Troubleshooting email delivery issues

If users aren’t receiving email notifications (e.g., for absence requests, calendar invites, or activation links), this guide will help identify potential issues and provide solutions.

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Checking email history in absentify

absentify provides an Email History tab to help diagnose delivery issues. Steps to check email history:

1. Navigate to Settings > Users.
2. Select the user experiencing the issue and open their profile.
3. Click on the Email History tab.

Here, you’ll see:

• Status: Sent, Bounced, or Failed.
• Timestamp: When the email was sent.
• Reason for failure: For example, an invalid email address or a blocked domain.

Address any issues based on the logged reason (e.g., update the email address or whitelist absentify’s domain).

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Common reasons for email delivery issues

If no issues are visible in the Email History or if emails are still not being received despite a “Sent” status, consider the following possible reasons:

1. Outlook calendar synchronization is enabled
   This bypasses email invitations by directly updating users’ calendars.
2. Invitation emails were not sent
   The invitation setting might have been disabled during setup.
3. User accounts are inactive
   Notifications are not sent to inactive accounts.
4. Email filters or spam rules are blocking absentify notifications
   Emails might be routed to spam or blocked by IT policies.

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Outlook calendar synchronization

When Outlook calendar synchronization is enabled, absences are automatically added to users’ calendars, skipping email invitations. How to check and adjust:

1. Navigate to Settings > Microsoft.
2. Disable the Outlook calendar synchronization toggle if you prefer email invitations (iCal events).

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Invitation emails not sent

If a user didn’t receive their invitation email, you can manually invite them to join absentify. Steps to resolve:

1. Share the login link: https://app.absentify.com/login
2. Ask the user to log in with their Microsoft account or magic link
3. Once logged in, they should select Join an existing company to connect to your workspace

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Account not activated

To start receiving notifications, users must activate their account by logging into absentify at least once with the Microsoft login option What to check:

• Confirm whether the user has logged in at all
• Ensure they used the Microsoft login, as notifications are not sent to magic link accounts
• If not activated, resend the invitation or share the login link

For step-by-step instructions, see our guide on activating users.

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Email filters or rules blocking absentify notifications

If emails still aren’t arriving, they may be blocked by company-wide email rules or spam filters.

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How to whitelist absentify emails in Microsoft 365

1. Add absentify to Safe Senders List:
   • Log in to the Microsoft 365 Defender Portal (https://security.microsoft.com).
   • Navigate to Policies & rules > Threat policies > Anti-spam policies.
   • Add notifications@mails.absentify.com to the Safe Senders List.
2. Set up mail flow rules in Exchange:
   • Log in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
   • Navigate to Exchange > Mail flow > Rules.
   • Create a new rule with the following settings:
     • Name: Allow absentify emails.
     • Condition: Apply this rule if... > The sender > Domain is > mails.absentify.com.
     • Action: Do the following > Modify the message properties > Set spam confidence level (SCL) to -1.
     Save the rule to allow emails from absentify to bypass spam filters.

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Advanced troubleshooting options

1. Check quarantine settings:
   • Log in to the Microsoft 365 Defender Portal (https://security.microsoft.com).
   • Go to Review > Quarantine.
   • Search for emails from notifications@mails.absentify.com and release them if needed.
2. Enable detailed email tracking:
   • Navigate to the Exchange Admin Center.
   • Select Mail flow > Message trace.
   • Search for the user or email domain to identify any delivery issues.
3. Review Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) policies:
   • If ATP is enabled, add mails.absentify.com as a trusted domain in your anti-phishing and Safe Links policies.
4. Domain configuration:
   • Ensure your organization’s email security policies support the domain mails.absentify.com.

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Need assistance?

If you’re still experiencing issues, contact our support team. We’re here to help resolve any email delivery problems.