Gmail Not Working? Common Fixes

Most Gmail problems fall into one of four categories: you cannot sign in, messages are not arriving, mail will not send, or existing messages appear to have disappeared. This guide uses a systematic process to identify the cause before you change settings that may already be correct.

You cannot sign in

If Gmail rejects your password or asks for something you cannot produce, that is its own subject. Our guide to signing in to Gmail covers passkey prompts, verification codes and the specific error messages, and if the password itself is gone, start with how to reset your password instead.

Mail is not arriving

Work down these in order. The first cause is by far the most common and the least obvious.

Your storage is full

Gmail does not have its own storage. It shares 15 GB with Google Drive and Google Photos, and when that runs out, Gmail stops accepting new mail. Google's own guidance is blunt about the consequence: with storage full you may be unable to send or receive.

This can be confusing because the inbox may look normal while files you own in Google Drive, photo and video backups, WhatsApp backups or large Gmail attachments consume the shared storage allowance. Files merely shared with you normally use the owner’s storage, not yours.

Check your storage breakdown in your Google account. If you are close to the limit:

• Empty Spam and Trash — both still count against your quota.

• Search larger:10M in Gmail to find the heaviest messages, and delete what you do not need.

• Look at Google Photos and Drive, which are usually the real culprits rather than email.

• Or buy more storage, which is often the sensible answer if the account matters.

Deleted mail sits in Trash for 30 days and still occupies space, so empty Trash afterwards or nothing changes.

A filter caught it

Filters run before you ever see a message, and can archive, delete, label or forward it silently. A rule you wrote years ago for one newsletter can quietly swallow anything matching a pattern you have forgotten.

Open Gmail settings, go to Filters and Blocked Addresses, and read every rule — particularly any that skip the inbox or delete. This takes two minutes and resolves a surprising share of "missing email" cases.

The sender is blocked

On the same settings tab, below your filters, is the list of blocked addresses. Blocked mail goes straight to Spam. It is easy to block someone by accident from the message menu, and easy never to notice.

Forwarding is sending it elsewhere

Check Forwarding and POP/IMAP in settings. If forwarding is on and set to delete Gmail's copy, your mail arrives and immediately leaves. Worth checking on any account you did not set up yourself, or one that has been used by someone else.

It arrived, but not where you looked

Gmail sorts aggressively. Before assuming a message never came, check Spam, check the Promotions and Social tabs, and check All Mail rather than just the inbox — anything archived is still in your account, just not in front of you.

Search across everything with in:anywhere, which includes Spam and Trash. If the message turns up there, the delivery worked and the problem is a rule or a tab, not the sender.

A mail client took it

Start by updating the mail client and reconnecting the account through “Sign in with Google”. Google no longer supports third-party applications that require you to share your ordinary Google Account password.

If the software cannot use Google sign-in, it may require an app password. Changing your main Google Account password revokes existing app passwords, so devices using them may all stop connecting after a password change.

If you see “535 5.7.8 Username and Password not accepted”, remove the saved account credentials and reconnect using Google sign-in or a newly generated app password if your account is eligible.

Mail will not send

Sending and receiving are configured separately, so an account can receive perfectly while nothing leaves the outbox.

• In a mail client: almost always authentication. Google no longer accepts ordinary passwords over SMTP — you need a client that signs in with Google, or an app password. Our SMTP settings guide has the server details.

• In the web interface: check storage again, since a full account blocks sending too.

• Large attachments: Gmail caps attachment size and will offer a Drive link instead. If the message will not go, the attachment is a likely reason.

• Sending limits: Google caps daily volume to contain compromised accounts. Hitting it produces a temporary block that clears on its own.

A mail client that used to work has stopped

This is nearly always one of two things, and both are covered in our Gmail security guide:

• Google stopped accepting plain passwords over IMAP and SMTP, so an older client that has not been updated will suddenly fail with credentials that look correct.

• You changed your Google password, which revokes every app password at once. Every device stops together — a distinctive symptom worth recognising.

The error to look for is 535 5.7.8 Username and Password not accepted.

Gmail is slow, blank, or will not load

• Before assuming a fault, try the web interface in a private window. That single test separates a browser problem from an account problem.

• Works in private browsing: the cause is an extension or stale cookies. Disable extensions — ad blockers and privacy tools most often — then clear cookies for google.com.
  
  Make sure the browser is currently supported and updated. If Gmail works in a private window, disable extensions one at a time and remove Gmail or Google site data before signing in again. Do not clear every browser password or all browsing data unless necessary.

• Fails there too: try another browser or device. If it fails everywhere, it is not local.

• Very large mailbox: Gmail's basic HTML view loads when the full interface struggles, which is useful on a slow connection.

Is Gmail actually down?

Gmail occasionally experiences a service disruption. Check the official Google Workspace Status Dashboard before changing account or mail-client settings. If Gmail is marked as disrupted and the problem affects multiple devices, wait for Google to resolve it rather than altering a configuration that was working previously.

Working out which it is

Rather than trying fixes at random, narrow it down first:

• Does it fail on every device, or one? One device means a client or browser problem. All devices means the account.

• Did it stop suddenly, or gradually? Sudden usually means a change — a password reset, an update, a new filter. Gradual usually means storage.

• Is it one sender, or everyone? One sender points at a filter or a block. Everyone points at storage or forwarding.

• Can you send but not receive, or the reverse? That distinction alone eliminates half the possibilities.

Two minutes spent on those questions usually beats an hour of changing settings, and it avoids the common trap of fixing something that was never broken.