Home » Gmail » 8 Effective Fixes for Gmail Not Receiving Emails

Gmail is one of the most prevalent email services which almost everyone uses. However, one of the frequent problems users face is about Gmail not receiving emails. The prime cause for it is the usage of an outdated web browser or messages going into the spam and trash folders. So, to resolve it, check if your browser needs an update and look for messages in both these folders.

Some other useful resolutions are reviewing the email filters and checking the Google storage space. After that, send a test email to yourself. In this article, you’ll learn the best techniques to update your Gmail account with new messages.

Resolve Gmail Not Receiving Emails

Before progressing, it makes sense to check whether the Google servers are down or not. When you are sure the servers are up and running, use these measures.

Method 1: Check the spam folder

Often, Google filters many messages and pushes them to the spam folder. But the natural instinct of users is not to look at the spam folder but at the main inbox.

If you don’t receive new messages, but the sender is sure of sending them, look at the spam folder. It’s highly likely that the emails will be sitting over there.

This can also be the case if you have an antivirus with an email filtering functionality.

Apart from spam, check the trash folder. You may have unknowingly deleted some emails, and they’ve gone there.

Method 2: Look at the All Mail option

The All Mail option at the left part of the Gmail screen shows related emails. A third option, apart from checking the spam and trash folders is All Mail.

Here, there are archived emails, which you may have archived by accidentally swiping left or right.

Method 3: Examine the storage space of your Google account.

Every Google user gets a considerable amount of free storage space. But the 15 GB free space does not always prove sufficient for everyone.

You may see requests to upgrade your Google account storage because of a shortage of space. This can also be behind you not receiving Gmail emails.

To view the existing storage space, look at the lower part of your Gmail window. Head to the ‘Storage Overview’ page to see the manner in which your storage is utilized.

If you notice that you are about to exceed the storage limit or have exceeded it, that’s why you aren’t receiving emails.

In such a case, you’ll not receive emails with big attachments till you upgrade your account storage. If you don’t wish to upgrade, delete older emails and things from other Google services, such as photos or drives.

Method 4: Review Gmail server settings.

If you use POP or IMAP server protocols and find Gmail emails not receiving, review these settings. They should be correct to work as intended. Also, turn these settings on to allow them to work.

If you aren’t sure of whether they are enabled, head to the ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ page. Here, go down and enable these settings.

• Below ‘Status: IMAP is disabled,’ select the ‘Enable IMAP’ option.
• Below ‘When I mark a message…deleted,’ choose ‘Auto-Expunge on – Immediately update the server. (default).’
• Below ‘Folder size limits,’ select ‘Do not limit the number of messages in an IMAP folder (default).’
• After making the requisite changes, tap ‘Save changes.’

Method 5: Use another browser and computer

Gmail lends support to four key browsers. These include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.

If you aren’t using an updated version of any of these browsers, you may complain of Gmail not getting emails.’ So, use any of these browsers and ensure they don’t have cookies and cache.

If still the problem doesn’t resolves, try Gmail on another device. Open it on your computer instead of the phone’s app.

Method 6: Activate JavaScript

The JavaScript must be turned on in the browser. If its not, you may not receive emails. Sometimes, browser upgrades and antivirus modify the browser’s JavaScript settings. It may be why you are not receiving Gmail emails.

Activate it in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge with these points.

Option 1: Google Chrome

1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. Tap ‘Settings.’
3. Next, click ‘Security and privacy.’
4. Tap ‘Site settings.’
5. After that, click ‘JavaScript.’
6. Choose ‘Sites can use JavaScript.’

Option 2: Microsoft Edge

1. On the ‘More’ menu, choose ‘Open with Internet Explorer.’
2. Tap ‘Tools’ followed by ‘Internet Options.’
3. Go to the ‘Security’ tab.
4. Here, choose ‘Custom level.’
5. Tap ‘Enable’ for ‘Active Scripting.’
6. Tap ‘Yes’ in the dialog box.
7. Review the filter settings in Gmail

Email filtering helps you to not receive spam emails. However, sometimes it may work in the opposite way. You may find Gmail stopped receiving emails because the expected emails are getting filtered.

You cannot make many changes on this front on Gmail’s smartphone app. So, use the web browser on the computer to modify the filter settings.

• In your Gmail, tap the gear icon. It is present at the top-right portion of the screen.
• This will let you access Gmail settings.
• Once there, search the ‘See all settings’ option and tap it.
• Now navigate to the ‘Filters and blocked addresses’ tab.
• See if there are any blocked email addresses you wish to unblock.
• Also, check for email filters.
• Remove the filter from the email ID you wish to get emails from.
• After unblocking and removing the filters from email IDs, request your senders to send you messages.

Method 7: Turn off antivirus (For Windows IMAP users)

As mentioned earlier, some antivirus software has an email filtering functionality. It filters away messages it deems to be suspicious.

So, if you are still wondering why did my Gmail stop receiving emails, disable the antivirus. Here’s how to turn off antivirus via the Task Manager.

• Launch the Task Manager by hitting Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys on your keyboard.
• Move to ‘Startups.’
• Here, find your antivirus program.
• Right-tap on it and choose ‘Disable.’
• Choose ‘Disable’ to stop it from running on startup.
• Now restart your PC.
• See if you are getting new emails.

Never Miss an Email Again!

This lengthy post has provided you with all the possible troubleshooting for Gmail not receiving emails issue. Making necessary changes in the settings and having a good internet connection can fix the problem. But in the rare case of the error still being unresolved, connect with an email support service.