Having problems with sending emails regardless of the recipient via your iPad or another iDevice? When you send emails, does it always result in the error message “Cannot Send Mail. A copy has been placed in your Outbox. The recipient was rejected by the server because it does not allow relaying.”
If so, you are not alone. Recently, many iPad users complain that their iPad cannot send emails at all! Luckily, this error message usually means that your outgoing mail server settings are just not quite right.
Fortunately for all of us experiencing this issue, it is indeed easily fixed by resetting your credentials for that email account. Here’s all you need to do to fix when your device cannot send e-mails!
Contents
Quick Tips 
- Update your iOS
- Especially if you see this error message when you try to send an email with iOS 11: “Cannot Send Mail. The message was rejected by the server”
- Toggle Airplane Mode on and off
- Check your outgoing mail server settings, and verify that your username and password are listed and correct
- Don’t forget to check for multiple incoming or outgoing mail server settings. It’s possible that one of them may not have your proper credentials
- Turn off WiFi and send emails using your cellular data connection
- Go to Settings > Passwords & Account or Accounts & Passwords (for older iOS, look for Mail or Mail, Contacts, Calendars), then tap Accounts > Tap the Problematic Account > Tap your email address and verify your account information and the SMTP information for incoming and outgoing mail servers
- Under Outgoing Mail Server SMTP > Primary Server, toggle the Server OFF, then back ON, and fill in BOTH User Name and Password under Outgoing Mail Server. Tap Done to save changes
- Check the recommended settings for your email account using Apple’s Mail Settings Lookup tool. Verify that these settings match those on your iDevice. If not, update your iDevice manually
- Delete the problematic email account and then add it back
- Contact your mail provider about the issue and ask them to verify that you are using the correct settings
Why is this happening to me?
- When you try to access multiple emails (or email accounts) at the same time
- Network problems and connection issues
- The settings of the outgoing mail server, SMTP or the email account’s primary server are incorrect
Fixes for iPad Cannot Send Emails
Entering Email Account Information Manually?
If you set-up your accounts manually, then check that you have a username and password for the INCOMING and OUTGOING mail server settings on your iDevice.
When configuring your accounts manually, you must enter your email account’s username and password twice–once for incoming and again for outgoing.
Sometimes It’s Easiest To Reinstall Your Mail Account
Probably the easiest fix is to delete the troublesome email account and then add it back. This small action often makes all the difference and fixes both small and big problems.
- Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts or Accounts & Passwords > Accounts >
- Tap on the problematic email account and scroll down to the section “Delete Account”
- Tap on the message “Delete from My iPhone“
- And then go through the usual process of adding an email account through Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Accounts > Add Account
Try Deleting Email Contents
Sometimes, there is something within the email messages themselves that cause problems.
- Look at the emails messages that you’re trying to send when this problem started
- Delete ALL the text, images, attachments, and so forth within the text, including all forwarded threads and message information in an email chain. Remove everything until you have just blank email content
- Then type in what you want to send and try sending it!
- If it works, there was something in the content of the email causing the problem
Take a Look at SMTP Settings
Step – 1 Settings
Go to your iPhone’s or iPad’s Settings and choose Accounts & Passwords (for older iOS, look for Mail or Mail, Contacts, Calendars)
Step – 2 The Email Account
Choose the email account that you are having problems with as shown below by tapping on it.
Step – 3 On this next screen tap on Account
Step – 4 ADD YOUR ID
On this screen, please re-enter your EMAIL ID and Password related to your account and tap Done. Please make sure to use the complete email id, for example, maryXX@gmail.com. Make sure your username and password are entered and correct even if the password is listed as optional.
Step – 5 Check your SMTP Server Settings
On the Account information screen, Click on SMTP, When you go to the next screen, You should see the SMTP server under the PRIMARY SERVER as “On.”
Step – 6 SMTP SERVER
If the SMTP Server is not ON, please tap on the server button and set it ON the next screen. Fill in the optional areas for name and password.
And make sure your username and password are correct and added in the Outgoing Mail server section.
Additionally, make sure that Use SSL is turned on and Authentication is set to Password. Don’t forget to tap Done at the top of the screen to save your changes!
Enter your user id and password for BOTH the outgoing mail server as well as for the incoming mail server.
When you set up most email accounts, you enter your user id and password twice, once for the incoming SMTP Server and again for the outgoing SMTP Server.
There are exceptions to the rule, including Microsoft Exchange and iCloud. Most other ISPs and email providers require you to enter this information twice.
Step – 7 Switch off your iPhone or iPad and try your email again
This should fix the problem related to the error that you are experiencing.
If this does not fix your issue, we suggest that you delete the email account from your device and re-create the email account. If your account is active, you will not lose any emails that you have in your mail folders.
Delete Email Account and Add in Manually
After you remove the account from the default Mail app via Settings > Passwords & Accounts, you need to add it back manually using the Other option on the account selection screen.
Then, input your email account using IMAP settings when prompted (get this information from your email provider.
Once you add your account with these settings, your emails should start to come through.
For AOL mail accounts
- Go to Settings> Passwords & Accounts or Accounts & Passwords (or Mail for older iOS) > Accounts > Tap on your AOL mail account from the list
- Tap on your AOL email address at the top of the page
- Choose SMTP from Account Information
- Select SMTP from the SMPT Page
- Check that the Server is ON
- Verify that the Host Name is smtp.aol.com
- Check that your User Name and Password are correct
- Set Authentication to Password
- Verify the Server Port is 587
Still Not Working?
If your account is still causing issues and you continue to see this error message, follow-up with your email provider and ask them to confirm the settings you are using, including hostname, username, server settings, port information, and how your device authenticates your account (usually your password but could be something else.)
Reader Tips 
- Even though your Mail server settings for User Name and Password say optional, they are not optional! Make sure you enter your full email address as your username AND your email password
- One reader discovered that turning off the email’s primary server fixed the problem and all outgoing mail was sent correctly. Another variation iFolks find success with is to turn off the primary server and turn on the individual servers
- Check the outgoing mail server setting. make sure that your username and password are in there. For iOS 11, go to settings>accounts & passwords>your email account>account>outgoing mail server and tap the server name next to SMTP. Then look at your primary server and make sure your username and password are entered and correct (even if it says that the password is optional!)
- If your email provider doesn’t allow a secured connection to SMTP, use your mobile carrier’s SMTP server for outbound email
- Contact your carrier for that specific information
- Turn Off Increase Quote Level. Go to Settings > Mail > Scroll Down to “Increase Quote Level” > Toggle OFF
If you are still experiencing problems, we suggest that you check with your email service provider or with Apple Support.