Using Outlook or Hotmail? Emails we’re sending you could be getting lost

We’ve recently noticed that some emails we send out get bounced by email accounts managed using Microsoft domains.

Email accounts you access through Outlook, as well as any Hotmail, Microsoft Live, or MSN email addresses, are affected.

This is a case of Microsoft’s filtering system acting unexpectedly aggressively. There’s no problem with your MyHost account, our email sending system, or the emails we’re sending. It’s a Microsoft issue, and one that’s universally affecting email scheduling tools.

This didn’t just impact us

Microsoft’s aggressive filtering didn’t only affect our emails—the issue appears to have been a lot more widespread.

For the last few weeks, anyone sending emails through Campaign Monitor, a popular email automation platform used by lots of companies, occasionally had emails bounced by Microsoft.

Campaign Monitor is the tool we use for scheduling and sending out emails, and our emails were affected as a result.

On Campaign Monitor’s status page they explain that it’s not a problem specific to Campaign Monitor users:

This is a receiver-side issue on Microsoft's end and is being seen industry-wide, with multiple email providers reporting the same behaviour.

Campaign Monitor has marked the issue as RESOLVED and, according to their latest status update, emails directed at Microsoft addresses now bounce about as often as any other address.

It’s difficult for us to say how often our emails are or were getting bounced, but it’s worth mentioning just in case it does happen again, or Microsoft tunes their email filtering even more aggressively in the future.

Reporting of the weeks-long incident included fluctuations as things changed at Microsoft’s end. We can’t say for sure that this issue is solved forever and won’t re-emerge.

Using Microsoft products? Our emails may not be reaching you

If you’re using a Hotmail email address, Office 365 or Outlook email client, or some other Microsoft email product to access your emails, there’s a chance that some of our emails to you could have been missed.

We try to minimise the amount of emails sent to you in the first place, which means we only send emails that we think are important. This can include maintenance notifications, replies from our Support Team, and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes to access your account.

It’s a bit of a problem when these emails aren’t reliably landing in your inbox.

2FA is too important to miss

Missing 2FA email codes is particularly concerning.

Earlier this year we made 2FA compulsory for all MyHost users. There are lots of bad actors out there who want to compromise your MyHost account. It’s an effective security measure for keeping out criminals.

Back when you first set up 2FA on your account you had the choice of receiving 2FA codes either via app or via email. Without these codes, your account can’t be accessed.

Receiving 2FA codes via email becomes problematic when emails aren’t coming through to your email client at all—which is exactly what’s been happening for a select few customers using Microsoft email products.

The Microsoft email blocking issues does seem to be solved, but we don't know if and when it could happen again.

Thankfully, regardless of your email setup, you can switch to using app-based 2FA and receive 2FA codes through an app like Authy or Google Authenticator.

To change your 2FA settings, check out our Knowledgebase article: How do I change my Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) settings?

You can check support tickets in the MyHost Client Area

Unsure if you’re receiving replies to your MyHost support tickets? Within the MyHost Client Area you can check the Recent Support Tickets tab, which you can spot in the bottom right corner of the Client Area beside the Refer A Friend tab.

There, you can see all your current support tickets. If you think you’ve missed a reply from our support team, that’s the best place to check.

The other option: use a different email address

It’s worth remembering that this issue isn’t specific to us, and it’s not specific to Campaign Monitor either. If you have business critical emails coming in day-in-day-out, this aggressive filtering could end up being a bit disruptive.

We’re not trying to give you more work, but another potential workaround is to use a different email address not affiliated with Microsoft.

There’s a good chance you’ve already got multiple email accounts, so if that’s the case, it could be as easy as switching the email provided we send emails. If you have a Gmail account, that’s a viable alternative that won’t be affected.

To change your contact email:

• To update your login email address, go to Your Profile in the MyHost Client Area.
• Change Email Address to the email you wish to receive verification codes.

It’s only happening sometimes, to some people

This aggressive filtering only affects Microsoft-related email products. If you’re not using any, yay, you can disregard this completely.

Even if you are using Outlook and/or a Hotmail account, you’ll likely still be receiving our emails without any issues. We just want to give you a heads up about an issue that some customers reported, and let you know that it could happen to you—although it’s unlikely.

If you’re ever completely unsure if you’ve missed an email from us, don’t hesitate to get in touch.