Email stopped sending or receiving

Steps

1. On your phone or in a web browser, log in to your email through the provider's website — outlook.com, gmail.com, Telstra/Bigpond webmail, etc. If new mail is there and you can send, the account is fine and the problem is on the computer.
2. If the website says the password is wrong: has anyone changed it recently, or did the provider email you about a change? Reset it there first, then update it in Outlook when prompted.
3. In Outlook, look at the bottom-right corner. If it says Working Offline or Disconnected, click the Send/Receive tab and click Work Offline to switch it back on.
4. Check the Outbox folder. A stuck message with a huge attachment blocks everything behind it — delete it and try again.
5. Is the mailbox full? Providers stop delivering when the quota is hit. Empty Deleted Items and Junk, and delete a few old emails with big attachments.
6. Restart the computer and open Outlook again.

If that didn't work

• Telstra/Bigpond, Optus and iPrimus have all forced account changes on customers in the last couple of years — if you've had a letter or email about a "migration", that's the cause and it needs the account re-setting up in Outlook.
• Outlook won't open at all, or sits on a spinning wheel? Hold Ctrl while clicking the Outlook icon to start it in safe mode; if that opens, an add-in is the culprit.