Cannot Send Mail iOS 16 Issue? An Error Occurred? (Fix?)

iPhone Tricks > Errors and Issues

Posted in Errors and Issues by Mike on November 24, 2022

Cannot send Mail iOS 16

Getting Cannot Send Mail error after updating to iOS 16? Popup informs you that ‘An error occurred while delivering this message’ or ‘The connection to the outgoing server failed’ every time you tap send?

Cannot Send Mail iOS 16?

This issue has been reported by Grace (iPhone 13 Pro):

“Cannot send mail pops up every time i tap send in mail after updating to ios 16.”

We couldn’t replicate this problem, but have found similar complaints on Reddit:

“I am on iPhone 13 Pro and recently updated from iOS 15.7 to 16.1.1. Every-time I send an email, I get error message.”

and Apple’s Discussion forums:

“I am having a very big problem with the mail app in iOS 16. I have two emails set up and when I reply to an email, it can’t send, it just goes straight to my outbox and a error message says server not found.”

How To Fix Cannot Send Mail Error

For now, we couldn’t find an universal fix for these issues. Here are the troubleshooting options that we currently recommend:

1. Disable WiFi

Some users have reported that the error shows up only when they’re connected to certain Wi-Fi networks.

We recommend you to turn WiFi off in Control Center, and try to send a mail again. Does it work?

If it does it means that your current Wi-Fi network is blocking mail servers to connect with the stock Apple Mail App. In this case you should be seeing a error like this:

“The connection to the outgoing server “smtp.gmail.com” failed. Additional Outgoing Mail Servers can be configured for Mail accounts in
Settings > Mail > Accounts.”

2. Turn Off Undo Send Delay

Apparently, the new Undo Send feature that has been added to the Mail app in iOS 16 is glitching out. If you close Mail, sooner than 10 seconds or the set Undo Send timer, the messages won’t send.

If emails are disappearing after you send proceed as follows:

• Open Settings and go for Mail.
• Scroll all the way to Undo Send Delay.
• Select Off.

Tip: If you don’t want to disalbe Undo Send, you have to remember not to dismiss Mail app until the Undo Send label disappears from the bottom of the screen.

3. Reinstall Mail

Fresh installing the app could flush glitches occurring since the iOS 16 update. Here is how to:
Open Settings and go for General -> iPhone Storage -> Mail -> Offload App -> Reinstall App.

Open Mail and try to send an email again. Does it work?

We don’t have too much data about these iOS 16 Mail problems. If the above workarounds don’t work, please share mention it in the comments along with any other details that could help us to submit a documented bug report to Apple!

Other iOS 16 Mail Issues

Users have also reported these glitches:

• Emails not showing in Sent folder when emailing an image from Photos, using the Share option. Reported by uenom.
• Body rearranged to the bottom of the message when your reply to an email.
• Mail app crashing when replying to an email.

Did you manage to fix Cannot Send Mail error on iPhone or iPad? Do you have a better solution or other problems to report? Share your feedback in the comments.

Related: For more iOS 16.1.1 issues and the available workarounds check our extended review.