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I can send emails from my Hotmail account but stopped receiving any emails since Nov 17. Need help.

Chepita de Quiroz 0 Reputation points
2025-12-07T19:16:09.01+00:00

Hi, I need help with my Hotmail account. I can send emails with no problem, but I suddenly stopped receiving any emails from external domains on November 17, 2025. The issue is very specific:

What works:

I receive Microsoft system emails (password change notifications, sign-in alerts, etc.)

What does NOT work:

I do not receive any emails from external providers like iCloud.

Senders do NOT get bouncebacks or error messages.

The emails simply never appear in my mailbox.

Troubleshooting I’ve already done (all steps recommended on Microsoft’s site):

Checked all folders:

Inbox, Junk, Archive, Deleted, Other, and every custom folder

Nothing arrives anywhere.

Disabled Focused Inbox / Prioritized emails:

Set it to show all messages. Nothing changes.

Searched globally:

Searched by sender, subject, domain. No results.

Checked Rules:

No rules exist. Also checked Sweep. No auto-clean rules active.

Checked Junk settings:

No blocked senders or domains that could explain this.

Blocklist is empty.

Checked Forwarding:

Forwarding is OFF.

Checked Sync settings:

  • POP is OFF.
  • IMAP is OFF.
  • No connected apps pulling or deleting mail.

Mailbox storage:

Nowhere near full.

Signed out and back in multiple times.

Changed password and forced a full session refresh. Microsoft password reset email did arrive successfully.

Enabled Two-Step Verification

Second verification factor is active and confirmed.

  • Added new authentication methods (passkeys).

Despite all this, I STILL cannot receive emails from any external source. Only Microsoft system emails arrive, which suggests my inbox is working but inbound mail from external domains is being blocked at the server level.

Important detail:

Emails from iCloud show as sent in the sender’s outbox and never bounce back, so Microsoft is receiving them but not delivering them to my inbox.

At this point it seems like an inbound restriction on my account that is not visible in the Outlook interface. I need help identifying and removing this block.

Can someone from Microsoft please check the server-side status of my account or advise what could be preventing delivery of external emails even after all the above troubleshooting steps?

Thank you.

Outlook | MacOS | New Outlook for Mac | For home
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  1. Q&A Assist
    2025-12-07T19:16:20.35+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    It seems like you've already done extensive troubleshooting for your Outlook account, but you're still facing issues with not receiving emails from external domains. Given that you can receive Microsoft system emails but not emails from external providers, this could indicate a server-side issue or a restriction on your account.

    Here are a few additional steps you might consider:

    1. Check with your email administrator: If you are part of an organization, there may be policies or settings at the server level that are blocking external emails. Your email administrator can check if there are any restrictions in place.
    2. Review your account settings: Sometimes, specific settings related to security or spam filtering can inadvertently block external emails. Ensure that there are no security settings that might prevent these emails from being delivered.
    3. Contact Microsoft Support: Since you suspect that there might be an inbound restriction on your account that is not visible in the Outlook interface, reaching out to Microsoft Support directly may be necessary. They can check the server-side status of your account and help identify any issues.
    4. Check for any recent changes: If there were any changes made to your account settings or security configurations around the time you stopped receiving emails, it might be worth reviewing those changes.
    5. Consider using the Outlook Web App: If you are primarily using the Outlook desktop application, try accessing your email through the Outlook Web App to see if the issue persists there.

    These steps may help you identify the root cause of the issue. If the problem continues, Microsoft Support will be your best resource for resolving server-side issues.

    References:

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  2. CrazyKats 13,280 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-12-07T19:32:08.07+00:00

    Hi,

    We don't Report Q&A Assist if the

    answer doesn't help. All you have

    to do is Accept Or Delete.

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