Troubleshooting Email Accounts

Troubleshooting Email Accounts

Having trouble accessing your email or sending messages?
This guide covers common issues and step-by-step solutions to help you restore normal email functionality.

Overview
Most email problems fall into one of two categories:

1. You cannot access your account or view incoming messages.

2. You can access your account but cannot send outgoing messages.

Each section below includes a checklist to help you identify and fix the issue.

Problems Accessing Your Email Account
If you’re unable to log in or view incoming messages, follow these steps:

1. Check your internet connection.
   Make sure you’re online by opening any website in your browser.

2. Verify your domain’s name servers.
   Ensure your domain is using ruachost.com name servers.
    Note:
   If you recently transferred your domain to ruachost.com, DNS propagation may still be in progress. Until it’s complete, email service may be temporarily unavailable.

3. Confirm your incoming mail server settings.
   Your POP3 or IMAP server should be set to mail.example.com (replace example.com with your actual domain).
   Important:
   For Apple (Mac) Mail, use the full hosting server name instead. For example: srv1.ruachost.com or cpanel.ruachost.com.

4. Use your full email address as the username.
   Enter your complete address (for example, user@example.com) for POP or IMAP authentication.

5. Check your email client configuration.
   Make sure all settings match the setup instructions in the configuration guide.
   If your email was working before and no settings have changed, you can skip this step.

6. Check for firewall restrictions.
   If you’re on a secure or company network, your firewall might be blocking mail ports.
   Ask your network administrator to confirm that the required ports are open.

   Tip:
   For a list of port numbers used by POP3, IMAP, and SMTP, see the related article.

7. Confirm your ISP isn’t blocking mail ports.
   Some internet providers block certain ports to reduce spam. Contact your ISP to verify.

If the problem continues after these checks, please open a support ticket at https://ruachost.com for further assistance.

Problems Sending Email Messages
If you can receive messages but are unable to send them, try these steps:

1. Check your internet connection.
   Ensure your connection is active by loading any website.

2. Verify your domain’s name servers.
   Confirm your domain uses ruachost.com name servers.
   Note:
   After a recent domain transfer, DNS propagation may still be in progress and can temporarily affect email delivery.

3. Confirm your outgoing mail (SMTP) server.
   Set your SMTP server to mail.example.com (replace example.com with your actual domain).
   Important:
   For Apple (Mac) Mail, use the full ruachost.com server name. For example: srv1.ruachost.com or cpanel.ruachost.com.

4. Enable outgoing mail authentication.
   Ensure your email client is configured to log in before sending mail (SMTP authentication).
   Use your full email address (for example, user@example.com) as the username.

5. Check for firewall restrictions.
   A firewall may be blocking outgoing mail ports. Ask your network administrator to verify access.

   Tip:
   Refer to the port configuration article for detailed information.

6. Check for ISP port blocking.
   Some ISPs block port 25 to reduce spam.
   • If blocked, switch to port 2525, or preferably use a secure port (465 or 587).

7. Verify recipient addresses.
   Make sure all recipient email addresses are valid and correctly spelled.

8. Check attachment size limits.
   On shared or reseller servers, attachments larger than 50 MB cannot be sent.
   For large files, use FTP or a file-sharing service instead of email attachments.