Email – Troubleshooting Guide
This guide helps you to fix the most common issues related to your Iscte e-mail account. Please follow the steps below before contacting support.
1. Types of Problems
Problems related to email accounts can appear in different ways.
🔐 Access Issues
- 🚫📧 Unable to access email
- 🔑 Authentication error (invalid credentials)
- ⚠️ Account locked or inaccessible
📥📤 Sending and Receiving Issues
- 📤❌ Unable to send emails
- 📥❌ Not receiving emails
- ⏳ Emails remain pending or are not delivered
🖨️ ⚙️ Synchronization Issues
- 🔄 Emails not updating
- ❌ Messages do not appear in the inbox
- 📭 Differences between devices (PC, phone)
- ⚠️ Folders not syncing correctly
🚀 Performance Issues
- 🐌 Slow email (Outlook/Webmail)
- ⏳ Messages take a long time to open
- 🔁 Application freezes or becomes unresponsive
📉 Other Issues
- 📎 Problems with attachments
- 🚫 Emails incorrectly marked as spam
- ❌ Errors when opening messages
2. Checks to Perform
Checks should be carried out in the order indicated, testing the service after each step.
Verify Account Access
💻 On the Device / Browser
- 🔑 Confirm credentials (email and password)
- 🔄 Test access to webmail
- ⚠️ Check for authentication errors
Confirm Network Connection
💻 On the Device
- 🌐 Confirm internet connection
- 🌐 Open multiple websites to validate connectivity (e.g.,google.com)
- 📶 Test another network (if possible)
Verify Sending and Receiving Emails
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- 📤 Confirm the email is in the Sent Items folder
- ⚠️ Check for any error messages (e.g., sending failed)
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- 📥 Check the inbox
- 📁 Check Spam / Junk / Other folders
- 📧 Confirm with the sender that the email was sent correctly
Verify Email Application (Outlook/App)
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- 🔄 Restart the email application
- 🔁 Sign out and sign back in
- ⚙️ Confirm the account is correctly configured
Verify Synchronization
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- 🔄 Manually refresh the mailbox
- 💻 Compare with webmail
- 📭 Check for folders that are not syncing
Verify Attachments
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- 📎 Confirm file size (avoid very large attachments)
- 📄 Confirm compatible file format
- 🔄 Try sending without attachments
Verify Blocks and Spam
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- 🚫 Check if the email was rejected (bounce)
- 📧 Confirm that the domain/sender is not blocked
- ⚠️ Check if messages are going to spam
Restart the Device
- 🔁 Restart your computer, phone, tablet, or iPad
- 🔄 Reopen the email application
Additional Tests
- 💻 Test on another device → identifies if the issue is device-related
- 🖨️ Test in webmail → identifies if the issue is account-related
- 📄 Send a test email to another address → identifies if the issue is service-related
3. Best Practices
The following best practices aim to ensure efficient, secure, and continuous use of the services. Applying them helps prevent issues, improve performance, and simplify troubleshooting when problems occur.
💻 Application Usage and Management
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- Keep Outlook updated (always use the latest version)
- Use Outlook on the Web if errors occur
- 📧 Verify recipients before sending emails
- 📄 Use moderate-sized attachments
- 📎 Prefer sharing links (e.g., OneDrive) for large files
📂 Mailbox Management
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- 📂 Organize emails into folders
- 🔄 Regularly empty the Deleted Items folder
- 🗑️ Clean your mailbox frequently
- 🔄 Archive older messages
🔐 Security
-
- 🔑 Do not share your credentials
- ⚠️ Be cautious of suspicious emails
- 📧 Verify senders before clicking on links
3. User Support
If the issue persists after completing all checks, you should contact IT Support.
Quick Checklist
Before contacting Support, confirm:
- 🌐 Internet connection is working properly
- 🔑 Correct credentials (password has not been recently changed)
- 🌐 Test performed on webmail
- ⚠️ Mailbox is not full
- 📥 Spam folder has been checked
- 📤 Email was sent correctly
- 🔄 Application has been restarted
- 💻 Test performed on another device
- 👥 Other colleagues can access normally
- ⚠️ No general service outages (Microsoft 365)
Information to Provide
To ensure faster and more effective analysis, always include the following information in your request:
Context
- Location (when relevant)
- Device type (PC, phone, webmail)
- Type of problem (access, sending, receiving, synchronization)
Problem Description
- Detailed description of the problem
- When it started
- Frequency of the issue
Tests Performed
- Webmail test
- Test on another device
- Email resend attempts
Evidence
- Screenshots
- Error messages
- Bounce/error emails
Support Channels
Example Requests
Example 1
At home, I cannot send or receive emails in Outlook (desktop application). I get the message “Cannot connect to the server.” However, I can access Outlook on the Web without any issues.
Example 2
I cannot log in to Outlook on the Web. After entering my credentials, the page returns to the login screen without a specific error message. I have already tested in another browser, and the issue persists.