Why can’t I receive emails in Windows Mail?

Are you not able to receive emails for the accounts you have setup in Windows Mail? Let us see troubleshoot and get a solution to your problem. The tips and advice applies to any account that you have configured under the email client including email addresses of your web sites.

IMPORTANT: Generally people use POP3 or IMAP email protocol to set up the account on their computer. These troubleshooting steps will help in either of the cases.

• Make sure that the email account exists
  I know this may sound like a no-brainer but it’s always better to check – just takes a couple of minutes.
• Are the login details correct?
  Each email account has an incoming server address and an outgoing server address. Since you are not able to receive emails it means the problem lies with the “incoming” part. Hence, you should double check the username and password of your email account. I suggest, you try to login at the account using the web based (webmail) interface and ensure that the correct login details are configured in Windows Mail for that account.
  Note: Many a times, the username is the full email address.
• Do you have the right incoming email server address?
  If you are not sure about this, confirm with your ISP or web hosting company. You would be able to receive emails only if he correct incoming server address is supplied to Windows Mail.
• Does the incoming email server require a SSL (secure connection)?
  Again, if in doubt, consult your ISP or web host. The option for SSL should be switched on if the incoming server requires it.
• Is the inbox empty?
  Now this might seem stupid once again, but if there are no emails lying in the inbox, you might get the impression that no emails are being received. Check the account using webmail to confirm.
• Are the emails being automatically moved to the “Junk e-mail” folder?
  Windows Mail has automated junk email filtering. Any emails suspected of being spam or malicious are automatically moved to the Junk e-mail folder. Unfortunately, this automated filtering is far from perfect. I’ve had legitimate emails being identified as junk. Make sure your settings for the Junk Email filter and not so stringent as to push all incoming messages to the Junk folder.

If none of the above solves your problem, I suggest you look for another email client. Maybe (just maybe) the Windows Mail software has gone bad – corrupted – on your system. You can always give Windows Live Mail, the latest email client from Microsoft, a try. It has some cool features and you can configure multiple email clients on it including Gmail, Yahoo!Mail, Hotmail etc.

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