Delivered but not received
Trace an email accepted by the recipient's server but missing from their inbox.
The recipient's mail server accepted the email. It may still filter, quarantine or route the message before the recipient sees it.
Confirm the message and recipient
- Open Activity and find the message by ID or recipient address.
- Open View message details.
- Confirm the From, Subject, Received time and exact recipient address.
- Check that this recipient shows Delivered, and review the delivery event and SMTP response in Timeline.
For a message with multiple recipients, another recipient's success doesn't establish delivery to the address you're checking.
Ask the recipient to check
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Spam or junk | Search these folders using the sender address and subject. |
| Other inbox tabs or folders | Look in categories, archive folders and any folder used by mail rules. |
| Deleted items | Check whether a rule or another mail client removed the message. |
| Blocked senders and rules | Review filters that block, move or delete messages from this sender. |
| Correct mailbox | Confirm the address used, including aliases or forwarding destinations. |
Search all folders rather than relying on the inbox's current view. Check the time zone when comparing the send and delivery timestamps.
Check company quarantine or gateways
If the recipient uses a work mailbox, their organization may run a security gateway or quarantine service before the inbox. Ask their mail administrator to trace the email and inspect quarantine, routing rules and forwarding.
Share:
| Information | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Sender and recipient addresses | Identifies the mail flow to investigate. |
| Subject and delivery timestamp, with time zone | Narrows the administrator's search. |
| SMTP response from Activity | Shows the receiving server's acceptance response. |
| SendMero message ID | Lets SendMero support correlate your investigation. |
The SendMero message ID identifies the message in SendMero; don't assume it is the recipient provider's mail-trace ID or the email's MIME Message-ID.
Review authentication
Open Sending Domains → your domain → DNS Records and recheck DKIM and SPF. Review DMARC as well, including any inherited policy. Correct authentication issues using the domain page's instructions; don't remove an existing policy simply to get a message through.
Learn more about DNS records →
Authentication helps receivers evaluate the sender, but successful checks don't guarantee inbox placement.
When to ask for help
If the message is accepted but the recipient's administrator cannot locate it, contact support with the details above and any mail-trace results. If the outcome is actually Deferred, Bounced or Expired, follow Message statuses instead.
Avoid repeatedly resending the same message while investigating. If you need another test, use a distinct subject and save its new message ID.
- Confirm the exact recipient's outcome before diagnosing inbox placement.
- Keep delivery timestamps and SMTP responses with your support notes.
- Use a separate test message to distinguish new results from the original email.