Unable to Receive Email in Outlook But Can Send

  

Mark Regan
Published: September 4th, 2025 • 7 Min Read

Are you unable to receive email in Outlook? Don’t worry, this is the most common issue that is faced by many users. This can be irritating, especially when the user is expecting an important message. This can take place due to various reasons involving a bad internet connection, incorrect settings, and many more. You can easily tackle a few of the issues by following a few easy steps. In this guide, the user will learn about manual and automated methods to fix this problem.

Common Issues That Cause Outlook to Stop Receiving Emails

Below are a few common issues that usually don’t allow users to receive the emails. Understand the issue that is preventing you from receiving the Emails.

1. Internet Connection: If the user’s internet connection is not strong or stable, Outlook will not be able to connect with the email server to receive messages.
2.  Invalid account setting: If the user has mentioned the incorrect incoming or outgoing server details, usernames, or passwords in the Outlook account settings, that will cause a problem in Outlook from connecting to the mail server.
3.  Outlook Server Issue: Sometimes, the email server might be down, or it may undergo maintenance or have high traffic, which can lead to delays in delivering emails to be delivered.
4.  Filled Mailbox: This problem can also arise when the user’s mailbox storage is filled or the limit has reached its maximum limit, in this case, new emails cannot be deleted, and the storage is also increased.
5.  Junk Folders: Emails that are marked as spam are usually sent to the Junk Email folders; these emails are not shown in the inbox.

How to Manually Fix the Issue of “Unable to Receive Email in Outlook”?

If you are also dealing with the issue of “unable to receive email in Outlook,” then there are various manual steps that can help in solving this issue. These are simplest methods that are easy to follow and do not require any kind of technical knowledge.

1.  Check internet connectivity: Start by checking your internet connection, as Outlook requires a working internet connection to connect with email servers. If your device is not connected to the internet, then it is suggested to refresh your emails in your inbox.
2. Check Junk folder: Outlook usually makes sure that it checks all the emails that are coming, to avoid the incoming spam or dangerous links and spam keywords. If Outlook scans an email as spam, then it sends that particular email to the junk folder. Sometimes Outlook also makes mistakes and puts the correct email in the junk folder by mistake.
3. Remove cached files in Outlook: Outlook keeps cache files on the user’s device to improve its performance and can work more smoothly and properly. In case cache files are corrupted, you will be unable to receive the emails. To solve this problem, you can clear the Outlook cache. If you delete cache files, then by doing this, you will not lose your Outlook attachments or emails.
4.  Outlook is down: This problem can also arise when the Microsoft server is down, but it usually does not happen as Microsoft servers are very reliable and they usually do not go down, but you can also check if there are issues with Outlook.

Limitations of Manual Technique

This method helps the user in fixing the problem of “unable to receive emails in Outlook”, but they do have a few limitations, which will not help the user in solving every major issue. Below are a few of the limitations of this method.

1.  This method does not solve the big issues like Corrupted Outlook files or account problems.
2. If the problem is with the email server, then clearing the cache or checking the junk folder will not help you solve the issue.
3.  Problems arising due to the incorrect account settings would not be solved by checking the internet or server.
4. This method is usually considered a time-consuming process.
5.  Not ideal for beginners, as it requires technical knowledge.

Automatically Fix the Problem of Not Receiving Emails in Outlook

If the manual doesn’t help you solve your issue, then no need to worry, you can use the automated method mentioned below, which will surely help you solve your problem.

Method 1: Use the Inbox Repair Tool To Fix Outlook

The most common reason that prevents users from receiving emails in Outlook is a corrupted Outlook data file, which is a PST file. But for this, Microsoft provides a free tool to users, which is known as ScanPST.exe, which scans and repairs Outlook data files automatically. Below are the steps for using software.

1.  Before starting the process of repairing, close Outlook completely.
2.  Now, open the ScanPST tool on your device. In most devices, it is located at:
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
3. By clicking on ScanPST.exe, open it.
4.  Select your PST file, which is generally located at:
   C:\Users\\Documents\Outlook Files\
5.  Click the start button to start the process of scanning, and then click on repair.

1.  Download and install software, launch software after installing it.
   2. Select the PST file or PST folders, then select the configured Outlook files.
   
   3. Choose the folder that needs to be repaired.
   
   4. Select PST as the saving option and then choose a destination path.
   
   5. In the end, press on repair.
   

Merits of Professional Software

1.  This software utility standalone tool to repair PST files without installing Outlook.
2.  This tool helps in repairing and recovering PST files that are highly corrupted through a deep scan algorithm.
3.  Using the software helps users to repair bulk PST files simultaneously.
4.  Our Outlook PST recovery utility can recover all the deleted items from the PST file.
5.  It provides an option to convert the PST file attachments to PDF document pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why am I not able to receive emails which is present in Outlook?

A1. This problem can happen due to various reasons like bad internet connection, incorrect settings of account, bulk of emails and many more.

Q2. How can I fix the problem of not receiving emails in Outlook?
A2. First check the internet connection, junk folder and the settings of the account. Then clear Outlook cache and check whether Outlook is connected to the internet or not.

Q3. Can a corrupted PST file stop emails from being received?
A3. Yes but if Outlook data file is damaged then it can affect how emails are received. You can also use the automated tool.

Conclusion

Being unable to receive email in Outlook, this process can be a very irritating and frustrating process, especially when the user wants to receive some important messages. Using the above mentioned steps can help the user in solving their problem easily. The user can follow some manual steps like checking the junk folder, clearing cache files, by fixing the settings of the account. If you are having some issue which is major then you can use our reliable and automated software. By following these above mentioned methods you can fix the issue of “ unable to receive email through Outlook”.