Before You Start: Basic Questions

When email is not working, first ask yourself:

• Is the issue with sending, receiving, or both?
• Does the issue happen in webmail, in Gmail/Outlook, or both?
• Did you recently change hosting, nameservers, or DNS records?

Step 1: Test with Webmail First

Always start with webmail, because it connects directly to the server and ignores any wrong settings in Gmail/Outlook.

1. Visit https://yourdomain.com/webmail.
2. Sign in with your email address and password.
3. Try sending an email to a Gmail/Yahoo address.
4. Try replying from Gmail/Yahoo back to your business email.

• If it works in webmail but not in Gmail/Outlook → the issue is your client settings.
• If it does not work in webmail → the issue is on the server or DNS side.

Step 2: Check Your Mailbox Quota (Storage Full)

If your mailbox storage is full, you will stop receiving new mail and sometimes sending will also be affected.

1. Login to cPanel > Email Accounts.
2. Look at the “Storage Used” for each account.
3. If it is at or near 100%, click Manage.
4. Increase the storage quota (if your hosting plan allows) or delete old emails.

Step 3: Check DNS MX Records

MX (Mail Exchange) records tell the internet which server should receive email for your domain. If they are wrong, you will not receive emails.

In most Nairahost hosting setups, MX records look like this:

Priority: 0
Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
    

Or a specific hostname provided by Nairahost. You can check and edit DNS from your cPanel Zone Editor or from your domain DNS manager, depending on where your nameservers point.

• Ensure your nameservers point to Nairahost:
  • cPanel: ns1.nairahost.cloud, ns2.nairahost.cloud
  • DirectAdmin: ns1.nairahost.com.ng, ns2.nairahost.com.ng
• Ensure MX records are not pointing to another provider you no longer use.

Step 4: Check SMTP Settings for Sending Issues

If you can receive emails but cannot send from Gmail/Outlook/phone:

• Verify the outgoing server is mail.yourdomain.com (not smtp.gmail.com etc.).
• Use port 465 or 587 with SSL/TLS enabled.
• Enable “My outgoing server requires authentication” and use your full email + password.

Step 5: Check Spam / Junk / Promotions

Sometimes the email is working fine, but messages are landing in spam folders of the recipient or in your own spam folder.

• Check spam, junk, or promotions tabs.
• Add your own address to your contacts.
• Ask recipients to mark your message as “Not Spam”.

Step 6: Check Email Filters and Forwarders

Misconfigured filters or forwarders can silently redirect or discard emails.

1. In cPanel, go to Email Filters and Global Email Filters.
2. Check if any filter is deleting or redirecting messages.
3. Check Forwarders to ensure mail is not going to the wrong address.

Step 7: Server or IP Blacklist Issues

In rare cases, if too much spam was sent from an account on the server, the IP may appear on some blacklists and email may be rejected by big providers.

If you see many bounced messages with errors, open a ticket with Nairahost support, include the bounce message, and they can investigate.