One of the core functions of your iPhone any other smartphone is email processing. For as long as your device is connected to the Internet, you can view and manage emails anytime and anywhere you may be. You can use the stock email application or download third-party email app that’s compatible with your device. To start sending and receiving emails on your phone, you need to set up your email account automatically or manually. Automatic email setup is quicker and easier as you don’t need to manually key in server settings and other necessary information for your email account.
After setting up the email account, you should be all set to access your inbox through the email app on your device. While setting up email account on your iPhone is definitely quick and easy, a problem-free mobile email experience isn’t always a guarantee. So expect to bump into minor and major email issues from time to time. To give you some inputs, I’ve mapped some helpful workarounds you can refer to when dealing with email problems on your iPhone XR. Read on to find out what to do if you cannot send or receive emails on your iPhone XR using the Mail app.
If however, you are looking for a solution to a different problem, drop by our troubleshooting guide for we have already addressed the most common issues with this phone. Find problems that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need more help, then feel free to contact us through our iPhone issues questionnaire.
How to troubleshoot iPhone XR that can’t send and receive text emails?
Before troubleshooting, check your Internet connection. Cellular data or Wi-Fi internet connection is necessary for your iPhone to sync with the email server (webmail). To check if your iPhone XR has internet access, open Safari or any browser app then navigate to any website. Also try logging in to your email account via webmail. If you can connect to websites and access your email through webmail, then most likely the problem is on the Mail app or your iPhone system. At this point, you can instigate troubleshooting your iPhone XR.
First solution: Quit the Mail app then restart your iPhone XR.
If you were able to use the Mail and haven’t had any problem sending or receiving emails on your iPhone XR, then it’s likely just a random app glitch affecting Mail. To rectify such glitches, quit or close the Mail app and perform a soft reset on your iPhone XR Max. Here’s how:
- While in the Home screen, swipe your finger up and then pause.
- Swipe right or left to navigate through the apps preview.
- Swipe up on the Mail app preview to close it.
If you see other apps that are left running in the background, close them all to prevent any of them from interfering with the Mail app functions. Once you’re done closing Mail and other background apps, restart or soft reset your iPhone XR Max.
Performing a soft reset can help rid of minor software errors that may have caused the Mail app to glitch and failed to send and receive emails. No need to create backups beforehand, since this process does not affect your iPhone data.
Second solution: Check and configure email settings on your iPhone XR.
While iOS automatically uses the correct account settings when you set up your email account on your device, there’s still a chance that invalid options are set. To rule this out, view your account settings and make sure everything is correct. You can compare the settings in the Mail app to the settings for your email account. In case you don’t have an idea of what account information to check and modify, contact your email service provider or carrier for more details. Once you have the required information, follow these steps to verify your email account settings on your iPhone XR Max:
- Tap Settings.
- Select Passwords & Accounts.
- Tap to select your email account.
- Tap on your email address next to Account. Doing so will load the email account information such as incoming and outgoing mail servers.
Carefully review the server settings and make sure everything is matched with the information you got from your email provider. You can also use the Mail Settings Lookup tool to view the recommended settings for your email account.
Third solution: Install the latest iOS version available.
You’re likely dealing with some sort of Mail bug if it was working before but suddenly having this problem. Should this be the case, installing the latest software update on your device can help fix it. Software updates usually contact fix patch to address existing issues including email problems that are inflicted by random bugs and malware. If your iPhone XR is connected to the Internet and has plenty of battery life, then you can check for, download, and install available iOS update via over-the-air (OTA) through these steps:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Select General.
- Tap Software Update.
An update notification should pop up if a new iOS version is available. Read and review the information then back up all your important data for safekeeping. After that, follow the onscreen instructions to Download and Install the new update on your phone. Don’t forget to restart your iPhone XR once the update is installed completely. Doing so will ensure that all new system changes are properly applied.
Fourth solution: Reset network settings on your iPhone XR.
Network settings that are not properly configured on your phone can also cause troubles when sending and receiving emails. To rectify such errors, resetting the network settings can help. Doing so restores the default or original network configuration and server settings on the phone, thus clears out network errors that caused problems to network-related apps and services, including Mail app operations. Here’s how it’s done:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Scroll down and tap Reset.
- Select the option to Reset network settings.
- Enter your device passcode if prompted to.
- Tap the option to confirm network settings reset.
Your iPhone should reboot automatically when the reset is done. By then you can reconnect to Wi-Fi or cellular data and then reload the Mail app to see if everything is working properly again.
Fifth solution: Delete your email account then set it up again.
Deleting the problematic email account on your iPhone XR doesn’t result to losing email messages for that email account unless you delete the emails through the parent email or webmail. All your email messages are actually stored on the webmail and they’re only synced to your phone.
If none of the prior methods is able to fix the problem, then you may consider this among the last options to try. Should you wish to proceed, refer to these steps to remove your email account and set it up again on your iPhone XR:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Select Passwords & Accounts.
- Tap to select the email account you want to remove.
- Then tap the option to Delete Account.
- After successfully deleting your email account, reboot your iPhone.
Then add or set up your email account again with these steps:
- Navigate to Settings-> Passwords & Accounts menu.
- Tap Add Account to continue.
- Select your email provider.
- Type in your email address and password then tap Next.
- Wait for Mail app to verify your email account.
- Select the information from your email account that you want to see on your phone like Contacts or Calendars.
- Then tap Save.
- Wait until the email account is successfully set up and then open Mail to view your inbox. After the email is set up on your iPhone XR, try to create a sample message and send it to your own email address. See if it’s working now.
You can sign in to your email account through webmail or by going to your email provider’s website to check if all your email messages are intact.
Seek more help
You can ask further assistance from your email service provider if you still end up having trouble sending or receiving emails on your iPhone XR Mail app after exhausting all applicable workarounds. If the email account you’re having problem with is a corporate or work email, then you can ask your email administrator to check if you’re using the correct details. Also, ask your email provider if you activated any security features or restrictions like a two-step verification for your email account. In that case, you will need to enter a special password to request authorization from your email provider to send and receive email on your iPhone XR.
Connect with us
If you need more help with the use of certain functions and features of the Apple iPhone XR smartphone, feel free to visit our Tutorial Page. There you can find a list of how-to contents, step-by-step tutorials, as well as answers to FAQs regarding iPhone XR. If you have other concerns or encountered some troubles while using the phone, you can reach us through this form. Just be sure to tell us more details of the problem or device issue(s) you may have and we will be more than happy to assist you further.