Email Isn't Working — A Basic Troubleshooting Guide

ℹ️ "My email isn't working" covers a lot of different problems — can't sign in, can't open Outlook, not receiving, can't send, Outlook frozen. The good news is that most of them are fixed by a few simple checks. This guide walks you through them in order. Start at the top: the first three steps resolve the majority of email problems on their own.

💡 Sending and receiving are two separate processes — one can fail while the other works fine. When you report a problem, tell us exactly which one isn't working (can't send, can't receive, or both). It helps us find the cause faster.

✅ Start Here: The Three Things That Fix Most Email Problems

Before anything else, try these in order. Most email issues never get past this section.

1. Fully close and reopen Outlook

Not just minimize — close it completely (so it's gone from the taskbar), wait a few seconds, then open it again. This alone clears a lot of glitches.

2. Restart your computer

A reboot reconnects Outlook to the email server and fixes a surprising number of problems — frozen Outlook, "disconnected," mail not updating, and more. If you haven't restarted today, do it before anything else.

3. Check your email on the web — this is the key test

Open a browser and go to outlook.com, then sign in with your company email and password.

This one test tells you where the problem is:

💡 Webmail is also your backup. If your desktop Outlook is broken and you need email right now, use outlook.com to keep working while the desktop issue gets sorted out. See Access Your Email Online (KB# 130004).

⚠️ First make sure you're actually online. If no websites load at all, your problem isn't email — it's your internet connection, and email can't work without it. See Unable to Use the Internet (KB# 160001) before going further here.

🔑 Outlook Keeps Asking for Your Password (and won't accept it)

This is the most common email problem we see. Work through these in order.

• Did you recently change your password? This is the usual cause. After a password change it can take up to 30 minutes to sync. The best approach: change the password, then don't even open Outlook for 30 minutes — then open it and enter your new password when asked. (See Password Policies for Argus Hospitality, KB# 10005.)
• Check Caps Lock, and type the password slowly and carefully.
• Stop after a few tries. After 5 wrong attempts your account locks for 15 minutes. Repeatedly hammering the password just keeps you locked out. Wait it out, then try once, carefully.
• Still won't accept it? You likely need a password reset — submit a ticket (or report it if you can't get into email at all; see the bottom of this guide).

⚠️ Travelling internationally? If you're outside Canada and suddenly can't sign in, your account may have been locked automatically for security. You must notify IT before international travel. See Access Your Email Online (KB# 130004).

🚫 Outlook Won't Open / "Cannot Start Microsoft Outlook" / Stuck Loading

• Restart the computer (Step 2 above). This is the most common fix for Outlook that won't open or hangs on a loading screen.
• Check webmail (Step 3). If outlook.com works, your email is fine and this is purely a desktop-Outlook problem — keep working on the web while it's sorted out.
• Are you using "New Outlook"? If so, and it's misbehaving, try switching back to Classic Outlook — see the section below. This resolves a lot of "won't open / won't load" issues.
• If it still won't open after a reboot and webmail works fine, submit a ticket — the desktop app may need attention from IT.

📥 Not Receiving Emails

• Restart Outlook, then restart the computer (Steps 1–2). Mail that "stopped coming in" very often starts flowing again after a reboot.
• Check your Junk Email folder — the message may have been filtered there.
• Is your mailbox full? A full mailbox (50 GB) stops you receiving, and incoming mail bounces back to the sender. If you've been hoarding email, this is likely. See Reduce Your Mailbox Size (KB# 130007).
• Are you on "New Outlook"? New Outlook has caused mail not to load for some staff. Switching to Classic Outlook (below) often makes the missing email pour back in.
• Missing only certain emails from one specific sender (and others arrive fine)? That's usually a filtering or sender-side issue, not your mailbox. Submit a ticket with an example (sender, date, subject) so IT can trace it.

📤 Can't Send Emails

• Is your mailbox full? You lose the ability to send at about 49.5 GB — just before the full limit. If you're near full, clear space (see Reduce Your Mailbox Size, KB# 130007).
• Is the message stuck in your Outbox? A very large attachment, or Outlook being offline, can park a message in the Outbox. Open the Outbox folder to check. Removing a huge attachment (and sending the file a different way) often clears it.
• Is Outlook in "Work Offline" mode? This stops sending — see Extra Checks for Classic Outlook below.
• Restart Outlook and the computer (Steps 1–2).

