How to fix Apple iPhone X that cannot receive emails through Mail app? [Troubleshooting Guide]

So you finally get a hold of Apple’s latest iPhone X smartphone but unfortunately you’re having trouble since you are not getting emails through the Mail app. While this may not be a big deal to some, it is still a problem that needs to be fixed. If ever you came here for help, then I have outlined some helpful solutions and step-by-step walkthroughs to assist you further in troubleshooting email problem on your iPhone X, particularly on receiving emails. But before we jump into troubleshooting, let us first try to determine the possible causes. Doing so will help you understand why and how the problem is triggered. Scroll down and read on for more information.

Before we move on, if you have other issues with your iPhone, visit our iPhone X troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most commonly reported issues with the device. Browse through the page to find issues similar with yours. If you still need our assistance after that, then fill up our Android issues questionnaire to contact us.

What could have prevented your iPhone X from getting emails?

Email issues are deemed among other iPhone problems that are network-related thus inevitable. Whatever the network status is like when the network is unavailable or unstable, that will likewise affect the network functions on your iPhone including emails. One indication of the problem triggered by network issues is being unable to send and receive emails on your iPhone X. But there should be other reasons especially if you can send but cannot receive emails.

If this is the first time you encounter the problem of being unable to receive emails on your iPhone X but sending emails through the Mail app works just fine, then most likely it’s a temporary software glitch transpiring on the Mail app. Other possible culprits are faulty apps or updates installed. If the problem started after installing a new app or a new software update has been implemented, then that must be the trigger. Try to think of the previous actions you’ve done on your device before the onset of the problem. Doing so will help you determine the underlying cause. Meanwhile, if you just got your email account setup on your iPhone X and it won’t receive emails, then you may need to look into your email account information particularly the incoming and outgoing server settings. Verify and ensure that the servers and ports are properly configured. You may contact your email service provider or system administrator (for work or corporate email) to verify this information or use the Mail Settings Lookup tool on the Apple Support website.

To sum things up, you’ll need to consider these possible causes — incorrect device settings (email), email server issues, and network problems. Generally, this problem is associated with software issues so all you need is to try performing some applicable workarounds until you obtain resolution.

Recommended workarounds and possible solutions to email issues on your iPhone X

One way to help you find a quick solution is to determine the underlying cause of the problem. That being said, try to find out what has happened before the problem started. Did you make any changes on your iPhone settings, install a new app, or update iOS? Doing so will help you work straight on what went wrong and then get that rectified. If you’ve made some changes to your iPhone settings, then you can try reverting the settings back to when it was originally configured. However, if backtracking of actions is not possible or if it’s just too difficult for you to pinpoint the trigger, then you can just go ahead and try some generic solutions to iOS email problems instead. Feel free to refer to the following walkthroughs.

Make sure your iPhone X is connected to the Internet

Your device must be connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi or cellular data for you to be able to send and receive emails.

To see if your iPhone X has a cellular data or Wi-Fi internet connection, try to open the Safari app and then navigate to any website. If you can access websites successfully, it means that your device is connected to the Internet. If you cannot access a website, try to head toggle Wi-Fi off and then back on.

  • To do so, head over to your iPhone Settings-> Wi-Fi-> then tap the Wi-Fi switch to turn Wi-Fi off for a few seconds, then tap the switch again to turn it back on.

Also verify and ensure that Airplane mode is disabled on your iPhone X.

Try to see if you are now able to send and receive emails on your iPhone X Mail app.

Quit and restart the Mail app and your iPhone X

Should this be a minor glitch occuring on the Mail app, then quitting and restarting the app will likely fix it. If you haven’t already, close the Mail app then restart your iPhone.

Since the iPhone X doesn’t feature a physical Home button, there is a new way for you to close apps and force quit apps. Here’s how it’s done:

  • Place your finger toward the bottom of the display and swipe up. Doing so will close the app you’ll be routed back to the Home screen.
  • To force quit an app,  swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold your finger on the display for about 1 second or less. You will then see the App Switcher with your apps stacked from left to right. Then long press on the screen. Doing so will show a minus sign on the upper-left corner of all the apps in the App Switcher menu. Locate the Mail app, then tap on the minus sign to force quit.
  • After closing the Mail app, restart your iPhone X by pressing and holding the Side (Power) button and either Volume button until the Slide to Power off screen appears. Drag the slider to turn your iPhone X off completely. After a few seconds, press and hold the Side button again until the Apple logo appears.

Try to see if you are now able to receive emails on your iPhone X.

