Missing emails / not receiving emails

This article is meant for end-users who are missing emails they have received or expected to receive, or have suddenly stopped receiving emails after a specific date.

There are a lot of different reasons emails can go missing, but often it's an issue due to Email Filtering, Junk Email filtering, Deleted Items, an email Rule, or an accidental entry in the Block List. Please attempt these steps before contacting the Help Desk. 

Check the Online Web App (OWA)

If you are using a mail program like Outlook, a good first step is to check the Outlook Web App (OWA) (https://outlook.office.com) to see if what shows there is the same as what shows in Outlook. The OWA shows what the mail server itself shows is in your mailbox. If the OWA shows the missing emails, the issue is a software issue with your email client not downloading or syncing correctly, and you can skip to the section in troubleshooting Outlook. We do not support other mail clients beyond Outlook. Please follow the instructions below. If you find your missing emails, you can discontinue troubleshooting.

1. Open a web browser and go to https://outlook.office.com 

2. Sign in with your OTC email address and password. This should bring you to your inbox.

3. Check the Filter, and make sure it is set to All.

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4. Check the Filter > Sort setting, and make sure it's set to sort by Date > Newest on top. If it's set to sort by From, To, or Subject when you're expecting recent email at the top, it will appear as if email is missing.

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5. Check the Junk Email folder:

   • If your emails are in here, select all that should not be Junk, right-click and select Mark as not junk

6. Check your Deleted Items folder as well, and move any items needed back to the Inbox (you can drag-and-drop or right-click > Move)

7. Check your Mail Settings for any Rules or Block List settings that could be moving emails before they reach the Inbox:

   1. Click on Settings, then search for and select Inbox rules.

   2.  Check any settings in the Rules, Sweep, and Junk email sections of your Settings

   3. Click Save when finished making any changes.

Finding Missing Emails in Outlook

So the emails were in the OWA, but don't show up in Outlook. You want them to show up in Outlook. How do you check Outlook for the same options described above for the OWA?

1. Make sure you're checking the full Inbox, and not just Favorites.

2. Check your email filter so it's set by Date and Newest.

3. Check your View

   1. Click the View Tab

   2. Click Change View

   3. Cycle through the views to make sure your view is set to the one that you are happy with.

4. Check your Rules. Some Rules only exist in the client and not on the server, so they would show up in Outlook but not in the OWA:

5. On the Home tab, click Rules, then click Manage Rules & Alerts

6. Check for any rules that could be filtering your email and remove or fix them.

If you still can't get your missing emails to show up in Outlook, you may want to check the Outlook Troubleshooting article.