Your emails suddenly won't send, or you can't log in to your mailbox at all? Your mailbox may have been blocked to protect it. This article explains why blocks happen, what they affect, and how to get your mailbox working again.
In this article:
Why mailboxes get blocked
We watch for signs that someone other than you is using your mailbox. If something looks unusual, your mailbox is blocked automatically. This stops anyone else from sending emails in your name.
A block is triggered by one of these:
- Several logins at the same time from different locations (different IP addresses or countries)
- An unusually high number of outgoing emails in a short time
In most cases, a block means that your password or one of your devices has been compromised. Manual blocks are rare. They're set by us or our email partner and only happen when a mailbox is actively being misused.
What a block affects
Depending on the situation, one of two things is blocked:
- Outgoing email: You can no longer send new emails from this mailbox.
- The whole mailbox: You can't log in to the mailbox at all. This is very rare.
Other mailboxes on the same domain are never affected. For example, if info@yourdomain.com is blocked, anna@yourdomain.com keeps working as usual.
A single blocked email vs. a blocked mailbox
Sometimes a single email is classified as spam and isn't sent. In this case, only that one email is stopped. Your mailbox stays active, and you can keep sending other emails.
If only one email failed, check its content and try again. Our best practices for sending emails help you avoid spam filters.
If every new email you send fails, your mailbox itself is probably blocked. Follow the steps below.
How to get your mailbox unblocked
- Scan your devices. Check every computer, phone, and tablet you use for email with up-to-date antivirus software. Remove any malware it finds, for example a Trojan.
- Check your password. Was it short, easy to guess, or used for other accounts too? Then assume it has been stolen.
- Contact our Support team. Ask us to unblock your mailbox. Before we unblock it, we set a temporary password for you.
- Set a new password. Log in with the temporary password. You'll be asked to choose a new password right away. Pick a strong password that only you know and that you don't use anywhere else.
Once you've set your new password, your mailbox works as usual again.