Are You Able to Send Emails but Not Receive?

If you can send emails but cannot receive emails, there are several likely causes to investigate. These include email and disk quota issues, your DNS settings, and your email client settings. 

If your incoming email used to work and suddenly stopped working, the issue is probably one of the following:

1. Email Account Over Quota⤵
2. cPanel Account Over Quota⤵

If your email has never worked on our servers, then the cause might be one of these issues:

1. DNS Configuration⤵
2. Email Client Settings⤵

Email Account Over Quota

Each email account is created with a set quota, which is the amount of disk space allotted to a particular email address for email storage. This quota was set when you created or modified the email account in cPanel and can be set to be unlimited or to a fixed size.

The most common reason incoming email might not be received is the email account exceeding its quota. To resolve this, you will need to increase the amount of disk space for that email account to receive mail again. Alternatively, you can delete emails until it is below the email quota.

Step 1: Check Quota

To test your email account's quota:

• Send an email to the email account in question. If the mailbox is full, you will receive a bounceback message stating that the disk space has been exceeded.
• Check the email quota for the account directly by clicking on the Email Accounts icon in cPanel. Check to make sure the Usage is not higher than the Quota for the account in question.

Step 2: Change your Quota

To change an email account's quota:

1. Log into cPanel.
2. Navigate to the Email section.
3. Select the Email Accounts icon.

   

4. Scroll down to the email address for which you need to update the quota resources.
5. Next to the selected email address, click Quota.

   

6. Either type in the new quota or select the Unlimited option.

   

7. Click the Quota button to save.

cPanel Account Over Quota

Another possible cause of not receiving emails is that the entire cPanel is over its allotted disk or inode quota. If this is the case, you will need to increase your disk quota or clear up some storage to receive mail again.

While our Shared hosting plans do include unmetered storage, it is possible to have too many files, and folders also referred to as inodes. If you have exceeded the inode limit, then you will need to reduce your inode count before you are able to receive any more emails.

If you have a Reseller, VPS, or Dedicated hosting plan, you'll have access to WHM and the ability to create multiple cPanels. When you create those cPanels, you can set a storage limit for each of them, and if a cPanel has exceeded its limit, then you won't be able to perform most tasks and must clear out some space or adjust the quota before you can resume receiving emails. In the steps below, we'll walk you through checking the quotas and then how to adjust them.

Check Disk Space

To check for accounts over quota:

1. Navigate to the search pane on the left-hand side and search for Show Accounts Over Quota.

   

   You can also check the available disk space in a specific cPanel by looking for Disk Space Usage in the left-side panel.

2. If disk space is maxed out or exceeded, you will need to raise the disk space quota on the cPanel's package by changing the package in WHM or by creating a new package and assigning it to the cPanel.

Increase Disk Space Quota

To increase your client's disk space:

1. Log in to WHM.
2. Navigate to the search pane on the left-hand side and search for Quota Modification.

   

3. Select the username or cPanel primary domain for the user whose quota you wish to modify.
4. Click Modify.
5. Adjust Disk Space Quota as desired.
6. Click Save.

Another option for adjusting account quotas in WHM is to:

1. Navigate to the Account Information section on the left-side menu.
2. Select Show Accounts Over Quota.

   

3. The account quota can be adjusted directly. Next to the quota field, you can also view the disk space used.

   

4. Once the quota is adjusted, click Save.

If you want multiple customers to have the increase, you may also make changes to the package.

To accomplish this change:

1. Go to WHM.
2. In the left-side menu, under Packages, click Edit A Package.
3. Select the package to be edited.
4. Click the Edit button.
5. Make the desired changes.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.

For information on upgrading, downgrading, and adding new packages, please read:

• Creating a Package

DNS Configurations

DNS records are used to route your email to the correct server so that you can send and receive emails. In much the same way that a letter won't make it to the intended person if it is sent to the incorrect address, incorrect DNS records can affect how your emails are routed. In this article, How to Set Up Your MX (Mail Exchange) Record, we'll walk you through the steps to ensure your email is being routed properly.

In addition to using HostGator hosted email, you also have the option of using G Suite or Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). If they are not set up properly, you may not be able to send or receive emails. In the guides below, we walk you through making sure these services are set up properly.

• G Suite Setup Part 1
• Setup Email for Desktop with Microsoft 365
• Setup Email on Mobile with Office 365
• How to Verify a Domain for Use with Microsoft 365

Email Client Settings

If you are using a third-party mail client, make sure that the incoming mail server settings and ports are correct. Check your email settings in this article:

• Outlook / Eudora / Thunderbird / Mac / iPad / Phone Client Settings