Email Sending Issues: A Troubleshooting Guide
Have trouble sending emails? Then you're in the right place! We've gathered all of the information regarding the most common email sending issues and compiled it into an easy-to-use troubleshooter. We've designed this process to narrow down the possibilities with each step so you can find a solution as quickly as possible.
- Error Message
- Access denied. Your IP address is blacklisted.
- Email address or password is incorrect.
- Invalid login attempt. That account doesn't seem to be available.
- Could not reliably determine that address [[email protected]] is installed on our network. Please log into webmail through your Control Panel.
- Any error message after logging in successfully.
- Sending Issues
- After clicking Send, did you get an error message?
- Did the message arrive in your inbox but disappear shortly afterward?
- Did the message fail to arrive at its destination?
- Did you get an error after sending your message?
- Did the message fail to arrive at its destination?
- Can you send but cannot receive emails?
- Do all of your settings look correct, even though you're still having trouble sending mail?
- Are you getting an "Authentication Failed" or similar error when entering the same username and password that allowed you to access your webmail?
- Have you tried everything on the list above without success?
- First, try accessing your webmail client. Go to Webmail, enter your email address and password, then click Login.
- Getting an error message when trying to log in? What error message do you see?
"Access denied. Your IP address is blacklisted."
If you see an "Access Denied" error instead of the login screen, check out If Your Local IP Is Blacklisted for more information."Email address or password is incorrect."
- Make sure you've entered your complete email address (such as [email protected]) and case-sensitive password, and then try again.
- If that doesn't work, try resetting your email account password.
- And if you're still getting this error message after a few or more failed login attempts, it's possible your IP has been temporarily blacklisted to stop what seems like suspicious activity. Wait two hours, and then try to log in again.
"Invalid login attempt. That account doesn't seem to be available."
- This error is often caused by a mistyped character or inadvertent space. Re-type your complete email address (such as [email protected]) and case-sensitive password, and then try again.
- Ensure the domain is assigned to your account as an Addon or Parked domain. The primary domain on a hosting account is assigned automatically, but additional domains are not. Check out How to Assign a Domain for more information.
- Did you get to the webmail login page from a bookmark? It could be outdated. Try logging in at Bluehost instead.
"Could not reliably determine that address [[email protected]] is installed on our network. Please log into webmail through your Control Panel."
- Our webmail login system couldn't find your email server because the domain is not pointed to Bluehost. If you want to host your email and manage your DNS at Bluehost, you need to use our name servers. Check out Modifying Nameservers with Other Registrars for more information.
- If you don't intend to use a Bluehost server to receive emails, but need to retrieve an old email from when you were using Bluehost for email, you'll need to access your webmail another way.
- Log in to your Bluehost control panel.
- Make sure Hosting is selected, then select Email.
- Locate your email address from the list.
- Click More on the right-hand side, then Access Webmail.
- Getting an error message after logging in successfully?
Check out Understanding Email Error Messages for more information.
- Getting an error message when trying to log in? What error message do you see?
- Once logged in, click Compose and send a test message to the same email address you're sending from. For example, if the email address you're testing is [email protected], send an email from that account TO [email protected], so the sender and recipient are the same.
- After clicking Send, did you get an error message?
Check out Understanding Email Error Messages for more information.
- Did the message arrive in your inbox but disappear shortly afterward?
If so, see Email Troubleshooting: Emails Suddenly Disappearing.
- Did the message fail to arrive at its destination?
- Wait five minutes, then check for new messages again. If the email still hasn't arrived, check your email filters to make sure it wasn't moved to another folder. Check out Email Management: Account-Level Email Filters for more information.
- Are any forwarders set for your email account? See if you have forwarders set to "discard," which deletes incoming email for that address, or "pipe to program," which redirects mail away from your inbox. Check out Troubleshooting: Email not Being Delivered from Forwarder for more information.
- Can you send but cannot receive emails?
- If the email hasn't arrived, check your email account's DNS records and email routing settings. It is important to make sure your email is looking at the right location for your emails. Check out DNS Management - How to edit MX records and see the Troubleshooting section.
- If your MX records are correct, check your email routing settings. Check out Email Routing. for how to set up your email routing. This just sets how outgoing email is handled for your domain's email.
- After clicking Send, did you get an error message?
- Now that we know your email address can send and receive messages internally, let's see if they can send to an external mail server. Click Compose and send a test message to an email address outside Bluehost, such as your personal Gmail account.
- Did you get an error after sending your message?
Check out Understanding Email Error Messages for more information.
- Did the message fail to arrive at its destination?
Sending an email is usually instantaneous, but it can still take a few minutes for the message to be received and accepted by the incoming mail server. If it's taking more than a few minutes for the message to arrive at its destination, check out Email Delay for more information.
- Did you get an error after sending your message?
- If you haven't resolved your problem yet, the issue is most likely related to your email application. Nearly every email application problem comes down to a misconfigured setting. Compare your email application settings to those in our Email Application Setup guide.
- Do all your settings look correct, even though you're still having trouble sending mail?
- Ensure you've entered your complete email address (such as [email protected]) and case-sensitive password, and then try again. Remember to use the same password that you used to access your webmail.
- Delete/Remove the email account from the application, and then set it up again. Check out Email Application Setup for more information.
- While going through the setup process, make sure to enable SMTP User Authentication. If you're using Email Application Setup: Apple Mail, turn off the option to Automatically detect and maintain settings.
- Double-check that you are using the full email address, including the domain name as the username (such as [email protected]).
- Re-enter your email password. Remember, it's the same password you used to get into webmail.
- Are you getting an "Authentication Failed" or similar error when entering the same username and password that allowed you to access your webmail?
The local IP address your email application is using may be blacklisted, which can happen after a few too many failed login attempts within a short period. If you suspect this is the problem, try using another internet connection, such as mobile data or WiFi, and try again. Check out If Your Local IP Is Blacklisted for more information.
- Have you tried everything on this list without success?
Here are a few other suggestions:- If you've tried everything on this list and your email application still doesn't work even though webmail does, try using a different email application. There are plenty of free email applications to choose from in the app store for your device. If you're looking for a desktop application, we recommend Email Application Setup: Mozilla Thunderbird, which is free and works on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
- Do all your settings look correct, even though you're still having trouble sending mail?
If you are having trouble receiving email, please see Troubleshooting Email Connection Issues.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact us via Chat or Phone:
- Chat Support - While on our website, you should see a CHAT bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Click anywhere on the bubble to begin a chat session.
- Phone Support -
- US: 888-401-4678
- International: +1 801-765-9400
You may also refer to our Knowledge Base articles to help answer common questions and guide you through various setup, configuration, and troubleshooting steps.