This topic

Blank email messages not sending

John_ — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 13:46:08 GMT

I have tried to send a blank email message to myself via BT webmail and this message popped up:

"Sorry your email could not be delivered due to content policy reasons. Please check your message content for URLs, content and subject matter that could be construed as Malware, Spam or Phishing before retrying. (6-1-1-1) ID (6A08C1FD01B1705C)"

There was no content in the message. It was blank. Only the subject line had text "Test from web email"

I've notice over the last few days when using a client (Outlook 2016 in my case) message show as sent on the application but not on webmail. This has caused me some grief, in thinking folk had received emails but they ahd disappeared.

Help and advice welcome. BT email regularly lets me down!!

Re: Blank email messages not sending

Michael_D — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 14:56:07 GMT

Hi @John_

Thanks for coming to the community.

If you are seeing that error, it will be that it is being picked up by our spam filters, perhaps with it being a blank email other than the title, and the title being in that way.

If you try to send yourself an email with more in the title and content in the body of the message does it send?

With regards to your Outlook 2016 client, if you send emails in webmail do they send?

Michael

Re: Blank email messages not sending

John_ — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:44:43 GMT

For over 5-years using Outlook 2016 as a client outgoing emails regularly fail to send and Outlook generates a dialogue box prompting for a password, with the correct password already entered. I go through the whole rigmarole of checking port numbers and protocols and they are all fine. Most recently - whilst trying to confirm insurance for an an event for an community amateur sports club I am a volunteer, a variation on the same theme was that the emails show in Outlook's sent folder but cannot be found on BT's server. I tried sending messages via BT webmail and got the message as shown in my original post. I then tried sending email message with no content save for subject line "test etc", same problem. I then tried sending with no content and nothing in the subject line, same problem. I then asked my wife to forwarded he latest BT bill from her BT web email to my BT email address, same problem. BT will do what they always do - and blame their customers.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

Peter_W — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:58:44 GMT

Thanks for the extra details here, @John_

Just to be sure, is it only emails with no content that are encountering this issue, or are you noticing it with ones that have a full body of text, too?

I'm curious to know if forwarded emails are affected as well - e.g. if you opt to forward an existing chain, but add nothing new yourself.

Peter

Re: Blank email messages not sending

John_ — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:16:37 GMT

I only started looking at the webmail performance when frustrated with the persistent failure of the the client I was using to stay connected to BT outgoing mail server. This has happened for years. I went into webmail and ran a few tests - which included sending email messages to myself. Ones with text in the subject line and no content. Ones with nothing in the subject line and no content. They all failed to send with the error message as in my original post. I asked my wife to forward the last BT bill to me via BT webmail with nothing added. That failed with same error message.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

gg30340 — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:38:58 GMT

Presumably you have Outlook set up as an IMAP account. Have you considered that Outlook could be the problem?

You could as a test to help diagnose the problem, stop Outlook from accessing your BTMail account.

Then download and install another email client such as Thunderbird and use that for a while to see if the problem is still there. If it is it rules out Outlook.

If you use another email client it should be set up as an IMAP account and if you need them the BT server settings are in the following link.

https://www.bt.com/help/email/manage-email-account/manual-settings/what-are-the-settings-for-outgoing-and-incoming-bt-email-servers

Re: Blank email messages not sending

Peter_W — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:21:42 GMT

Thanks @John_, I've flagged this with our team, and if I need any further details I'll be sure to let you know.

Please don't share it on this public thread, but is the affected email address the same as the one linked to your Forum account?

In the meantime it's definitely giving a different client a test like @gg30340 recommended here, and also testing to see if messages that aren't blank have the same issue, too.

Peter

Re: Blank email messages not sending

John_ — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:30:29 GMT

I have had to subscribed to back up email service (Ionos) as BT mail is so unreliable. That is linked to Outlook and has never faulted in 5 years. BT faults every couple of weeks, so frequently you expected it to fail. I have spent hours researching on both Microsoft, BT and other forums (I have posted previously on this issue) to see if there is a root cause without success. Obviously it is easy for BT to point at Microsoft's products and say they are at fault. Even when its patently a BT internal issue and the "it's Microsoft" is not available as a ready excuse, no explanation is given to customers.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

gg30340 — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:36:55 GMT

It is not BT that is blaming Outlook. It is me trying to diagnose the problem. If you don't want to do that, that is up to you so I'll now bow out of your thread.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

John_ — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:55:47 GMT

See my post of ‎27-02-2024 22h26.

I have been told by BT today they think they have solved the problem and the outgoing server for my sent emails should be working normally tomorrow. No explanation offered and no comfort that the same issue won't happen again. System maintained in USA, apparently.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

Leanne_T — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:49:48 GMT

Morning @John_

Our email team have come back to us and asked if you can try again throughout the day and let us know if this is happens again?

Thanks very much.

Leanne.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

Kimberlin — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 08:07:32 GMT

@John_ I've read through your thread and it isn't difficult to see from your content, that you are not happy with BT's email service. You mentioned it has given you grief, that you've had to resort to subscibing to a back up email address and yet, you persist with BT's email service. Can you explain why you maintain BT's email service if it angsts you so much? I'm genuinely curious.

Re: Blank email messages not sending

John_ — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:36:02 GMT

Good question.

Myself and my wife have been users of BT services for over 45 years and were early adopters of their broadband offering (and ADSL before that). We had family that worked for BT and would have uncomplaining customers if they had not continually degraded their services.

Today (09June26) we've been told that (i) sending emails to more than 10 addresses risks the account being blocked as considered as a spam risk; (ii) using bcc function to retain privacy of group email risks the account being blocked as spammer; (iii) forgetting to fill in the subject line of an email risks the account being blocked as a spammer.

So, the message I take from that is not safe nor practical to used BT mail if you are a volunteer involved in organising charitable or community activities involving groups of volunteers and sponsors and vulnerable communities with all the considerations for managing safeguarding and sensitivities around data protection.

The fact that a 45+ year history as a customer (and BT knowing were you live) you are treated the same as hot house West African scamming criminal gang does not exactly reinforce brand loyalty. I struggle understanding why BT do this? Do you know why? Just curious.