When email stops syncing on your phone, the messages are usually still safe on the mail server. The problem is almost always a setting on the phone itself: a weak connection, a full mailbox, the wrong mail protocol, or an account that needs to be re-added. Work through the steps below in order.
Check the Basics First
- Confirm your phone has a working internet connection. Try loading a website, or switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data to rule out a network issue.
- Try logging in to your webmail from a browser using the same email address and password. If mail loads there but not on your phone, the problem is on the phone, not your mailbox.
- Check that your mailbox isn't full. A full mailbox can stop new mail from coming in until space is freed up.
- If you recently changed your email account's password, your phone still has the old one saved and needs to be updated or re-added.
If you're not sure how much space your mailbox has left, see how to check and increase your email account's storage quota. A full mailbox is one of the most common reasons sync silently stops.
Make Sure You're Using IMAP, Not POP3
The mail protocol your phone uses makes a big difference. POP3 downloads mail to one device and often removes or hides it from others, which can make messages look missing when you check from a different phone or your computer. IMAP keeps everything in sync across all your devices because it reads directly from the server.
Open your account settings on your phone and check which protocol it's using. If it's set to POP3, the most reliable fix is to remove the account and add it again as an IMAP account.
On iPhone
- Open Settings and go to Mail, then Accounts.
- Tap your email account, then tap Delete Account.
- Tap Add Account, choose Other, then Add Mail Account.
- Enter your name, full email address, and password.
- When prompted, choose IMAP as the account type and enter your mail server settings.
On Android
- Open the Email or Gmail app and go to Settings.
- Select the account that isn't syncing and tap Remove Account.
- Tap Add Account and choose Personal (IMAP) or a similar IMAP option.
- Enter your email address and password, then confirm the incoming and outgoing server settings when asked.
Adjust the Sync Frequency
Some phones are set to check for new mail only every 15, 30, or 60 minutes to save battery, rather than instantly. If mail is arriving but just seems slow, look for a Fetch New Data or Sync Frequency setting for that account and set it to Push or the shortest available interval.
Removing and re-adding an account doesn't delete anything from the mail server. Your messages will simply re-download once the account is set up again with the correct settings.
If none of this fixes it, the issue may be with the mailbox itself rather than the phone.