Problem receiving gmail emails

Hi Math,

Thank you for reaching out. A number of users over the past 24 hours have reported exactly the same symptom you're describing — inbound mail from Gmail (and a few other external providers) being heavily delayed or not arriving at all, while outbound mail from Outlook works normally.

I've just checked, and Microsoft hasn't published any official announcement related to this yet. Unfortunately, there's very little configuration that can be adjusted from your side — and I'd actually recommend not changing anything for now, as doing so could cause further issues once the service stabilizes.

The good news is that messages from Gmail are not lost. They're being queued or throttled on Microsoft's inbound mail servers and should be delivered once the backlog clears.

A couple of small things that will help in the meantime:

• Please avoid resending the same emails multiple times from Gmail, as this can add to the queue and may even trigger temporary throttling on Gmail's side toward Outlook.
• If anything is truly time-sensitive, it's best to use an alternate channel (SMS, a different email account, etc.) until delivery returns to normal.

Regarding your experience with the support path, the main Microsoft Help page is currently experiencing some degradation, which is likely why it's been difficult to get through. In the meantime, you can still contact support directly using the link below:

1. Go to: https://aka.ms/ContactOLC
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account if prompted.
3. Submit your request through the support experience.

Thank you for your patience while this resolves. I'll keep an eye on the situation and update here if any official information becomes available.

Warm regards

Follow these steps to troubleshoot Gmail messages not arriving in Outlook.com and Outlook clients:

1. Confirm general connectivity
   • In a browser, go to http://www.microsoft.com or http://www.bing.com.
   • If these sites do not load, resolve the network issue first using the guidance in Fix network connection issues in Windows (if on Windows) or your Mac’s network tools.
2. Check Outlook.com and Outlook clients are online
   • In Outlook for Mac, on the Outlook menu, make sure Work Offline is not checked.
   • In Outlook desktop (Windows, if used), verify it is not in Work Offline mode.
   • In Outlook.com (web), refresh the page and sign out/sign in again.
3. Manually sync Outlook
   • In Outlook desktop, use the Sync button on the View tab to force a manual sync and watch the status message at the bottom of the message list.
   • If sync errors appear, note them and work through any prompts.
4. Verify account settings and credentials
   • In Outlook for Mac:
     1. Go to Tools > Accounts.
     2. Select the Gmail account.
     3. Confirm the email address, username, and password are correct.
   • If using POP/IMAP for Gmail, confirm the server names, ports, SSL, and authentication match Gmail’s documented settings. If anything is unclear, check with Google support.
5. Check for SMTP/IMAP restrictions or firewalls (if using POP/IMAP)
   • If Gmail is added as POP/IMAP in Outlook for Mac and Outlook.com, a firewall or ISP rule may be blocking connections.
   • On Outlook for Mac:
     1. Go to Tools > Accounts.
     2. Select the Gmail account.
     3. Under Outgoing server, click More Options and ensure authentication is enabled if required by Gmail.
   • If on a corporate or school network, ask the network admin if any firewall or proxy rules affect Gmail’s IMAP/SMTP.
6. Test Gmail directly
   • Sign in to Gmail in a browser and send a test email to the Outlook.com address.
   • If it arrives in Gmail Sent but never appears in Outlook.com (web) or Outlook apps, the issue is likely on the Outlook.com side (routing, filtering, or a temporary service problem).
7. Check Outlook.com connected-account or forwarding setup (if used)
   • If Gmail was added as a connected account in Outlook.com in the past, be aware that connected accounts are no longer supported. Use one of these instead:
     • Add the Gmail account directly in Outlook for Mac as an IMAP account.
     • Or configure Gmail to forward mail to Outlook.com and ensure Gmail is set to keep a copy of forwarded emails (similar to the “keep a copy of forwarded emails” option that can stop mail appearing if disabled).
8. Verify mailbox storage
   • If Microsoft cloud storage is full, sending and receiving can stop.
   • Check mailbox storage using the mailbox storage page referenced in the Outlook for Mac article and free up space if needed.
9. If the problem persists
   • If Gmail messages still do not appear in Outlook.com after these checks, even though other senders work and Gmail shows the messages as sent, this may be a transient delivery or filtering issue on the Outlook.com service.
   • Use the Outlook.com in-product Help option (menu bar → Help) and then Still need help? to open a support request, as described in the connected accounts article.

References:

• I can't send or receive messages with Outlook for Mac
• I can't send or receive messages in Outlook
• Connected email accounts like Gmail and Yahoo not working in Outlook.com