Hotmail Not Receiving Emails? Try These Fixes (2024)

Throughout the transition from Hotmail to Outlook, Microsoft has maintained the reliability of this email client. However, it’s normal to run into some errors sometimes.

If you’re not receiving emails in Outlook, it’s probably because of some changes in the settings. Or, it can sometimes happen when Outlook’s server is down. Either way, here is an article on how you can fix this error.

Why Am I Not Receiving Emails on Hotmail?

How to Fix Hotmail Not Receiving Emails?

Before you try the other fixes, you can re-login to your Hotmail account to see if it fixes the issue. Also, you can check if Outlook’s server is down. If the server is offline, waiting is the only option. If that’s not the case, you can try the other fixes.

Check the Junk Folder

Some emails end up in your junk folder. So, it’s best to check it, and if there are emails in the junk folder, you can mark them as not junk. To do so, follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook.
2. Under Folders, go to Junk Email.
3. Select the preferred email.
4. Now, click on Not Junk.
5. Select OK to confirm.

Also, check the other folder if you use focused emails. In the Inbox folder, go to the Other tab and check if the emails appear there. You can move it from Other to your Focused email. To do so, you can follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook and go to your Inbox.
2. Select Other and select the preferred email.
3. Then, click on Move to and select Move to Focused inbox.

Reset Inbox Filters

The emails that appear in your Inbox folder may be filtered or sorted. You can change the filter by following these steps.

1. Go to your Inbox folder on Outlook.
2. Click on the Filter option and set it to All.
3. Also, select the Sort option under Filter, and set the Sort order to Newest On Top.

Check the Mail Storage

You may not receive emails if your outlook storage is full. On a free account, you have 15 GB of storage. To check how much space you have left, follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook and click on the Settings at the top menu.
2. Then, click on View All Outlook Settings.
3. Go to General settings from the left panel.
4. And then select Storage.
   

If your storage is full, you will have to clean up by deleting some emails.

Check Your Email Rules

Outlook Rules allow you to automatically flag, move, reply to, and delete some emails. When it is set up incorrectly, your emails can move to other folders automatically, so you won’t see them in your Inbox. To change, turn off, or delete Rules, you can follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook and go to Settings.
2. Then click on View All Outlook Settings.
3. Select the Mail tab and then go to Rules.
4. Turn off unnecessary rules. Or, you can edit them. You can also click on the delete option to delete the rule entirely.
   
5. Then click on OK to confirm.

Turn Off Email Forwarding

Email forwarding sends the emails that you receive to another account. If this is turned on, you may not receive emails. To turn it off, you can follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook and go to settings.
2. Then, click on View All Outlook Settings.
3. Select the Mail tab and go to Forwarding.
   
4. Turn off Enable Forwarding and click on Save.

Delete Browser Cache

When the temporary data saved by the browser and the latest data don’t match, it can cause issues with certain websites. So, it’s best to clear the browser cache, cookies, and other site data in this case. To do so, follow these steps.

On Chrome

1. Open Chrome and click on the 3-dots icon at the top-left of the screen.
2. Then select More tools and click on Clear Browsing Data.
3. Now, check the box for Cookies And Other Site Data, and Cached Images And Files.
   
4. Set the Time Range to a preferred one.
5. Then click on Clear data.

On Firefox

1. Open Firefox and click on the Hamburger icon at the top-right of the screen.
2. Then select History and click on Clear Recent History.
3. Then check the box for Cookies and Cache.
4. Select a Time range and click on OK.

Update Browser

This issue can also prevail if you’re using an outdated browser. To update your browser, follow these steps.

On Chrome

1. Click on the 3-dots icon at the top of the screen.
2. Then select Help and click on About Google Chrome.
   
3. It will automatically download updates.

On Firefox

1. Open Firefox and click on the Hamburger icon at the top-right of the window.
2. Then go to Settings and select the General tab.
3. Under Firefox Updates, click on Check for Updates or Restart to update.

Add a New Alias Name

If you have a Hotmail alias, you may want to add an Outlook Alias to your account. When you do this, you will receive any mail sent to your alias. And you can also log in to your account using your alias. To add an Alias, follow these steps.

1. Go to Microsoft’s Add an Alias page.
2. Sign into your Microsoft Account if it asks you to.
3. Now, select Add an existing email address as an alias.
   
4. Add an outlook email. For example, if you have example@hotmail.com as your current email, then add example@outlook.com as your alias.
5. Then hit Add alias button.

Disable the Antivirus

Sometimes, your Antivirus can also interfere with your emails. You can disable your Antivirus to check if it’s interfering.

To disable the Windows Defender, follow these steps.

1. Go to the Start menu.
2. Search for Windows security and open the app.
3. Click on the Virus & Threat protection tab and select Manage settings.
4. Then, turn off Real-time protection.
   

Contact the Sender

If these fixes did not work, you can contact the sender and see if the issue was caused by their end. You can ask them to resend you the mail and check if they have any issues.

Contact Outlook Support

If none of these worked, you have no other option but to contact Outlook Support to look into your account. To do so, follow these steps.

1. Open Outlook and click on the help(?) icon at the top panel.
2. Now, search for Cannot receive email.
3. Scroll down and select Yes under “Still need help?”.
4. Choose between “Provide your email address, and a support agent will contact you” or “Chat with a Support Agent in your web browser.”
5. Describe your issue in detail and click on Confirm.