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This article describes several ways to troubleshoot connections to e-mail accounts.

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Troubleshooting e-mail accounts

Problems related to e-mail generally fall into one of the following categories:
  • You cannot access the account to view incoming messages.
  • You can access the account and view incoming messages, but you cannot send outgoing messages.

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Problems accessing the account

There are many reasons why you might not be able to access an e-mail account. To eliminate possible causes, go through the following checklist:
👍 Tip Can log in, but specific messages are not arriving? That is a different problem — see Emails are not arriving. The checks below are for when you cannot reach the mailbox at all.
👍 Tip First, try webmail. If webmail works but your mail client does not, stop here and read Email stopped working after too many failed logins — your address has probably been blocked, and none of the checks below will help.
  • Make sure your Internet connection is working. For example, try to load a web site in your web browser.
  • Make sure your domain name is using hosting.com name servers.
    📘 Note If you recently transferred your domain name to hosting.com, DNS propagation may still be in progress. Until DNS propagation is complete, e-mail will not function correctly.
  • Make sure the POP or IMAP server for the e-mail account is set to mail.example.com, where example.com represents your domain name.
    🚧 Important This applies to Apple (Mac) Mail too. See Setting up Apple (Mac) Mail on macOS.
  • Make sure you are using a complete e-mail address (for example, [email protected] ) as the username for POP or IMAP authentication.
  • Make sure your e-mail client is configured properly according to the instructions in this article. This step does not apply if you have previously used the client to access the e-mail account successfully, and you have not subsequently changed any settings.
  • Determine if your computer is behind a firewall. If you are trying to access the e-mail account from your workplace, for example, this is often the case. If your computer is behind a firewall, ask the network administrator to verify that the required port is allowed through the firewall. If the port is not allowed, this is why you cannot connect to the mail server.
    👍 Tip For detailed information about the port numbers required for various e-mail protocols, please see this article.
  • Contact your ISP or internet provider and verify that they do not block the required POP or IMAP port. If the port is blocked, this is why you cannot connect to the mail server.
If you need further assistance, please open a support ticket at https://my.hosting.com.

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Problems sending e-mail messages

If you can access your e-mail account but cannot send outgoing messages, go through the following checklist to eliminate possible causes:
🚧 Important If sending worked until recently and nothing has changed at your end, two things to rule out before the checks below, because neither is fixed by anything in this list:
  • Bounces saying 550? See Outbound email blocked. Your account may be relay-locked, or the sending IP may be blocked by that one recipient’s provider.
  • No bounce, mail just vanishes? Check Email sending limits. You can send 100 messages per hour per domain, and a busy form, store or cron job reaches that without you noticing.
  • Make sure your Internet connection is working. For example, try to load a web site in your web browser.
  • Make sure your domain name is using hosting.com name servers.
    📘 Note If you recently transferred your domain name to hosting.com, DNS propagation may still be in progress. Until DNS propagation is complete, e-mail will not function correctly.
  • Make sure the outgoing SMTP server for the e-mail account is set to mail.example.com, where example.com represents your domain name.
    🚧 Important This applies to Apple (Mac) Mail too. See Setting up Apple (Mac) Mail on macOS.
  • Make sure you have enabled authentication for outgoing e-mail on the client.
  • Make sure you are using a complete e-mail address (for example, [email protected] ) as the username for SMTP authentication.
  • Determine if your computer is behind a firewall. If you are trying to access the e-mail account from your workplace, for example, this is often the case. If your computer is behind a firewall, ask the network administrator to verify that the required port is allowed through the firewall. If the port is not allowed, this is why you cannot connect to the mail server.
    👍 Tip For detailed information about the port numbers required for various e-mail protocols, please see this article.
  • Many ISPs block port 25 to reduce spam. Contact your ISP or internet provider and ask if they block port 25. If they do block port 25, try using port 2525 instead (or even better, use one of the secure SMTP ports 465 or 587).
  • Make sure all message recipient e-mail addresses are valid.
  • If you are trying to send a large file attachment from one of our shared or reseller servers, the maximum file size allowed is 50 megabytes.  Sending large file attachments through e-mail is inefficient, and slows down servers because they must be scanned for viruses and spam. If you must transfer large files, consider an alternative like FTP.
If you need further assistance, please open a support ticket at https://my.hosting.com.