Correo electrónico en cola: Qué significa y cómo solucionarlo

What does “queued email” mean?

A queued email is a message your server has received but hasn’t been able to deliver to the recipient’s server yet. In other words, it’s waiting in line until it can be sent.

It helps to understand the difference between a few common mailbox terms:

• Draft: A message you’re still writing and haven’t tried to send.
• Queued: You have selected Send, but the message hasn’t left your system yet.
• Sent: Your message has been sent from your system to the next server.

Many apps use “queued” to describe messages stored in the Outbox.

Common reasons why queued email happens

There is no single cause of queued email, but the patterns are predictable once you know where to look.

Unstable or no internet connection

If your device can’t reliably reach the internet, your email client can’t communicate with the server. Dropped Wi-Fi, weak mobile data, and airplane mode often leave messages stuck in the Outbox until connectivity stabilizes.

Oversized attachments

Most providers limit message size to about 20 to 25 MB. Large images, videos, or presentations can exceed that limit. When this happens, the message can’t be submitted.

Email app or client glitches

Sometimes the issue is the app itself. Outdated versions, sync errors, or temporary bugs can prevent a message from being sent. This is known to happen in popular clients like Gmail and Outlook.

Sending limits

Providers enforce sending limits to prevent abuse. If you exceed daily sending limits, you may experience queued emails. Messages are accepted but stay in the Outbox until the sending window resets.

Recipient server

In some cases, everything is healthy on your side, but the recipient’s system is unavailable. When that happens, your server holds the email in a queue until the receiving server is ready to accept it.

How to fix a queued email (step-by-step)

You can usually resolve queued email issues by working through a few logical checks. Use this sequence as a practical way to diagnose and fix the problem.

Step 1: Check your connection and restart the app

If there are queued emails on one device, or if other apps feel slow, start here. Turn your Wi-Fi off and on again, toggle mobile data, and make sure airplane mode isn’t enabled.

Close your email app completely and reopen it. If that doesn’t help, restart the device. If queued emails are sent after these steps, the issue was likely a connectivity problem or a temporary glitch.

Step 2: Reduce attachment size

If large attachments are causing queued emails, try simplifying the files. Compress them into a ZIP file or convert documents into smaller file types. Another option is to upload the file to a cloud service such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or SharePoint and share a link instead of sending the file directly.

Step 3: Clear the cache and update the app

If webmail works in your browser but the email app on your phone keeps messages queued, the app may be the issue.

Update the app to the latest version and clear the cache. If problems continue, deleting the app and reinstalling it often resolves the issue.

Step 4: Check sending limits

If queued email issues started after a large send, you may have reached a sending limit.

Check your provider’s limits, including daily maximums and hourly thresholds. If you suspect this is the cause, wait 24 hours and try sending a smaller batch.

For newsletters or high-volume sales outreach, use infrastructure designed for bulk sending. This reduces the chance of hitting sending limits and helps prevent queued email issues.