Mailbox recovery

Mailboxes occasionally run into trouble: the password changes, the inbox stops syncing, or too many messages bounce and Cadensiq pauses sending to protect your reputation. This guide explains what each situation looks like and how to get back to sending safely.

Owners and managers can repair connections. Only the owner can resume a mailbox after a safety pause.

Which situation are you in?

flowchart TB A{What does the<br/>mailbox page say?} -->|Mailbox connection<br/>needs attention| B[Password rejected] A -->|Inbox password<br/>needs attention| C[Inbox login rejected] A -->|Inbox sync stale<br/>or temporary error| D[Sync delayed] A -->|Sending is paused<br/>for safety| E[Bounce-risk review] B --> F[Update password] C --> F D --> G[Retry inbox connection] E --> H[Owner: Review recovery]

Password rejected

What you see: "Mailbox connection needs attention — Cadensiq could not use the saved mailbox password." The health card may show Authentication error. Sending campaigns using this mailbox are paused automatically and their queued messages wait.

Why: the password was changed at your email host, the account was locked, or your host now requires an app password.

What to do:

1. Confirm you can sign in to the mailbox at your email host. Create an app password if your host requires one.
2. In Cadensiq, open the mailbox and select Update password.
3. Enter the password and select Save and reconnect.
4. Wait for "Password saved". Cadensiq rechecks sending and restarts inbox sync.
5. Open any paused campaign and select Resume Campaign.

The mailbox keeps all its settings, its domain checks and its history. Nothing else needs to be set up again.

Inbox password needs attention

What you see: "SMTP passed, but the saved inbox password needs to be repaired before sync can resume."

What to do: select Update password, enter the password and Save and reconnect. Replies and bounces found while sync was off are picked up once it resumes.

Inbox sync delayed

What you see: Inbox sync isn't Up to date, or a temporary error is shown. Replies may arrive late.

Why: a short outage, timeout or DNS problem at your email host. These are retried automatically and don't affect saved credentials.

What to do: select Retry inbox connection (or Check mailbox connection). The check runs in the background; you can leave the page. If it keeps failing, check your IMAP settings with Edit mailbox.

Paused for safety (bounce-risk review)

What you see: "Sending is paused for safety" and the health state Paused for safety or High bounce risk. New messages wait.

Why: your recent hard-bounce rate reached the threshold in Settings → Safety & delivery (default 10% after at least 10 sent messages). Continuing could damage your sender reputation.

Paused after provider failures

If the pause was caused by repeated failures at your email host rather than bounces (health state Provider error), fix the cause with your host, then select Check mailbox connection. A successful check clears that pause.

What to do (owner):

1. Open the mailbox and select Review recovery.
2. Review risk: compare the Current bounce rate with the Safety threshold and Minimum review sample.
3. Protect recipients: review the source list. Remove addresses that are no longer valid. Tick I understand that hard-bounced recipients remain suppressed. and I reviewed the source audience before sending again.
4. Verify readiness: Cadensiq runs a fresh check of the mailbox, domain, inbox, authentication and health. Fix anything under What still needs attention.
5. Resume decision: when "This mailbox is ready for a safety decision" appears, select Resume sending.
6. Resume any paused campaigns.

Warning

Hard-bounced recipients stay suppressed and are never retried. If many addresses bounced, the list itself is likely out of date. Fix the source before sending again.

Related pages

• Mailboxes
• Organization settings
• Campaign monitoring
• Troubleshooting