Email stops arriving without ever saying why
Mail sync fails quietly — no error, just a suspiciously peaceful inbox. And the #1 cause is one almost nobody connects: you changed your email password on another device, and this phone has been politely rejected ever since, with at most a tiny “sign-in required” notification you swiped away days ago.
Prove the connection
Open any website. Cellular data off for the mail app, airplane-mode leftovers and dead Wi-Fi explain more “broken email” than every server on earth.
Pull down to force a sync
In the inbox, swipe down and hold. If mail floods in, sync had merely dozed off — and note Google says a backed-up sync can take up to 15 minutes to finish.
Re-enter your password
Changed your password lately, anywhere? Go to the account in your mail app’s settings and sign in again. This single step resurrects the majority of mysteriously silent inboxes.
Check the sync switches
Gmail app → Menu → Settings → your account → Sync Gmail checked? Then phone-level: Settings → your Google account → Account sync → Gmail on. iPhone Mail: Settings → Apps → Mail → Accounts → Fetch New Data — Push on, or Fetch not set to Manual.
Check both storages
Google’s free 15 GB is shared across Gmail, Drive and Photos — a decade of photos fills it and mail silently stops. Check at the Google storage page. A phone with full local storage also stops downloading messages: Settings → Storage.
Remove and re-add the account
The clean-slate move: delete the account from the phone (mail on the server is untouched), restart, add it back. In Outlook mobile, the built-in equivalent is Settings → tap the account → Reset Account — Microsoft’s own first fix.
Old mail apps are being retired out from under you
If mail died on an older app or device — a beloved ancient mail program, an old tablet — it may not be a malfunction at all. Google now requires modern sign-in (OAuth) and has been shutting off plain-password access for personal Gmail; the “Enable IMAP” toggle is gone (IMAP is simply always on) and legacy connections are being refused over time. The fixes, in order of dignity: use the official Gmail or Outlook app; re-add the account in a modern app choosing “Google” as the account type so it signs in through the browser; or for genuinely old software, generate an app password (requires 2-Step Verification, at your Google account’s security page) — Google itself calls that the not-recommended fallback, so treat it as the bridge, not the destination.
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Bring it to the people who do this daily
No shame in it — some faults are hardware, and some setups fight back. Call or text us a photo of the setup and we will tell you in one minute whether it is a five-minute fix or worth a visit.
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Quick answers
Mail works on my phone but not my computer (or vice versa).
Good news — the account is fine, the failing device's sign-in is stale. Re-enter the password (or re-add the account) on the broken one only.
I get mail but can't send.
Receiving and sending use separate connections. Usually one stuck message jams the Outbox — delete or retry it. On old non-Gmail setups, sending (SMTP) settings also break separately; your provider lists the current ones.
Gmail says I'm out of storage — do I have to pay?
Either free space or buy some: empty Trash and Spam, delete huge old attachments (search: has:attachment larger:10M), clear Google Photos backups you don't need. That routinely frees gigabytes without paying.
Is this something you'd actually make a house call for?
We handle it constantly for home-office folks and small businesses — usually it's ten minutes of re-authentication across devices. Phone first: describe what stopped and when, and we'll likely fix it right there for free.