🧊 Outlook Freezes or Crashes

• Restart the computer. This reconnects Outlook and clears most freezes.
• Use webmail in the meantime (outlook.com) so you can keep working.
• If a specific part crashes (e.g., the calendar) only in the desktop app but works on the web, that points to a desktop-app problem — submit a ticket.
• If Outlook freezes regularly, the workstation may be aging or overdue for replacement. Submit a ticket and mention it's a repeating problem, with the asset tag.

🔄 New Outlook vs. Classic Outlook

Microsoft has two versions of Outlook on Windows right now — "New Outlook" and "Classic Outlook" — and there's a toggle that switches between them. New Outlook has caused real problems for some staff, most commonly not loading or not receiving email.

If your email isn't coming in and you're on New Outlook, try switching back to Classic:

• Look for the "New Outlook" toggle in the top-right corner of the Outlook window.
• Switch it off. Outlook will reload as Classic Outlook (it may take a moment, and may prompt you).
• Check whether your email starts loading again.

If switching to Classic fixes it, great — and let IT know in a ticket so we're aware it happened to you.

🔧 Extra Checks for Classic Outlook

If you're on Classic Outlook, it has a few built-in checks the web and New Outlook don't. These are worth trying before you submit a ticket.

Check the connection status

Look at the bottom bar of the Outlook window. It should say something like "Connected to: Microsoft Exchange." If it says "Disconnected," "Working Offline," or "Trying to connect…", that's your problem — work through the next checks.

Make sure "Work Offline" isn't switched on

This is easy to toggle by accident, and it stops both sending and receiving.

• Go to the Send / Receive tab on the Outlook ribbon.
• Look at the Work Offline button on the far left. If it's highlighted/on, click it once to go back online. It may take a minute or two to reconnect.

Force a manual Send/Receive

• On the Send / Receive tab, click your Inbox, then click Update Folder (or Send/Receive All Folders).
• If there's a problem, Outlook will usually show an error. Take a screenshot of that error and attach it to your ticket — it tells us exactly what's wrong.

Try Outlook in Safe Mode

Safe Mode starts Outlook without add-ins, which rules out a misbehaving add-in.

1. Press the Windows key, type Outlook.exe /safe, and press Enter.
2. If it asks you to choose a profile, pick the default and click OK.
3. See whether Outlook works normally in Safe Mode.

If Outlook works in Safe Mode but not normally, there's something wrong with Outlook (often an add-in) that needs fixing — still submit a ticket, and mention that Safe Mode worked. That's a big clue for us.

🆘 When to Submit a Ticket

Submit a ticket if you've worked through the relevant steps above and email still isn't working — especially after you've restarted the computer and checked webmail.

When submitting, please include:

• What exactly happens — the error message (a screenshot is ideal), or what's not working (can't send / can't receive / won't open / password rejected).
• Does webmail (outlook.com) work? Yes / No — this is the single most useful thing you can tell us.
• Did you change your password recently?
• Are you on New Outlook or Classic Outlook?
• Your workstation's asset tag (5-digit number on a blue or copper Argus IT label) and which property you're at.
• Don't include your password in the ticket. Argus IT will never ask for it in a ticket.

💡 Can't get into your email to reach us? You don't need email to submit a ticket. Sign in to the help desk portal directly at https://argushospitality.jitbit.com/ — it has its own login, separate from your email, so it works even when your email doesn't.

Related Articles

• Access Your Email Online (KB# 130004)
• Password Policies for Argus Hospitality (KB# 10005)
• Reduce Your Mailbox Size (KB# 130007)
• Setting Up Microsoft Authenticator on a New Phone (KB-190001)
• The Basics to Try When You Have a Problem (KB# 10001)
• How to Fill Out a Ticket (KB# 10002)

ArgusIT KB# 130010 | Created: May 25, 2026 | Consolidates and replaces "Unable to Send or Receive Email" (KB# 140001, originally February 12, 2019, Vincent Kruggel)

Tags: email, outlook, cannot send email, cannot receive email, outlook won't open, password prompt, email not working, new outlook, classic outlook, mailbox full, webmail, work offline, safe mode