How to request the unblocking of your mail server's IP from Microsoft

It may happen that when sending an email to Hotmail, Outlook, Live and/or MSN, you receive a bounce message indicating that your message has not been sent because your server's IP is listed by Microsoft. This prevents your emails from reaching the recipients.

In this manual, you will find the steps to follow to request the unblocking of your IP.

You can request the unblocking by following the steps described below:

1) Access the following link:

https://olcsupport.office.com/

2) Log in with a Hotmail or Outlook account. If you do not have one, you must create it by following Microsoft's instructions.

It is important to have a Microsoft email. The requests you make will be sent to this mailbox you have created. Microsoft usually gives priority to emails coming from its services.

3) Fill in the fields with the requested information:

Issue Title: You must describe the reason for the request. In this specific case, it should be indicated that the server IP is listed and sending mail is not allowed. An example for this field could be:

Server IP Listed / Non-Delivery Returned Mail

Contact Name: You must write your name or that of your company. It is recommended to use the same name you have defined in your SWPanel.

What domain are you sending to?: You must open the dropdown menu and select the domain name of the mailboxes to which you are attempting to send the email.

Contacto e-mail address: This field cannot be modified; it is the email account you have used to log in to request the unblocking.

Timezone: You must open the dropdown menu and select your time zone. You can guide yourself by observing the cities that appear in each option.

What domain are you sending from?: You must write the domain name of your mailbox. This information is what follows the @ in your email address.

How would you describe a su compañero or yourself?: You must open the dropdown menu and select the option that best fits your profile.

Outbound IP(s) or range(s): You must indicate the IP of your mail server.

Is your server dedicated or shared?: If your server is for personal use, you must open the dropdown menu and select the "Dedicated" option. If you are a reseller and have a mail server for several clients, you must select the "Shared" option.

Copy and paste any error messages: You must paste the message that Microsoft returns to you when you try to send mail.

Provide your website URL: You must indicate the URL/link of your website. If you only have a mail server without a web server, write the domain name of your mailbox. This information is what follows the @ in your email address.

4) Click on the "Submit" button to send the request.

Microsoft will provide you with a request number that will be assigned to the unblocking request.

5) After a reasonable amount of time, you will receive a message in the Hotmail or Outlook email you used to log in with the following subject:

Important information about Microsoft Support request. (Request number). 2 scenarios may occur here:

success Nothing was detected to prevent your mail from reaching "Hotmail/Outlook/Live/MSN".com customers

Your mail server is no longer listed and you can send emails normally. It is not necessary to continue with the steps below.

danger Not qualified for mitigation

Your IP is blocked and it will be necessary to continue with the unblocking process.

6) At this point, it is necessary to check that none of your email accounts have been compromised and that no type of email with malicious content (spam, phishing, etc.) has been sent. It is also necessary to check that the mail server is correctly configured.

You can use the email check of your SWPanel:

Manuale: How to test the email functionality of your Hosting in SWPanel

If your email has been compromised, we recommend following these instructions:

info - Analyze all computers where the email is used with antivirus software.

info - Do not give the password to third parties nor use the same email password on websites.

info - Assign a new password for the email; generate random passwords from SWPanel, or otherwise use one that is sufficiently complex.

info - Download all content locally via FTP and remove it completely from the server.

info - Once downloaded locally, review all content using antivirus software, deleting infected files.

info - Review with antivirus all computers that upload content to the web via FTP or the site's own backend.

info - Review the source code of the website; ensure that all code is legitimate and there is no malware.

info - Verify the permission level of each directory, avoiding full write permissions "777".

info - Update the content manager and plugins to the latest version; use reliable plugins, and avoid free plugins from unknown sources.

info - Shield forms against robots and automatic access by implementing captcha.

info - Shield forms against malware injection using escaping functions.

info - Change all passwords related to the site, administrative users, FTP accounts, and database connection users.

7) If the previous step is correct, click on reply to the message. You must communicate that your server is correctly configured and that you request the unblocking.

Below we attach an example text to guide you:

Hello Microsoft,

We are experiencing technical difficulties with our mail service. We have checked the returned non-delivery message and our mail server IP [YOUR MAIL SERVER IP] has been flagged as a spammer.

Our technicians have checked the server configuration and the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records are properly configured.

In addition, we keep track of the mail we send to avoid spam, phishing and so on.

We request the unblocking of the IP, since for us, the mail service forms an essential part of our services.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME / COMPANY].

8) After a reasonable amount of time, you will receive an email response indicating that the unblocking will be effective within 24-48 hours:

We have implemented mitigation for your IP [YOUR MAIL SERVER IP] and this process may take 24 - 48 hours to replicate completely throughout our system.

9) Verify that the unblocking has been carried out.

You can check by sending an email to the same initial recipient to rule out that the server is still listed.