Missing inbox placement
Mail is accepted but users cannot find it in Primary, Promotions, or obvious junk — including tabs, filters, or silent discard.
Problem summary
Mail is accepted but users cannot find it in Primary, Promotions, or obvious junk — including tabs, filters, or silent discard.
Symptoms
- SMTP success but recipient cannot locate the message
- Inconsistent visibility across devices/clients
- No clear Spam copy in some provider UIs
Possible causes
- Tab/category placement the user is not checking
- User or admin filters/rules
- Provider silent discard after acceptance
- Wrong recipient mailbox or alias
How to diagnose
- Search All Mail / spam / promotions with message-id
- Confirm the exact recipient address and forwarding path
- Compare header traces on a delivered control message
How to fix
- Adjust filters and educate users on tab placement
- Remediate reputation if discard correlates with spam signals
- Correct addressing and forwarding configuration
How to verify
- Message-id search finds a consistent placement
- Control sends remain visible to test accounts
Prevention
- Use clear From names users recognize
- Monitor placement, not only acceptance
When to escalate
- Production mail is failing for a material share of recipients after remediation attempts