Hotmail not receiving emails (MSN-Outlook-Live) 💥
This applies not only to Hotmail but also to MSN, Outlook, and Live that belong to the same network.
MSN Hotmail problems today [2023]. Your Hotmail mail is not arriving. How important is it to you to receive your mail from friends and/or customers? Unfortunately if you rely on any of the following email providers: Hotmail, Live, MSN, Outlook you will miss out on a lot of emails over time. Strange you will say, because these are pretty much the best-known names out there for e-mail addresses. That's exactly where things go wrong, this network is so big that they think they can afford things that other companies don't.
The providers mentioned above all belong to the Microsoft network. Microsoft thinks it would do well to declare themselves the spam police, and I assume there is good intention beyond the obvious desire for power they have, but in my opinion they do more harm than good with it.
Advertisement
Your mail won't arrive
At the slightest and sometimes completely unjustified, thousands of IP addresses are blocked every day by alleged spam mails that are sent, the result is: Hotmail not receiving emails. Their policy is not that emails end up in your spam box, they just don't arrive at all. This wouldn't be a problem if it's really just spam, but that's far from the truth and if your friend or customer sends you an email from a server blocked by the Microsoft network, you simply won't get it.
The person who sends the mail does get a bounce mail from Microsoft indicating that the mail has been blocked, but many people do not understand this and just think that their mail has been sent. That way, the mail will not be sent again, and people will wonder why you don't answer.
Unlock IP again
So all in all very annoying. I must say that Microsoft is good to talk to about getting things back in order through correspondence by mail and their special form for this. The problem, however, is that by the time one discovers such a problem, it usually takes several days, and then usually another 2 days before the server IP is removed from the blacklists again.
Use small mail providers or mail at your own server
To avoid Hotmail problems, it is therefore best to use e-mail providers that are a lot smaller such as Ziggo, but well-known companies such as Yahoo and to a certain extent Google are also okay. However, it is by far the best to use the email addresses of your own domain in case you have a website and therefore also a hosting. It is therefore also the easiest to link your mail to an e-mail client such as Outlook or Thunderbird. I prefer Thunderbird because it is a better program and mainly because it finds all the settings for your email address on its own.
It is never good to give big companies too much power, because sooner or later this is always going to be abused as is the case here. As you may know, these are exactly the companies that pass all your data on to governments and the highest bidder, but that might be a topic for another article.
Other fixes you can try: Troubleshooting Guide
This troubleshooting guide, we will explore the possible reasons behind your problem and provide step-by-step troubleshooting solutions to help you resolve it effectively if you are sure that Hotmail has not blocked your sender's IP.
1. Check Spam/Junk Folder
★★★★☆
Often, emails might be redirected to the spam or junk folder instead of the inbox. Check these folders and mark legitimate emails as "Not Spam" to ensure they appear in your inbox. Hotmail's spam filters can sometimes be overactive, causing false positives.
2. Verify Email Filters and Rules
★★★★☆
Review your email filters and rules in Hotmail settings. These filters can automatically route emails to specific folders or apply certain actions. Make sure there are no rules inadvertently blocking incoming messages or redirecting them elsewhere.
3. Check Blocked Senders List
★★★★☆
Hotmail allows users to block specific email addresses or domains. Ensure that you haven't inadvertently blocked any senders whose emails you want to receive. Remove any unintended entries from the blocked senders list.
4. Disable Email Forwarding
★★★☆☆
Some users may have enabled email forwarding in their Hotmail account settings. Disable this feature temporarily to see if it resolves the issue. Forwarding emails to another address can sometimes cause problems with email delivery.
5. Check Storage Space
★★★★☆
Insufficient storage space in your Hotmail account can prevent new emails from being received. Ensure that you have enough storage available to receive incoming messages. Delete unnecessary emails or consider upgrading your storage plan if needed.
6. Review Email Rules
★★★☆☆
Hotmail allows users to create custom email rules to automatically sort and manage incoming emails. Ensure that your email rules are not conflicting or causing the problem of not receiving emails. Delete or modify any rules that may be interfering with the email delivery.
7. Temporarily Disable Antivirus or Firewall
★★★☆☆
In some cases, antivirus software or firewall settings can interfere with the email delivery process. Temporarily disable your antivirus program or adjust firewall settings to test if they are causing the issue. Remember to re-enable the security measures after troubleshooting.
8. Hotmail Help
If your issue is still there and you continue to have problems with MSN Hotmail today [2023], please login on Windows Live Hotmail Forum. in the upper right corner. Select "Ask a question" (upper left corner). Enter your name, select a subject, write your question down, complete the captcha and submit.