IT Support Knowledge Base

← All runbooksAccounts

Phone Won't Sync Email

Email on an iPhone or Android phone has stopped updating, won't send, or keeps asking for a password.

iOS and Android mail apps with Microsoft 365 / Exchange, Gmail or IMAP accountsabout 3 min read

Symptoms

  • New email only appears when the app is opened (or not at all).
  • "Cannot get mail", "Unable to verify account" or a repeated password prompt.
  • Sent messages stay in the outbox.
  • Email stopped soon after the user changed their password.

Before you start

  • Which phone (iPhone / Android) and which mail app (built-in Mail, Outlook, Gmail)?
  • What type of account is it (work Microsoft 365 / Exchange, personal Gmail, other IMAP)?
  • Does email work in a web browser? (for example Outlook on the web.) If webmail fails too, the problem is the account, not the phone.
  • Has the user changed their password recently? Is the phone on Wi-Fi, mobile data, or neither?

Steps

  1. Check the connection. Open a web page on the phone. Try switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data. Turn Airplane mode off.
  2. Check webmail on a computer or the phone's browser. If it won't sign in there, switch to the Password Reset and Account Lockout runbook.
  3. Update the saved password if it changed recently. The mail app will normally prompt; or go to the account settings and enter the new one.
    • iPhone: Settings > Mail > Accounts > (account) > re-enter password.
    • Android: open the mail app > account settings, or Settings > Accounts.
  4. Check background sync settings.
    • iPhone: Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data (Push or Fetch is on). Low Power Mode pauses background mail fetching.
    • Android: Settings > Accounts > (account) > make sure sync is on, and check Battery saver or "restrict background use" isn't blocking the mail app.
  5. Check storage space. A full phone can't download new mail.
  6. Update: install pending updates for the mail app and the phone's operating system. Check that the phone's date and time are set to automatic.
  7. Restart the phone.
  8. Refresh the account.
    • In the Outlook mobile app: Settings > select the account > Reset Account.
    • Otherwise remove the account and add it again.
    • Before removing an account: for Exchange/Microsoft 365 and IMAP, mail is stored on the server and returns after re-adding. For a POP account or locally stored items, removal may delete local copies, so ask first.
  9. Multi-factor authentication (MFA): if the sign-in loops, the user may need to approve in the authenticator app, or re-register it (see the Outlook and Microsoft 365 Sign-in Issues runbook).
  10. Work accounts may be controlled by policy. Some organisations require the Outlook app or a managed/compliant device. A message such as "Your device is not compliant" or "Access blocked by your organisation" is a policy decision, not something to bypass.

Escalate when

  • Webmail works but the phone still fails after the account is re-added.
  • Access is blocked by a conditional-access or device-compliance policy.
  • The phone must be enrolled in device management (Intune or similar).
  • Several users on the same mail system have the same problem (could be a server or service outage).
  • The phone is lost or stolen (security: remote wipe request).

Ticket note template

Issue: Email not syncing on <iPhone / Android> (<model>, OS version)
Mail app: <built-in / Outlook / Gmail> | Account type: M365 / Gmail / IMAP
Webmail works: Y/N | Wi-Fi / mobile data tested: Y/N | Password recently changed: Y/N
Checked: push/fetch/sync settings | battery saver | storage | OS + app updated
Actions: updated password / reset or re-added account (confirmed server-side mail, no local-only data) 
Result: Syncing - new test email arrived in __ min | Not fixed
Next step / escalated to:

View as Markdown

How to use this

  1. Search first. Type what the user is describing, like printer offline or locked out. The search reads the whole text of every runbook, not only the titles.
  2. Narrow it down if you want to. The topic links under the search box (Windows, Network, Accounts and so on) trim the list. Click one again, or pick All, to go back.
  3. Open a runbook and read down the page. Symptoms tell you if you are in the right place. Before you start lists the quick questions. Then work through Steps in order, simplest first.
  4. Know when to stop. The shaded Escalate when box lists the signs that it is time to hand the ticket on. If any one of them matches, stop and escalate.
  5. Copy the ticket note. The last section has a note template. Press Copy, paste it into your ticketing system, and fill in the blanks.
Words you will see
Runbook
A written set of steps for one kind of problem, so you do not have to work it out from scratch each time.
First-line support
The first person a user talks to. Fixes the common problems and passes the rest on.
Escalate
Hand a ticket to someone with more access or experience, with notes so they do not have to start over.
Scope
How many people or devices are affected. One laptop and the whole office are very different problems.
Ticket note
A short written record of what was reported, what you tried and what happened.

Why I built this

I'm a computer science student in Toronto and I'm looking for junior IT support and help desk roles. When I started practising troubleshooting, I noticed I knew a lot of individual fixes but not a calm order to try them in, or when to stop and hand a problem on.

So I wrote these twelve runbooks to put that in order for myself, and I built this site so they are easy to search and read. They come from public vendor documentation and common help desk practice. They are not copied from a workplace and they are not real tickets.

They are still a work in progress. If a step looks wrong or something is missing, I would like to know.