A customer swears they sent it. Their sent folder shows it went. Your inbox says otherwise. Before you ask them to send it again (and again), spend two minutes looking in the places Gmail puts mail besides your inbox.

Step 1: search everywhere at once

Gmail's normal search skips Spam and Trash. Type this into the search bar, with the sender's address or name, to include them:

in:anywhere from:name@example.com

A few more search operators that help:

in:anywhere invoice newer_than:7d finds anything with "invoice" from the last week, wherever it is.
in:anywhere has:attachment from:example.com finds attachments from anyone at that company.
in:archive shows mail that was archived (taken out of the inbox but not deleted).

If it turns up, look at the labels next to it. They tell you where it went, and often why.

Step 2: check the usual hiding places

Your inbox tabs

If your inbox has Primary, Promotions, Updates tabs, a message from a new sender can land in Promotions or Updates. Click through the tabs. You can drag a message to Primary and Gmail will ask if you want to do the same for that sender in future. Turn tabs on or off under Settings > Quick settings > Inbox type > Default > Customize (Google's help).

Spam and Trash

Check both folders (click More in the left menu if you don't see them). If it's in Spam, open it and click Report not spam. Messages in Trash are deleted for good after 30 days, and Gmail shows the same 30-day notice in Spam, so don't wait if something important is there.

All Mail

All Mail (under More) holds everything except Spam and Trash, including archived mail that skipped the inbox.

Step 3: check your filters

Filters are the most common reason mail "disappears". Someone made one months ago to tidy up newsletters, and it's catching more than they meant it to.

Click the gear icon > See all settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses. (Google's guide to filters)
Read each filter. The ones that hide mail are any with Skip the Inbox (Archive it), Delete it, or Mark as read, especially if the "Matches" part is broad (a whole domain, or a common word like "invoice").
Click edit to narrow a filter, or delete to remove it.

Further down the same page, check the blocked addresses list. Mail from a blocked sender goes straight to Spam. Tick it and choose Unblock selected addresses if someone ended up there by mistake.

Step 4: check forwarding (this one matters for security)

Go to Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP. If mail is being forwarded and Gmail is set to delete or archive its copy, messages will vanish from your inbox.

While you're in Settings, Google's own security checklist suggests three checks:

Filters: any filter that forwards mail to an address you don't know, or deletes mail, that you didn't set up.
Forwarding and POP/IMAP: any forwarding address you don't recognize.
Accounts and Import > Grant access to your account: anyone you didn't add.

Attackers who get into an email account often set up exactly these to read your mail quietly or hide replies to a fake invoice. If you find one you didn't create, change your password, turn on 2-Step Verification, and tell whoever manages your Google Workspace. Our post on business email compromise explains what they're after.

If you're the Google Workspace admin: trace it

If the message isn't anywhere in the mailbox, find out whether it ever reached Google:

In the Google Admin console, go to Reporting > Email Log Search.
Search by the sender, the recipient, and the date. Recent searches cover the last 30 days.
The result shows whether the message arrived, and whether it was delivered, sent to Spam, quarantined, or rejected.

If it was quarantined, an admin can release it under Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Manage quarantines. If there's no record at all, the message never reached Google, and the problem is on the sender's side (their message may have bounced, or their domain's email settings are failing checks).

When to call someone

Get help if mail from a particular customer or supplier keeps going missing, if Email Log Search shows messages being rejected, or if you find filters, forwarding or delegates you didn't set up. Repeated missing mail is often an email authentication problem on one side or the other, which our post on SPF, DKIM and DMARC explains.

If you'd like us to look, get in touch.

Can't Find an Email in Gmail? Check Your Filters First

Step 1: search everywhere at once