When your email stops loading, sending or receiving, the first question is whether the problem is with your email provider or with your own device, app, account or connection. A few quick checks usually answer it in a couple of minutes, and the provider's own status page can confirm a wider outage.
Is It You or Your Email Provider?
Work through these checks in order. If the problem follows you everywhere, it is probably the provider. If it only happens in one place, it is probably your side.
- Try another device: Open your email on a different phone or computer. If it works there, the problem is with the first device or app.
- Try another network: Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or the other way round. If it works on one network and not the other, your router, internet provider, VPN or a firewall may be the cause.
- Compare webmail and your email app: Sign in to your provider's website in a browser. If webmail works but your app does not, check the app's account settings, password and server settings, and see the section below on when to suspect your own side. If webmail does not work either, the provider may be having an outage.
- Read the error message: Write down the exact wording. A message such as server unavailable, service temporarily unavailable or a timeout points to the provider or the network. Messages about an incorrect password, authentication failed or an account that is locked point to your account or sign-in details.
- Check one more way in: Some providers say an outage does not always block every way of reaching your mail. GMX, for example, says to try the browser login, its mobile app, or an email program using IMAP or POP3.
Check the Official Status Page
Providers publish different kinds of status information. These are the official pages, and every link below was opened on October 24, 2026. A green status does not rule out a problem that only affects some accounts, so use it together with the checks above.
| Service | Where to check | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | Google Workspace Status Dashboard | Find Gmail in the list of products. The dashboard also covers other Google Workspace services. |
| Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and MSN | Microsoft service health status | Personal accounts are listed under Microsoft consumer products. Microsoft 365 work or school accounts are shown in the admin center, so ask your administrator. Microsoft also points to its @MSFT365Status account on X for widespread incidents. |
| Yahoo Mail | Yahoo Help (help.yahoo.com) | I did not find a dedicated Yahoo Mail status page. During past outages Yahoo has shown a notice on its Help pages and posted on the Yahoo Customer Care account (@YahooCare) on X. |
| iCloud Mail | Apple System Status | Look for iCloud Mail in the list of services. |
| AOL Mail | AOL Help (help.aol.com) | I did not find an AOL status page that AOL itself points to. The AOL Help article on problems reading or receiving mail covers the usual fixes. |
| Proton Mail | Proton Services Status | Also lists maintenance and incident updates. The old address protonstatus.com redirects here. |
| Fastmail | Fastmail Status | Shows web client, mobile app and general availability. The old www.fastmailstatus.com address redirects here. |
| GMX | GMX Help Center (gmx.com) or Störungen bei GMX (gmx.net, in German) | GMX shows a server status message at the top of its help pages, and a blue "Keine Störungen" banner on hilfe.gmx.net means no known disruption. |
| Zoho Mail | Zoho status (US) | status.zoho.com redirects to the US page, and status.zoho.eu redirects to eu.zohostatus.com. Check the page for your data center. |
| Thexyz | Thexyz Network Status | Live uptime for Thexyz products. |
Third-Party Outage Trackers
Sites such as Downdetector and Down for Everyone or Just Me collect problem reports from users and show whether reports have jumped above the usual level. They are useful when a provider has no status page, or when its status page has not caught up yet. They are not official, so a spike in reports confirms that others are affected but does not tell you the cause. Downdetector's own pages warn about scammers who advertise fake support phone numbers in the comments, so never call a number you find there.
What to Do While Your Email Is Down
- Wait and retry: Many outages clear up on their own. Keep checking the status page instead of repeatedly resetting your password, which can lock you out.
- Use another way in: Try webmail in a browser, the provider's mobile app, or an email program over IMAP or POP, as GMX suggests.
- Do not make account changes: Avoid deleting accounts from your app or changing settings until the service is back, so you do not create a second problem.
- Tell people: For urgent messages, send a note from another address or another channel, and tell important contacts that you may reply late.
- Check for missed mail afterward: Delayed messages usually arrive once service returns. If something is still missing after a day, ask the sender to send it again.
When to Suspect Your Own Side
If the status page shows no problem and other people can use the service, look at your own setup:
- You changed or reset your password: Apps that stay signed in may keep failing until you sign in again. Some providers also ask for a separate app password for email programs, such as AOL, Fastmail and Outlook.com when two-step verification is on. See the settings posts for each provider.
- POP or IMAP is turned off: GMX and Outlook.com keep POP and IMAP switched off until you turn them on, and GMX turns them off again after long non-use. Webmail would work while your email program fails.
- The app does not support the sign-in method: Outlook.com stopped accepting basic password-only sign-in, so older apps must support modern authentication.
- Wrong server settings, port or encryption: Check the server name, port and SSL/TLS or STARTTLS setting against your provider's settings.
- Fastmail Basic plan: Fastmail says its Basic plans do not include IMAP or SMTP access, so email programs will not connect.
- Your network or DNS: If other devices on your network also cannot reach your provider, restart your router. On Windows you can clear the DNS cache by opening a Command Prompt and running ipconfig /flushdns. A VPN, firewall or antivirus can also block mail connections.
- Browser or app problems: Clear the browser cache, try a private window, or update the app. Yahoo lists browser issues and using several browsers or devices at once as causes of Temporary Error 15.
Related: Status pages for various email services | Gmail Password Incorrect Error | Gmail SMTP Settings | Yahoo SMTP Settings | iCloud SMTP Settings | Webmail Wiki Setup tool
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