8 Ways to Fix If Gmail Is Not Receiving Emails on Phone/Desktop

Undoubtedly, Gmail has recreated the meaning of email communication for people. Gmail is easy to handle, it has user-friendly features, and definitely it provides a high-end security to all its user’s accounts and thus, there’s hardly anyone who can claim of not having an account on Gmail.

However, the popularity of the platform isn’t enough to hide the harsh reality that Gmail, like any other email service, is not completely error-free. By encountering errors and Gmail issues, especially like “not receiving emails,” the service sometimes gives headaches to its ardent users!

Therefore, today considering the aforementioned scenario, we’ve come out with this blog to help all those Gmail users who recently reported that they aren’t receiving emails on their Gmail account. So, if you’re also one from those users and wondering why is my Gmail not receiving emails then, let’s begin the troubleshooting by knowing the potential root causes of this particular error, beforehand!

List of Potential Root Causes Behind the Occurrence of ‘Gmail Not Receiving Emails’ Issue

The server of Gmail service is down in your area.
Your Web Browser is full of Cache and Cookies.
Faulty Email Filters Redirecting Emails to Another Folder or location.
Gmail’s Forwarding setting is enabled i.e., emails automatically forwarded to the other addresses.
Antivirus programs that include firewalls also, might block your account’s incoming emails.
Mistakenly blacklisted the Sender’s email ID from whom you’re expecting to receive emails.
Gmail Storage Quota exceeds the maximum size-limit i.e., no sufficient space left in your Gmail account to receive emails.

Now, after having the better understanding of the issue, you’re all set to apply the below-discussed few potential fixes or solutions for each and every above-given specific cause:

Read Also – Fix Gmail Attachment Problems

Solution 1: Check If Gmail Server Is Temporarily Down or Live

The most basic cause that creates ‘Gmail not getting emails’ issue in front of you is nothing but the temporary server outage in the Gmail service. Thus, instead of just giving a thought about what to do if Gmail is not receiving emails, you can go and check about the status of the Gmail server via ‘G Suite Status Dashboard Page.’ There, the dashboard shows you the current status of all the core Google Workspace services including Gmail and also about any recent outages or disruptions. And, not only just the information, the page also informs you about the estimate of how soon the issue (if so) might get resolved.

Solution 2: Use a Different Web Browser

Most commonly, the unwanted caches and cookies that a browser generally contains, are considered responsible for multiple email problems. So, either you can clear your browser’s cache from its ‘Settings’ and optimize the same or you can try using your Gmail account on an entirely different web browser!

For instance, you can use ‘Opera’ web browser as recommended by many for the simple reason that it is one of the most secure browsers available online. Built on the Chromium engine, it has various features like built-in adblock, VPN, privacy, tracking, and malware protection. Thus, accessing your Gmail account on such an effective web browser may let your account receive emails again.

Solution 3: Check for Gmail Storage Quota

Another possibility of not receiving emails in your Gmail account is that it does not have left with enough space to receive any more emails. To be precise, every email service available in this world, provides sufficient space to each and every account holder for saving the emails which they receive every day in their accounts. But, unfortunately, when the storage space is exhausted, users encounter this particular issue of not receiving any mails.

So, if you’re using your Gail account for a very long period of time then, you must check your Gmail account storage quota to know whether the space has been exhausted completely or not! You can check about the same via following these steps—

Open ‘Google Drive’ where you must have asked to be registered during the time of your Gmail account creation.
There, click on the option of ‘Upgrade Storage’ and doing so will open a new tab below the same.
Inside this new tab, see the current storage status of your Gmail account.

[Note: The maximum limit of the free storage space is 15 GB and the same is allocated all together for the following: Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.]

So, if you have had exceeded the 15 GB storage mark then, it means your Gmail account does not have free space and therefore, you’ll no longer be receiving any emails until and unless you free up some space for your Gmail account using these further steps—

To free up some space in your Gmail account, you have to first login to the same (those who haven’t logged in yet) and for that open your web browser, navigate to the ‘Gmail Sign-in Page’ and then, enter the login credentials of your account to finally access it.
Then, select some unwanted or not so necessary emails from your account’s inbox folder in one go and click the ‘Delete’ button to delete them altogether.

After doing so, click on the ‘More’ option from the left-hand side panel of your Gmail account’s inbox screen and click on ‘Trash’ to open it.

Now, you have to erase the deleted emails from here also and for that click on the ‘Delete forever’ option.

So, if ‘no storage space’ is the cause that led to ‘Gmail not receiving emails’ issue in your case then, most probably you’ll start receiving all the expected emails in your Gmail account once the space is created.

