Troubleshooting: Why Your Email Journey is Not Sending

Troubleshooting an Email Journey Not Sending

Email automations are triggered every time a user "joins" the email list connected to the journey. If your automation is not sending, use this checklist to review the most common causes.

To view your automated journeys, navigate to your Email dashboard and select Automation at the top of the page. Click on the automation to view its details.


Troubleshooting Checklist

  • 1. Is the Automation Turned ON?

    • Make sure the main toggle switch for the automation is set to ON (blue).
      Screen_Shot_2021-03-31_at_4.30.07_PM.png

  • 2. Is the Correct Email List Attached?

    • Double-check that the right Email List is selected as the trigger for your automation journey.

      Screen_Shot_2021-03-31_at_4.55.38_PM.png

  • 3. Is the CRM List Assigned to the Email List?

    • Navigate to your CRM dashboard, then select Lists. Verify that the CRM List (where your contacts are added) is correctly assigned to the Email List (used for the automation). If these aren't linked, new contacts won't enroll in the journey.


  • 4. Did You Turn the Automation ON at the Right Time?

    • If you just turned the automation on, remember it only triggers for new users joining the list after it was turned on.

    • If you don't want to send the automation to existing contacts, ensure the automation is OFF when you connect the lists, and then turn it ON again only for future contacts.

  • 5. Do the Submission Rules Match the List Filters?

    • If you are testing with a form, verify that the Submission Rules for that form source (e.g., Contact Type, Status, Tags) ensure the new contact will land in the specific CRM List that triggers the automation.

  • 6. Did You Send a Valid "Test" Contact?

    • To trigger a journey, you must add a new contact to the CRM and ensure they meet the criteria to enter the CRM List associated with the journey's Email List.

    • Crucially, adding your email directly to the Email List will NOT trigger the journey.

Verify Recipient Activity

After waiting a few minutes for the automation to run, you can check if a contact received the email using these two methods:

Option 1: View the Automation Report

  1. Within the automation, click on View full report on the left-hand sidebar.
    Screen_Shot_2021-03-31_at_4.40.06_PM.png

  2. Find the desired email step and click the Full report button.
    Screen_Shot_2021-03-31_at_4.46.44_PM.png

  3. On the right side of the graph, select Recipient Activity. All users who received the email will be listed here.
    Screen_Shot_2021-03-31_at_4.47.40_PM.png


Option 2: View the Subscriber's Profile

  1. Navigate to the Email Lists dashboard.

  2. Select Subscribers on the left-hand sidebar.
    Screen_Shot_2022-05-11_at_9.31.14_AM.png

  3. Search for the subscriber and click on their name to open their profile.

  4. The top of their profile will show their activity, including which emails they received (or did not receive).
    Screen_Shot_2022-05-11_at_9.34.21_AM.png


Do you have users on your list who missed the journey? Check out Triggering Automated Journeys Using Existing Email Lists.

    • Related Articles

    • Journey Triggers

      When you create an email journey, you start by choosing a "trigger" that determines how and when the emails will send. The trigger could be based on subscriber activity, like an online purchase, or it could be associated with someone's birthday. When ...

    • Create an Automated Email Journey

      An email journey is a series of automated emails that gets triggered when a user on your website performs an action like sign up for your mailing list. Moz reports that automated emails generate over 75% of revenue and can account for 21% of email ...

    • Approval Process for Sending Emails

      To protect your email deliverability and avoid landing in spam folders, your account may be subject to approval before sending a campaign. Approvals are a standard practice for email service providers and serve to: Keep spammers off the platform. ...

    • Create an Automation from Existing Contacts

      Often, when setting up email journeys, you are setting up automations that trigger when a new subscriber joins a list. However, if you want to bulk-add your existing CRM Contacts to an automation, then the automation may not fire correctly for ...

    • Send an Email Automation to People Who Submit a Form or Make a Purchase

      We know we want to send emails to people who submit a form or complete a purchase, but how? Behold! Your guide to setting up a form/order automated journey. In this guide, "orders" will be treated as form submissions. To do this, you will utilize the ...