Can’t See Your Emails in Gmail? 8 Fixes for Inbox, Phone and App

An email that does not show up in your Gmail inbox is rarely lost. In most cases Gmail sorted it into another tab or folder, or a setting moved it out of the inbox. The 8 fixes below go from the most common cause to the rarest, with separate steps for a computer, Android and iPhone when they differ.

In short

1. Open the Promotions, Social and Updates tabs, then All Mail
2. Open Spam and Trash
3. Check that your Google storage is not full and, on a phone, that the Gmail app syncs

If the email is still missing, go through the fixes below in order.

Fix 1: check the other inbox tabs and All Mail

The sender says the email went out, but you do not see it in the inbox you usually read.

Gmail sorts incoming mail into tabs: Primary, Promotions, Social, Updates and Forums. A message can land in a tab you never open. Archived messages leave the inbox but stay in All Mail. And if your inbox shows unread messages first, emails you already opened sit lower down, in a separate section.

On a computer

1. Click each tab at the top of the inbox
2. In the left menu, click More, then All Mail
3. Type the sender’s name or a word from the email in the search bar at the top

On Android and iPhone

1. Tap the menu icon (3 lines, top left)
2. Tap Promotions, Social, Updates or All Mail
3. Use the search bar at the top of the app

If the tabs do not appear, your account uses another inbox type. All Mail and search still work.

Add in:anywhere to a search to include Spam and Trash in the results. For more search operators, see how to find an email in Gmail. Archived messages have their own guide: how to find archived emails in Gmail.

Fix 2: look in Spam and Trash

An email you expect, such as a login code or a delivery notice, never reaches the inbox. Gmail’s spam filter caught it, or it was deleted by mistake, for example with a swipe in the app.

Act quickly. Gmail deletes messages in Spam and Trash automatically after 30 days. After that, or once Trash is emptied, you cannot recover them yourself.

On a computer

1. In the left menu, click More, then Spam or Trash
2. Open the message
3. In Spam, click Report not spam. In Trash, click the Move to icon above the message and choose Inbox

On Android and iPhone

1. Tap the menu icon and scroll down to Spam or Trash
2. Open the message
3. In Spam, tap Report not spam. In Trash, tap the 3 dots at the top right, then Move to, and pick Primary

Adding the sender to your contacts helps their next emails reach the inbox.

Fix 3: remove a filter or unblock the sender

Emails from one sender never show in the inbox, yet a search sometimes finds them. A filter is moving them automatically: it can skip the inbox, delete the message or apply a label, and it may date back years. Blocking a sender has a similar effect, since their future emails go straight to Spam.

Filters and blocked addresses can only be managed on a computer. On a phone, open mail.google.com in the browser and switch to the desktop version.

1. Click the gear icon at the top right, then See all settings
2. Open the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab
3. Read each filter, then edit or delete the one that matches the missing emails. Look for Skip the Inbox (Archive it) and Delete it
4. Lower on the same tab, find the sender in the list of blocked addresses and unblock it

To unblock a sender from the Gmail app instead, see how to unblock an email in Gmail.

Fix 4: check forwarding and POP settings

Emails reach another mailbox or email app, such as Outlook, Apple Mail or a work address, but are missing from Gmail. Forwarding can archive or delete Gmail’s copy of each message. POP lets another email program download your Gmail messages, and it can be set to delete them from Gmail afterward.

1. Click the gear icon, then See all settings
2. Open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
3. In the Forwarding section, choose keep Gmail’s copy in the Inbox, or disable forwarding if you did not set it up
4. In the POP download section, under When messages are accessed with POP, choose keep Gmail’s copy in the Inbox
5. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page

If mail is forwarded to an address you do not recognize, disable forwarding and change your Gmail password.

Fix 5: free up your Google storage

No new email arrives at all, while older ones are still there. The 15 GB of free storage is shared by Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. When it is full, Gmail can no longer send or receive mail, and people who write to you get a message saying delivery failed.

On a computer, the storage used shows at the bottom of the inbox. On any device, the Google storage page gives the detail by service. To make room, delete large emails and files, empty Trash, or buy more storage. The full method is in how to free up Gmail storage space.

Emails sent to you while storage was full are not delivered later. Ask the senders to send them again.

Fix 6: turn sync back on in the Gmail app

Emails show on the computer but not on the phone, or new mail appears only when you open the app. First, open mail.google.com in the phone’s browser. If the emails are there, your account is fine and the problem is the app or the phone.

On Android

1. In the Gmail app, tap the menu icon, then Settings
2. Tap your account
3. Check that Sync Gmail is ticked
4. On the same screen, look at Days of mail to sync: older emails are not stored on the phone

Sync must also be on for your Google account in the phone’s own settings. The menu depends on the brand: look for the accounts section, then your Google account. Battery saver and data saver modes can pause sync, so turn them off to test.

On iPhone

The Gmail app for iPhone has no sync switch. Pull down on the inbox to refresh it. Then, in the iPhone Settings, open General, then Background App Refresh, and check that it is on for Gmail.

If you read Gmail in Apple’s Mail app, how often it checks for new mail is set in the Mail settings, in the accounts section.

Fix 7: update the app or fix the browser

Messages will not open, or the inbox stays blank or stops refreshing.

In the app

1. Update Gmail from the Google Play Store or the App Store
2. Restart the phone and check the Wi-Fi or mobile data connection
3. On Android, clear the Gmail app cache in the phone’s app settings (the path varies by brand). Clear the cache only, not the storage, which removes offline data
4. On iPhone, delete and reinstall the app if the update is not enough. Your emails stay on Google’s servers

In a browser on a computer

1. Open Gmail in a private window. If it works there, an extension or the cache is the cause
2. Turn off extensions one at a time, starting with ad blockers and email tracking tools
3. Clear the browser cache and cookies, then sign in again
4. Check offline mode: gear icon, See all settings, Offline tab. If Enable offline mail is ticked and Gmail shows old content, untick it to test
5. Use an up-to-date version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge

Fix 8: check the account, then Gmail’s status

These are the rarest causes: the inbox looks completely different or empty, or Gmail shows errors for everyone at the same time.

Is the right account open?

Tap or click your profile picture at the top right. It shows the address in use and lets you switch accounts. A common case: the code or reply went to another address you own, or the sender typed your address with a mistake.

To check your exact address, see how to find your Gmail address. To open the right inbox, follow how to sign in to Gmail. If you cannot sign in at all, recover your Gmail password.

Is Gmail down?

Open the Google Workspace Status Dashboard and look at the Gmail line. If an incident is listed, there is nothing to fix on your side: emails are usually delivered once the service is back. If no incident is listed, go back to fixes 1 to 3.

FAQ