# Where's my email? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284 "2006-03-28T19:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/1 "2006-03-28T19:34:00Z")
Occassionally I will send myself an email a reminder list of things I need to do for the week. I have Road Runner at home and T3 at work. Usually it appears in my inbox instantly. But sometimes it can take up to an hour. So where the hell is it? Floating around in the phantom zone? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/2 "2006-03-28T19:44:05Z")
The simplest explanation is that it is arriving instantly, but that your e-mail program takes a while to check for new messages. Still, most folks have their software set to check more often than every hour… Amusing note, incidentally: Google seems to think that the phantom zone is religious. Three of the four ads I’m seeing are religion-themed. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/3 "2006-03-28T20:06:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The simplest explanation is that it is arriving instantly, but that your e-mail program takes a while to check for new messages. Still, most folks have their software set to check more often than every hour… I check my email approx. every 15 minutes. Today I sent myself something and it took 42 minutes to end up in the inbox. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/4 "2006-03-28T20:25:55Z")
My co-worker got an e-mail last November that I didn’t remember sending. When we checked the date, it had been sent in June. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/5 "2006-03-28T20:29:35Z")
Slow/overloaded mail server most likely. Try signing up for a Hotmail account. See how long messages take to get there. If they still take forever, it’s the mail server you’re sending from. If they get to Hotmail quickly, then it’s the mail server on the receiving end. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/6 "2006-03-28T20:46:57Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Slow/overloaded mail server most likely. > Try signing up for a Hotmail account. See how long messages take to get there. If they still take forever, it’s the mail server you’re sending from. If they get to Hotmail quickly, then it’s the mail server on the receiving end. It is a hotmail account I’m sending to/from. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/7 "2006-03-28T21:04:28Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It is a hotmail account I’m sending to/from. Weird. Hotmail isn’t known to be terribly speedy, but I wouldn’t think it would take any more than 5 minutes for a message to appear. I tried just now and it took 2 minutes to send a message from my Hotmail account to my Hotmail account. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/8 "2006-03-28T21:15:20Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Weird. Hotmail isn’t known to be terribly speedy, but I wouldn’t think it would take any more than 5 minutes for a message to appear. > > I tried just now and it took 2 minutes to send a message from my Hotmail account to my Hotmail account. 99% of the time it’s almost instant, or 2 minutes or less. But every now and then there is that one time where it takes up to an hour. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-email/350284/9 "2006-03-28T21:30:56Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > 99% of the time it’s almost instant, or 2 minutes or less. > > But every now and then there is that one time where it takes up to an hour. What gives? Assuming Hotmail tells you the message was sent, it’s up to Hotmail at that point. There’s nothing you can do. You might want to try Yahoo mail or Gmail (Gmail is invite-only, but I’ve got invites I can give away.)