Verify the date and time settings on your iPhone X are properly configured

Incorrect date and time settings on the iPhone can also cause conflict especially when dealing with real-time transactions. To rule this out from the possible causes, verify and ensure it is properly set. Here’s how to access and/or manage date and time settings on your iPhone X:

  • Navigate to Settings-> General-> Date & Time.
  • Tap the 24-Hour time switch to turn it ON.
  • Tap the Set Automatically switch to turn it ON or OFF. If Set Automatically is turned off, tap Time Zone.
  • Then tap to enter your city, state or country.
  • Tap the Date & Time field then set the date and time manually.

After making necessary changes to date and time settings, restart your iPhone X then see if that will fix the problem.

Login to webmail

Logging in to your webmail will help you isolate whether the problem is on the Mail app or your email server. Try to create a test mail to send and receive on the same email account. If you can send and receive emails through your webmail account, then it means that the problem is isolated on the Mail app or device settings. Otherwise, it could be due to a network or server issue. Most likely, the email server might be temporarily unavailable and therefore unable to carry out network services including email requests and pertinent processes. You may need to contact your network service provider to verify server status and ask recommendations then.

Remove and set up your email account on your iPhone X

The problem is likely within the Mail app especially if receiving emails work fine on your webmail. If you can pinpoint the error, then you should be able to correct it immediately. But this can be a lot of challenge especially if you really have no idea of what went wrong. As remedy, you can just remove and set up your email account again  on your device. Doing so will just delete your email account from the Mail app. All your emails will remain as is in the webmail server so you can just fetch them afterwards.

Here’s how to remove and add email account on your iPhone X:

  1. Navigate to Settings-> Accounts & Passwords.
  2. Go to the Accounts section then tap your email account.
  3. Tap the option to Delete Account.
  4. Then tap Delete from My iPhone to confirm.

After the account has been successfully removed, restart your iPhone then add your email account again. Here’s how:

  1. Navigate to Settings-> Accounts & Passwords.
  2. Tap Add Account.
  3. Select the account type or email provider. If you wish to manually add a personal (POP/IMAP) account, tap Other then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the email setup manually. You will need to enter the server settings in this case so make sure you have all the required information ready.
  4. Enter the account information based on your preferences then tap Next. Options may vary depending on the account type.
  5. Configure the sync option as desired. Just type the switch to turn on a desired syncing option.
  6. Once you’re done, tap Save.

Restart your iPhone X then try to fetch emails manually. In iPhone X, this feature is referred to as Fetch New Data. It’s a feature that allows you to select how often your device checks for new email. Here’s how it works:

  1. Navigate to Settings-> Accounts & Passwords.
  2. Tap Fetch New Data.
  3. Tap the Push switch to turn the feature ON.
  4. Select your email account.
  5. Select your preferred schedule then tap Fetch New Data on the upper-left. You will know that the schedule option is selected when a check mark is present.
  6. Select a Fetch setting you want to use.
  7. Check your Inbox (Mailbox) afterwards and it should already be populated with all your emails.

If you have multiple email accounts set up on your iPhone X, be sure to select the desired email account as your default. It’s also possible that the desired email account is not the default email and what you have is actually an Inbox of your other account.

Perform a factory reset/master reset on your iPhone X

If none of the prior methods is able to help and that you still cannot receive emails on your iPhone X Mail app, then your last option to consider would be a factory reset. This will wipe everything from your device including your personal information, customized settings, and other data. A factory reset might be needed especially if the problem is caused by some tough bugs that could not be remedied by the usual procedures. If you wish to proceed with this reset, be sure to backup your iPhone X data for safekeeping. You can backup your iPhone X to iCloud or through iTunes. Once  the backup has been created, you then can proceed with a factory reset through your iPhone X settings menu or using iTunes on a computer. You will need to set up your iPhone afterwards as it will be restored to its factory defaults. This means that you also have to set up your email account on your device. At this point, try not to add any other email accounts yet to avoid any possible conflict.

Other options to consider

If none of the prior methods is able to help and that you are still unable to receive emails through Mail app on your iPhone X, then you should now consider seeking more help from your email provider. They may be able to reset your email account completely using a dedicated software on their end. If the problem started after installing a new iOS update on your iPhone X, then you should contact Apple Support instead to report the problem for them to assess and if necessary, tag it among other post-update issues that require a fix patch. They will likewise be able to provide you with other options and recommendations.

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1 thought on “How to fix Apple iPhone X that cannot receive emails through Mail app? [Troubleshooting Guide]”

  1. Since iOS 11, Apple has disabled scheduled fetch and notifications for favorited folders and sub folders for non-push mail accounts like Yahoo in the native mail app of iOS.

    This fetch used to happen in iOS 10.3.3 without any problem.
    This issue has not been resolved even in the latest iOS 11.3 beta 1.

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