Solution 4: Disable Antivirus

There is no doubt that antivirus software (either installed or available by-default) plays an important role in protecting your respective device from the malicious program including viruses, Trojans and keyloggers that may delete your files, slow your device and steal your personal data. Along with that, whether you know or not, most of the antivirus programs that also include firewalls come with integrated mail support and thus, can scan the incoming and outgoing emails within your email account. In the process, these security programs without any apparent reasons, have the power to even block your account emails, both incoming and outgoing.

So, considering this as a possible reason for unable to receive emails in your Gmail account, troubleshoot the encountered issue simply by removing your antivirus utilities and here’s how you can do it—

To disable or turn off your antivirus utilities from the system startup, click-right on the ‘Taskbar.’
Then, select the ‘Task Manager’ option.
From it, click on the ‘Start-up Tab.’
After doing so, simply select your antivirus software from the same tab.
In the end, click on ‘Disable’ option and remove your antivirus program to stop their blockade or interference.

Solution 5: Turn Off Email Forwarding of Your Gmail Account

If enabled, Gmail’s forwarding settings also play a part in creating such situations where you aren’t receiving any email in your Gmail account. Therefore, to ensure receiving emails in your Gmail account again, check whether your account’s forwarding has been enabled or not and if yes then, disable the same with these steps—

To disable or turn off email forwarding of your Gmail account, first perform the primary step i.e., sign-in to your Gmail account (in case if not).
Then, open your Gmail account’s ‘Settings’ by clicking on the ‘Settings’ button.
From it, select the ‘Settings’ option further and after doing so, click on ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ setting to open the same in another tab.
There, click on the ‘Disable Forwarding’ option simply and,
As the last step, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to apply the changes.

click on disable forwarding and press on save changes

Solution 6: Delete Email Filters of Your Gmail Account

Regardless of the fact that the ‘Email Filtering’ process of your mail account helps you in sorting out your necessary and important incoming emails out of all (that also contains unnecessary, promotional and spam emails) simply by sending them into their desired folders.

But, sometimes, due to faulty email filters, your important and necessary emails also by default reroute to alternative folders and in turn, your Gmail inbox folder remains deprived of receiving any email. Thus, all such email filters of your Gmail account needs to be deleted instantly, in case you wish to again receive emails and here’s how you can to do—

Open your Gmail account and from there, click on the ‘Settings’ button.
Inside the settings tab, click the option of ‘Filters and Blocked Addresses’ to simply open another tab.
Then, all you have to do is select ‘All Filters’ of your Gmail account that are listed on that tab.
And, after selecting all the filters, press the ‘Delete’ button to simply remove them.

Solution 7: Unblock the Blocked Users Email IDs from the Blacklist

In some rare cases, emails not received in Gmail account from one or few senders only and if you also have suspected that you’re not receiving emails from the selected users then, it may be because you’ve mistakenly blacklisted those users. Basically, when you block someone’s email ID then, you’ll no longer be able to exchange (receive or send) emails with the blacklisted senders. Thus, to ensure that you again start receiving emails from all your contacts, what you have to do is unblock the email IDs of those you have blocked and for that, consider these given steps—

To unblock a sender, first go to your Gmail account’s ‘Settings.’
From there, select the option of ‘All Settings.’

Then, under the same, you have to simply click on the ‘Filters and Blocked Addresses’ tab.
After doing so, decide whom you want to remove from the blocked list and then, select the ‘unblock’ button to finally remove the selected sender’s email ID from the blacklist.

Click on filters and blocked address or hit the unblock

Solution 8: Configure Your Gmail Account in a Third-Party Email Client

Though, the above-mentioned solutions will most probably help you get rid of the issue completely but, in the most unfortunate situation, if none of them works in your favor; then, instead of using the web-based client, you can utilize an email client like Outlook to ensure receiving emails again. However, for that, you need to configure your Gmail account in MS Outlook email client, and in the process, you’ll need the following ‘Gmail Server Settings for Outlook’—

Gmail ‘IMAP account type’ Server Setting for MS Outlook:	Gmail ‘POP account type’ Server Setting for MS Outlook:
Incoming Mail Server Name: imap.gmail.com	Incoming Mail Server Name: pop.gmail.com
Outgoing Mail Server Name: smtp.gmail.com	Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) Name: smtp.gmail.com
Incoming Server Port: Enter 993	Incoming Server Port: Enter 995
Outgoing Server Port: Enter 587 or 25	Outgoing Server Port (SMTP): Enter 587 or 25
Type of encrypted connection: Use SSL	Type of encrypted connection: Use TLS
Username: Enter your Gmail account username that can be your name also.	Username: Enter your Gmail account username that can be your name also.
Email Address: Your Gmail account ID containing Gmail domain for instance, username@gmail.com	Email Address: Your Gmail account ID containing Gmail domain for instance, username@gmail.com
Password: Your Gmail account login password	Password: Your Gmail account login password

[Note: To know about the complete step-by-step process of how you can configure your Gmail account in MS Outlook email client, you can consider our previous blog on the same topic.]