Trouble Accessing Email

Getting started

 

Email covers a broad category of services. Some errors are easy to diagnose while others require a bit of investigation. This article is intended to help with that investigation. Skim through the topics in this section to see if your specific issue is addressed. If you're not sure where to start or if the article you first click on doesn't resolve the issue, please go through our practical guide to troubleshooting walkthrough in the next section for further assistance.

 

New domain and DNS

 

If you've recently added your domain to your (mt) Media Temple server, start here. This section also covers basic DNS settings.

 

Email Troubleshooting - New Domain Checklist and DNS

Bouncebacks

 

If you or your contact are receiving bouncebacks, start here:

 

Email Troubleshooting - Bouncebacks

I can't send or receive

 

First, check the DNS section here:

 

Email Troubleshooting - New Domain Checklist and DNS

You may also have the wrong settings in your local email client. You can double-check your email client settings here:

 

Third-party email applications

If that doesn't resolve your issue, please see the practical guide to troubleshooting below.

 

I can receive, but I can't send

 

Make sure that Port 25 isn't blocked on your network.

 

Also, make sure that you are using authentication in your outgoing email settings. Apple Mail and related products (iPhone, iPad) tend to skip this during initial setup. Here's a list of walk-throughs for a variety of email clients:

 

Third-party email applications

For a larger and more specific list of errors, please see:

 

Troubleshooting SMTP problems

I can send, but I can't receive

 

Make sure that your mail service is enabled.

 

Also, check to make sure that you don't have a forwarder set up for the account that is sending all your email to a different email address. If you do have a forwarder set up, make sure it also keeps a copy in the original account.

 

Creating an email alias/forwarder

Missing emails

 

If you are missing one or more email messages, or you never received an email you were expecting, start here. Check the third-party hosting section if you don't host your email with (mt) Media Temple.

 

Email Troubleshooting - Missing Emails

Slow email and Disk Quota errors

 

If your inbox loads very slowly, or it is extremely slow to send and receive, start here. A Disk Quota Exceeded error is a definite indication of a mailbox size problem.

 

Email Troubleshooting - Mailbox Size

I'm getting bouncebacks or complaints that I'm sending spam.

 

If you suspect that spam is being sent from your email address, you may need to add an SPF record to your DNS zone file.

 

See this article for a detailed diagnosis:

 

Email Troubleshooting - Spam From My Address

See this article to add your SPF record:

 

How can I create an SPF record for my domain?

Duplicate emails, or old emails downloading again

 

If you have multiple copies of the same email, start here:

 

Email Troubleshooting - Duplicate Emails

A practical guide to troubleshooting

 

This is a practical, step-by-step approach to troubleshooting email problems.

 

Is the problem on the server?

 

The best way to test server problems is to try to use your webmail. Webmail is hosted on the server itself, and so bypasses your network and your local email client. This makes it ideal for troubleshooting.

Visit your webmail URL.

http://webmail.example.com: Please replace example.com with your own domain name.

Log into webmail with your full email address and email password.

If you CAN'T log in, please try to reset your password.

If you still get an authentication error, this is most likely a server issue.

If you don't get an error, but it takes a very long time to log in and/or times out, please skip to Email Troubleshooting - Mailbox Size.

If you CAN log in, proceed to the next step.

Send yourself a test message. You can send to this same email address, or to an external email address (such as a Hotmail or Gmail account). Reply to the message to test both sending and receiving.

If you get an immediate error when attempting to send or receive, note the exact error. This is a server issue.

If you get a bounceback, please skip to Email Troubleshooting - Bouncebacks.

If you get no error, but the message has not delivered for at least five minutes, please skip to Email Troubleshooting - Missing Emails.

If you can successfully send and receive from webmail, this indicates that the server is fine. Proceed to the next step, then the next section, to troubleshoot possible network problems.

