iPhone: What to do if you can't send or receive Mail
Symptoms
- iPhone cannot send mail
- iPhone cannot receive mail
If you have an iPod touch, see this article.
Products Affected
iPhone
Resolution
If iPhone is unable to send mail, try these basic troubleshooting steps.
In Settings, turn on other SMTP servers
- Tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and under Accounts, tap the account from which you're trying to send mail:
- Scroll down to where it says Outgoing Mail Server and tap the box where it says SMTP:
- Scroll down to where it says AT&T SMTP Server, and tap it turn it on.
or
Turn on all other SMTP Servers.
Add your email account on iPhone instead of syncing your mail settings from your computer
- Tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and under accounts, tap Add Account.
- Follow the instructions. When you enter your email address, iPhone will look up your service provider's settings for you. If iPhone can't find your service provider's settings, refer to support article HT1277 so you can enter them yourself.
Turn iPhone off and then on by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red slider appears, then drag the slider. Then press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
Note that when iPhone is off, incoming calls go straight to voicemail.
To turn iPhone on press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
In Settings, turn off Wi-Fi to only use the cellular data network
- Tap Settings > Wi-Fi and turn off Wi-Fi.
- From the Home screen tap Mail.
If iPhone is unable to receive mail, try these basic troubleshooting steps.
If you are using one or more computers to check the same email account, that may be creating a lock-out issue that is easily solved.
Add your email account on iPhone instead of syncing your mail settings from your computer
- Tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and under accounts, tap Add Account.
- Follow the instructions. When you enter your email address, iPhone will try to look up your settings for you. If iPhone can't find your service provider's settings, refer to support article HT1277 so you can enter them yourself.
Turn iPhone off and then on by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red slider appears, then drag the slider. Then press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
Note that when iPhone is off, incoming calls go straight to voicemail.
To turn iPhone on press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
In Settings, turn off Wi-Fi to only use the cellular data network
- Tap Settings > Wi-Fi and turn off Wi-Fi.
- From the Home screen tap Mail.
If the steps above don't resolve the issue:
- Arrange a phone call with an Apple Expert who specializes in your exact question. We'll even call you. Get started. Note: Callbacks are currently available only for U.S. and Canada phone numbers.
- Get a free GMail, Yahoo, or AOL account and forward your mail to that account.
- See the iPhone User Guide.
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