Errors when Sending and Receiving email
This article will detail the most common error when sending and receiving emails
Simply click on a title below to skip to the most appropriate FAQ. You can also click the Top button to return and make another selection.
Why can't I receive emails?
If you are having trouble receiving emails with your 123 Reg mailbox, check out our list of the most common causes below:
Email Account issues
- Check that your mailbox has been set up via the 123 Reg Control Panel. Click here to find out how to setup a mailbox.
- Check that you have the correct username and password for your mailbox. The mailbox username is usually the email address. Click here to find out change your password.
- Login to If you can receive emails from our Webmail service, this usually indicates a local issue with your network/computer or email client. Click here to find out how to access Webmail.
Email Client issues
- Check that you have entered the correct incoming mail server: imap.secureserver.net (Generation 2 mailboxes only) or imap.123-reg.co.uk (Generation 1 mailboxes only)
- Ensure that the option for Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) is NOT enabled.
- Use default incoming port 993 for IMAP
- If you have a firewall or anti-virus software enabled on your computer, please ensure that you add an allow or exception rule for imap.secureserver.net or imap.123-reg.co.uk (see above)
Please note: you will need to close and restart your email client after you have made any changes so that they take effect.
If these solutions do not resolve your query, it may be useful to contact your email client/software provider by visiting the appropriate Support site:
- Outlook – http://support.microsoft.com
- Apple Mail – http://support.apple.com
- Thunderbird – http://support.mozilla.com
If you wish to check whether there is an issue with your Internet connection or Internet Service Provider, you can perform a Telnet test.
Why can't I send emails?
If you are having trouble sending emails with your 123 Reg mailbox, check out our list of the most common causes below:
- Log in to Webmail and attempt to send the same email. If you can send emails from our Webmail service, this usually indicates a local issue with your network/computer or email client. Click here to find out how to access Webmail.
Email Client Issues
- Check that you have entered the correct outgoing mail server: smtpout.secureserver.net (Generation 2 mailboxes only) or smtp.123-reg.co.uk (Generation 1 mailboxes only)
- Ensure that the options for My server requires authentication and Use same settings as my incoming mail server are enabled
- Use default outgoing SMTP port 465 or 587
- Try switching the outgoing mail server to your Internet Service Provider’s SMTP server address as some ISP’s policies may restrict the use of a third-party SMTP server
- If you have a firewall or anti-virus software enabled on your computer, please ensure that you add an allow or exception rule for smtpout.secureserver.net or smtp.123-reg.co.uk (see above)
Please note: you will need to close and restart your email client after you have made any changes so that they can take effect.
If these solutions do not resolve your query, it may be useful to contact your email client/software provider by visiting the appropriate Support site:
- Outlook – http://support.microsoft.com
- Apple Mail – http://support.apple.com
- Thunderbird – http://support.mozilla.com
You can also contact your Internet Service Provider who should be able to run further tests to identify/resolve email issues.
How can I send and receive emails when abroad?
There are two ways to manage your emails when abroad. The first and easiest way is by logging in to your Webmail.
The second way is to set up your email on a third-party client, such as Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird.
Please Note: Your outgoing server settings may need to be changed to your Internet Service Provider’s outgoing settings to send emails abroad.
Why are my emails not being forwarded?
Most emails sent through our Mail Servers are forwarded to other email providers such as Gmail and Hotmail. Since this is a shared service, there are a few external factors that can impact of the server’s performance. For example, rogue users could cause a build-up of backlogged mail, and can even cause the server to become blacklisted.
There is also the possibility that some users may be using the system to send spam and other malicious email. In this case, other email systems may see this spam and blacklist the server. This could cause your emails to be delayed or, in the worst case, bounced back.
MX Server Bounce backs
An MX record is a type of DNS record that is responsible for accepting incoming email and routing it to a specified mail server, based on the information in the record. One special feature of MX records is priority numbers, which provide information to the querying mail server about which mail server should be used first. The next entry is tried only when the mail server with the highest priority is not available. The priority of priority numbers rises in opposition to the value of the number, meaning that lower numbers have a higher priority.
Another special feature is that only domains may be entered for mail servers. An entry referencing an IP address will result in an error. 123 Reg’s servers are configured to check to see if email is coming from a Smart Host server. This means that we check that the server we are receiving the email from is authenticated to send email as coming from that domain.
For example: if you were to send an email from ‘user@ISP-Provider-UK.com’ through the SMTP server ‘mail.ISP-Provider-UK.com’ to a domain using our servers, we will check if ‘user@ISP-Provider-UK.com’ is authorised to send through ‘mail.ISP-Provider-UK.com’. If the domain is authorised to send through the server, we will accept the email. If, however, the email hasn’t gone through a Smart Host server and came from an Open Relay server, we will block the email, as this method is widely used by spammers.
I have changed my password, but now cannot send emails from my iPhone or iPad
After changing your mailbox password, you’ll need to update the password across all your devices as well. Otherwise, you won’t be able to send emails from them.
From your device, select Settings.
Choose Mail, Contacts, Calendars from the menu that appears.
Select the 123 Reg email account you wish to edit.
Under the IMAP heading, select your account.
On the next page, select your SMTP account under the Outgoing Mail Server heading.
Next, select your primary server. This should be smtpout.secureserver.net (Generation 2 mailboxes only) or smtp.123-reg.co.uk (Generation 1 mailboxes only)
Here you can update your password to match your new one, allowing you to send emails again.