Email will not send or receive
My email sits in the outbox and never sends. How do I get it moving?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
Either the attachment is too big, or the saved password has expired since the provider changed its sign in rules. The quickest thing to try first: check the attachment size — Anything over twenty megabytes is refused by most providers. Upload the file to cloud storage and paste the link instead. Most people are done in about 10 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 4 steps for Windows and Mac, rated easy.
Sounds like this
- •Message stuck in outbox
- •Password prompt keeps returning
- •Sending fails with a code
Why it happens
Either the attachment is too big, or the saved password has expired since the provider changed its sign in rules.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Check the attachment size
Anything over twenty megabytes is refused by most providers. Upload the file to cloud storage and paste the link instead.
- 2
Sign in through the website first
Open the mail service in a browser. If it asks you to verify or change the password, that is exactly why the app keeps failing.
- 3
Create an app password
Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook require a special app password when two step verification is on. Generate one in your account security page and paste it into the mail program.
- 4
Remove and re add the account
In the mail app remove the account, then add it again and let the app configure the server settings automatically.
If none of that worked
If mail works in the browser but never in the app, use the browser version while you contact your provider for the current server settings.
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Who wrote this and how we checked it
The CommonFixes team
Writer and researcher
We are a small group of people who spend our days repairing laptops and desktops for family, friends and small offices. Every guide here starts with a problem someone actually brought to us, and we only write down the steps that put the machine right.
- Everyday repairs
- Windows and Mac
- Plain language
CommonFixes review desk
Technical editor
Before a guide goes live, a second person walks through it on a real machine and checks each instruction against the maker's own support pages. Anything we cannot confirm is removed rather than guessed at.
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This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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