How to locate a missing email

When working with email send-outs, sometimes a problem can occur when a certain contact does not see the email delivered to their inbox. This checklist will help you investigate this issue and find the missing email.

Begin by checking the email status in the Messages tab. If the status indicates a Soft bounce or Hard bounce, click the information (“i“) button to view more details. Read more about bounces in this article.

But what to do when the message is shown as delivered?

The delivery report is sent to Engage from the email provider which the email address belongs to, such as Gmail or Outlook. However, it is not always easy to predict where the message will end up within the email service. Follow these steps to locate the missing email.

1. Check "Spam" and other folders

The email provider might automatically move the email into folders like “Spam“, “Junk Email“ or similar. Gmail often stores marketing emails in the “Promotions“ tab, while Outlook has a Quarantine page where some emails might be placed. 

2. Confirm that the email address is correct

Sometimes, a contact may accidentally misspell their email address when registering online, resulting in the message being sent to the wrong address. If this happens, you can correct the email address on the contact card and resend the email. 

3. Look over the rules in the inbox

The email address owner might have set up rules, filters or automatic forwarding in their inbox settings. In such cases, emails might be automatically deleted, moved to a specific folder or forwarded to another address.

4. Try on another device

Email apps on mobile devices may not display all folders. Try logging into the inbox on a desktop computer and searching for the email there.

5. Use the search form

Most email services have a search feature. Try to enter the email subject or sender address into the search bar.

6. Contact the support

If none of the above methods help you find the email, you can reach out to the recipient’s email service provider (such as Gmail or Outlook) to inquire why the recipient cannot see the email, even though you received the successful delivery report. Make sure to provide enough information about the sent email, including: the subject line, date and time, sender and recipient addresses.

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