If your email client shows an authentication error or keeps asking for your password:

• Make sure you are entering the password for the email account, not your hosting control panel or client area password.
• Check for leading or trailing spaces when pasting your password.
• If you are unsure of the password, reset it through your hosting control panel. See How to change your email password.
• After changing the password, update it in every device and app that uses this email account.

When your mailbox reaches its storage limit, you cannot receive new emails. Senders will get a bounce-back message saying your mailbox is full.

• Personal Shared Hosting plans have a mailbox limit of up to 1 GB per mailbox.
• Business Shared Hosting plans offer unlimited mailbox size.
• Delete old or large emails — check the Sent, Trash, and Spam folders, which often hold the most space.
• If you use POP3, make sure your client is set to remove emails from the server after downloading.
• You can check your mailbox usage through your hosting control panel under Email Accounts.

If you recently changed your domain's nameservers, DNS records, or migrated to HOSTDOG, email may not work until DNS propagation is complete.

• DNS changes can take up to 24-48 hours to propagate worldwide, though most updates take effect within a few hours.
• During propagation, email may work intermittently — some messages arrive while others bounce.
• Check your domain's MX records using a tool like MXToolbox to verify they point to the correct server.
• If propagation has completed and email still does not work, contact support.

HOSTDOG servers use Imunify360 security, which may temporarily block your IP address after multiple failed login attempts.

• If you entered the wrong password several times, your IP may be blocked for a period of time. Wait 15-30 minutes and try again.
• Try connecting from a different network (e.g., switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data) to confirm it is an IP block.
• If you are still blocked after waiting, contact support with your public IP address so we can remove the block manually.
• To avoid future blocks, make sure all devices using this email account have the correct, up-to-date password.

If you can send emails but recipients never receive them (or they land in spam), SPF and DKIM authentication may be misconfigured.

• Check if your domain has a valid SPF record — you must have exactly one SPF TXT record.
• Verify DKIM is enabled for your domain in the Email Deliverability section of your control panel.
• Ask recipients to check their spam/junk folder.
• See How to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for a complete setup guide.

HOSTDOG hosting plans enforce hourly sending limits to prevent spam abuse:

• Personal Shared Hosting — 100 emails per hour per account.
• Business Shared Hosting — 1,000 emails per hour per account.

If you hit the limit, outgoing emails will be queued or rejected until the next hour. To avoid this:

• Space out bulk emails instead of sending them all at once.
• Use a dedicated email marketing service for newsletters and bulk mailings.
• If you regularly need to send more, consider upgrading to a Business plan.

If your email client shows an SSL certificate warning or error, the certificate name does not match the server address you entered.

• Make sure the incoming and outgoing server is set to mail.yourdomain.com — not the server's hostname or IP address.
• If you see a warning about the certificate being issued to a different hostname, you may need to accept the certificate or update your server settings.
• Ensure your domain has a valid SSL certificate. HOSTDOG provides free SNI DV SSL certificates for all hosting plans.

If your hosting account has been suspended (e.g., due to non-payment or a terms-of-service violation), all services including email will stop working.

• Check your HOSTDOG Client Area — if the account is suspended, you will see a notice explaining the reason.
• If it is a payment issue, settle the outstanding invoice and the account will be reactivated automatically.
• If you believe the suspension is a mistake, open a support ticket for assistance.

First, check if your mailbox is full — a full mailbox will bounce incoming messages. Next, verify your domain's MX records point to the correct mail server. If you recently migrated or changed nameservers, DNS propagation may still be in progress. Also check your spam/junk folder — emails may be arriving but getting filtered.

Each device has its own email configuration. If one device works and another does not, the issue is with the non-working device's settings. Compare the server settings, ports, and encryption type between both devices. Also make sure the password is entered correctly on the device that is not working — a recent password change would affect all devices.

If you see a "connection timed out" or "connection refused" error and your email was working before, your IP may have been temporarily blocked after too many failed login attempts. Try connecting from a different network (e.g., mobile data). If that works, wait 15-30 minutes for the block to lift, or contact support with your IP address for immediate removal.

Personal Shared Hosting plans allow 100 emails per hour, while Business Shared Hosting plans allow 1,000 emails per hour. If you need a higher limit, upgrade to a Business plan. For high-volume email marketing, we recommend using a dedicated email marketing service rather than your hosting account.