There are a small number of server problems that might not be "caught" by the webmail test. If you notice one of the following, please first continue with the next troubleshooting sections, because these problems are just as likely to be caused by a network or email client problem. If you finish troubleshooting and are still having one of the problems described below, continue to the final step.

If you have SMTP or Outgoing mail server connection problems, the mail server may be configured incorrectly.

If you have problems with POP but not IMAP, webmail uses IMAP only, so again, the mail server setting in your email client may be configured incorrectly.

Is the problem with the network?

 

Some email problems can occur between your computer and the (mt) Media Temple server. There are dozens of connection points between your computer and the server. There's a connection from your computer to your local network, from your local network to your Internet Service Provider, from your Internet Service Provider to the next Internet Service Provider down the line, and so on. A problem with one of these connection points is a network problem. Follow the steps below to continue troubleshooting:

 

Run a telnet test to the server for the appropriate port. You can run this test from your command prompt (Terminal on Mac or Run > cmd on Windows). Click on the link for a step-by-step walkthrough. The general format of the test is as follows:

 

telnet example.com 25

You should replace example.com with your own mail server name (the same as your domain name in most cases), and 25 with the port number you are try to test. Here's a summary of port numbers related to email:

 

25 - standard outgoing SMTP port

Note - this port is consistently blocked by Internet Service Providers in an effort to prevent spam. See the special Outgoing mail blocked on Port 25 section below for further assistance.

587 - alternate outgoing SMTP port

465 - SSL encrypted outgoing SMTP port

110 - incoming POP port

995 - SSL encrypted incoming POP port

143 - incoming IMAP port

993 - SSL encrypted incoming IMAP port

Examine the results of your telnet test. A response of "220" or "Connected" indicates connection success - continue on to the email client troubleshooting below. A timeout or "Unable to connect" message indicates that you have a network problem.

While a problem on a specific port may not show itself in a generic traceroute, it doesn't hurt to try. For detailed instructions, on running a traceroute, see Using the traceroute command. For quick reference, run one of the following from your command prompt:

Windows:

tracert example.com

 

Mac:

 

traceroute example.com

 

A timeout, or a few hops with only asterisks (*), may indicate a problem with the connection hop listed before or after the timeout.

 

If you have identified a network problem, you will need to contact your local network administrator, or your Internet Service Provider, for further assistance. Even if the problem is downstream from your local Internet Service Provider, they may be able to reroute traffic for your domain through a different network path, so that you don't run into the bad network connection beyond them.

Outgoing mail blocked on Port 25

 

It is becoming more and more common for Internet Service Providers to block outgoing SMTP traffic on Port 25. This is part of their effort to block spam. There are two ways to get around this:

 

Use Port 587 for outgoing email instead. You can switch your local email client to use Port 587 by following the appropriate guide here:

List of third-party email clients

You will also need to make sure that your server supports Port 587 for outgoing mail.

Enable Port 587

Use your Internet Service Provider's outgoing SMTP server. You can contact your Internet Service Provider for the server name, username, and password. Your email will still be coming from your own email address at your own domain name; it will just be delivered by their server.

Is the problem with my local email client?

 

If your webmail test and your telnet tests from the previous section haven't turned up any server or network problems, this indicates that the problem is most likely with your local email client. The suggestions go in order from least to most changes required for your current setup.

 

The best thing you can do for your email client is to double-check all of your settings. Even if they are correct, sometimes re-typing them can jog your email program into functioning correctly. We have a list of articles with the correct settings here: Third-party email applications.

If that doesn't resolve the issue, you may want to try recreating the email account. Again, that can jog your software into using the correct settings. See the link above for helpful walkthroughs.

Perform an online search for any specific error messages that you see in the email client. You can also search in that email program's help forums specifically.

Contact the support team for your specific email application. Check their website for instructions on how to receive support.

Reinstall the email client - note that this will delete any existing downloaded emails and custom settings!

Try a different email client. Thunderbird is free and works on both Mac OS X and Windows.