I am not able to receive emails from certain people, but can from others.

Question

I am not able to receive emails from certain people, but can from others.

Andrew De Vuyst 0

I am using outlook and I am not receiving emails from certain people but can from others? I have checked my junk settings and they are not affecting it. I have looked everywhere for any reason this could be happening and I just can't figure it out. I have attached what one sender received as an error message. This is frustrating and negatively affecting my business.

Thank you for your help.

2 answers

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Answer 1

Hi Andrew De Vuyst

Thank you for reaching out through the Microsoft Q&A forum.

To better assist you, could you kindly share the exact error message the sender received when trying to email you, in the comments section? A screenshot or copy of the message would be very helpful (Please note that our forum is a public platform, so kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information)

Additionally, to help me better understand the issue, could you kindly let me know whether all the affected senders are from the same domain? And did they all receive the same error message?

I look forward to your response!

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

Andrew De Vuyst 0

This is the error message one company received...

Removed PII *.mail.protection.outlook.com rejected your message to the following email addresses: * Removed PII *

[* Removed PII * @outlook.com)] Your message wasn't delivered because the recipient's email provider rejected it.

Removed PII *.mail.protection.outlook.com gave this error: Access denied, sending domain * Removed PII .COM doesn't meet the required authentication level. The sender's domain in the * Removed PII .From address doesn't meet the authentication requirements defined for the sender. To learn how to fix this see: https://go.microsoft.com/ Removed PII * Spf= Fail , Dkim= Pass , DMARC= Pass [ Removed PII *prod.outlook.com 2025-11-04T20:15:19.937Z * Removed PII ] [ Removed PII * prod.outlook.com 2025-11-04T20:15:19.837Z * Removed PII ] [ Removed PII *.prod.outlook.com 2025-11-04T20:15:19.974Z * Removed PII *]

As far as we know, everyone is getting the same error message but if they are using a 3rd party invoice app, there are not getting any message, its just not coming through.

I think it is all different domains because a few different large companies such as * Removed PII * are not able to send emails to me.

Thank you for your help.

Hani-Ng 4,465 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-06T10:44:56.94+00:00

Hi Andrew De Vuyst

Thank you for your detailed update.

After reviewing the error message, it indicates that the sending domain does not meet the required authentication standards enforced by Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 uses email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to protect against spoofing and phishing.

In your situation, the SPF check is failing for the sending domains. This means the mail servers used by these organizations are not listed as authorized senders in their DNS SPF records. As a result, Microsoft 365 rejects the messages before they reach our mailbox or silently drop it, depending on the sender’s DMARC policy. This is why some emails from third-party applications may not generate a bounce message, they are being rejected at the connection level.

You (if you have admin access) or your IT team should update the SPF record in your domain’s DNS settings to include all authorized mail servers. For Microsoft 365, the SPF record typically looks like this:

v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all

If you use additional mail systems or third-party apps, ensure those are also included in the SPF record.

For detailed guidance, please refer to Microsoft’s official documentation: Fix NDR error "550 5.7.515" in Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

In case you don’t have administrative access, you can either request assistance from your IT or DNS administrator or share this information with them. They will need to update the SPF record to include all authorized sending servers. Once the changes are made, allow some time for the DNS updates to propagate, this usually takes a few hours.

If this is urgent, you may use an alternative email address until the SPF record is corrected. Or you can consider whitelisting their domains in Microsoft 365 Defender > Email & collaboration > Policies and rules > Threat policies > Anti-Spam and edit allowed senders and domains in inbound policy.

(Please note that this only bypass spam filtering. If the sender’s SPF fails and DMARC policy is “reject,” Microsoft 365 will still block the message at the connection level. The real fix is for the sender to correct their SPF record).

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you need further assistance.
Hani-Ng 4,465 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-07T07:44:10.08+00:00

Hi Andrew De Vuyst

Just quickly checking in to see if you need any additional information about this matter. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.

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I am not able to receive emails from certain people, but can from others.

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