Begin by separating the problem into receiving, sending or inbox placement. A mailbox that cannot receive new messages may have a quota or routing issue. An outgoing message may be rejected, temporarily delayed or accepted by the recipient's server and then placed in spam. These situations require different checks, so the exact delivery error is more useful than a general statement that email is not working.
IN THIS ARTICLE
01 Collect evidence for the affected message
- In the Account Manager or cPanel, check the mailbox's status and storage, then review the available delivery tracking information.
- Record the sender, recipient, approximate time with timezone and the relevant bounce message or delivery result.
- If only a website form fails, test ordinary mailbox email separately to establish whether the fault is in the application or the wider mail service.
02 Review SPF, DKIM and DMARC at the correct DNS provider
Our email deliverability tools can help identify problems with the domain's published sending records. These records serve different purposes:
- SPF identifies authorized sending systems.
- DKIM uses a signature that receiving services can validate against the domain's public DNS record.
- DMARC adds an alignment and handling policy for messages using your visible From domain.
A domain may use several legitimate sending services, so its configuration should account for each authorized source before a stricter policy is introduced.
Publish corrections at the authoritative DNS provider. A repair made only in a non-authoritative local zone will not fix public records. Avoid creating competing SPF records or replacing existing records without checking services such as business mail, forms and campaign platforms. Authentication helps establish trust but does not guarantee inbox placement; recipient filtering, reputation, content and sending behaviour also matter. Share the relevant error and a carefully redacted message header with us when needed. Keep passwords, private signing keys and unrelated message content out of ordinary troubleshooting chat.
03 Example: choose the next check from the delivery outcome
| What the test shows | What to investigate next |
|---|---|
| Ordinary mailbox messages work, but the contact form sends nothing. | Review the form application's sending configuration and its matching error entry. Do not recreate a working mailbox first. |
| An external sender receives a rejection when sending to the business address. | Use that rejection and its time to check the destination mailbox, quota, routing and delivery report. |
| The recipient finds the message in spam. | Review the message headers, authentication results and recipient filtering. Acceptance by a mail server is different from inbox placement. |
These observations narrow the investigation. Keep the actual delivery error and a redacted header because the same visible symptom can have more than one cause.
What evidence is useful for a missing or filtered email?
- Record sender, recipient, message time with timezone and the exact bounce or rejection text.
- Check whether an ordinary mailbox message fails as well as a website form, and inspect the applicable delivery report.
- Review SPF, DKIM and DMARC at the authoritative DNS provider, accounting for every legitimate sending service.
A single domain should not have competing SPF policy records. Add the legitimate sending sources through a correctly combined policy and assess alignment before enforcing a restrictive DMARC policy. Successful authentication is useful evidence, but it does not guarantee that a recipient places the message in its inbox.