receiving emails in my Outlook?

As the issue lied with the damaged Outlook profile, I instantly went to recreate the profile and Outlook auto-created a new OST file. But when the profile was damaged, it also corrupted my PST file. After restoring the profile, the OST file data came back as it was on the server but the PST file data was no longer available. Thus, the issue of Outlook not receiving emails was resolved but PST file corruption challenge still lies ahead.

Fixing the PST corrupt issue!! Here’s how

To resolve the PST corruption issue, Kernel Outlook PST Repair can be the ideal solution, apart from ScanPST.exe utility [perfect for minor corruption]. The Kernel PST Repair tool offers multiple filters, split options, support for different email clients and even a trial version to test before your final purchase.

Conclusion

Most of the time, the issue of not receiving emails from a particular sender in Outlook often gets resolved with the above-mentioned methods. The key is to identify what exactly is causing this issue before going ahead with the method to fix it. Using the right troubleshooting approach, you can find out the exact cause to fix the email delivery quickly, without interrupting the workflow much.

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Aaruni AroraTechnical Writer

This article is written by Aaruni Arora, a technical content writer at Kernel Data Recovery. This content has been reviewed in accordance with our editorial guidelines.