---
title: "Why a message didn't arrive"
description: "The checks that explain almost every missing email or text."
slug: "en/customs/delivery/why-a-message-didnt-arrive"
url: "https://docs.custom.one/en/customs/delivery/why-a-message-didnt-arrive/"
capability: "delivery"
published_at: "2026-10-26T14:32:04.352Z"
---
When an email or text didn't reach someone, start on the person's row in
**Leads**. In the **Activity** column, the three icons after the first are the three messages,
and hovering one tells you exactly what happened to it.

:::caution[Check this first]
Delivery settings belong to a published version. If you changed a message and
didn't [publish](/en/customs/overview/publishing-a-custom/), everyone who came
through since is still getting the old version — or nothing, if the message was
off when you last published.
:::

Each icon gives you one of five states, in the wording the tooltip uses:

| State | Means |
|---|---|
| **sent** | it left our side and the provider accepted it |
| **scheduled** | it's queued and hasn't gone yet |
| **not yet sent** | nothing has been created for it |
| **skipped** | we decided not to send it, on purpose |
| **failed** | we tried and it came back |

The tooltips call them *confirmation email*, *result email* and *result SMS* —
the same three the **Delivery** tab calls instant reply, video delivery and
delivery SMS.

## Scheduled

It's queued and hasn't gone yet. Check the wait under **Scheduling**, and check
[quiet hours](/en/customs/delivery/quiet-hours/) — an overnight window can hold
a message until the next morning.

## Not yet sent

Nothing was created for that message at all, which almost always means one of:

- The message was **switched off** when that person came through. Turning it on
  now doesn't reach them — it applies to people who arrive afterwards.
- They came through **before you set the message up**.
- Your **subscription wasn't active** when they came through, or when their
  video was ready — see
  [your plan and usage](/en/settings/plan-and-billing/your-plan-and-usage/).
- Your own **sending domain has stopped authenticating**. If you send from your
  own address and its records go missing, the domain shows **Needs attention** in
  [Email domains](/en/settings/email-domains/) and messages keep going out without
  authentication — many then land in spam or are refused. Put the records back.

On a custom without a quiz, the confirmation email always reads *not yet sent*:
there's no instant reply to send there.

A **video delivery** also needs the video to exist. If that never got made, see
[why a lead got no video](/en/settings/plan-and-billing/why-a-lead-got-no-video/)
— the email goes out on its own once the video appears.

## Skipped

We decided not to send, on purpose, and hovering the icon says why. On an
email, it's a person with **no email address** (*Contact has no email*) or an
address we can't send to (*Contact email is invalid*). On the SMS, it's no phone
number on the person, a number we can't use (no country code, or not a valid
number), SMS not enabled for the workspace, SMS paused on your billing, or a
destination [we can't text](/en/customs/delivery/the-delivery-sms/).

## Failed

It reached the provider and came back — a mistyped address, a mailbox that's
closed, or a recipient who marked earlier mail as spam. Those aren't retried. An
email we couldn't hand over at all, because of a temporary error, is retried for
a while; texts aren't.

## Sent, but they never saw it

Look in spam. Two things help most: sending from
[your own domain](/en/settings/email-domains/) rather than ours, and setting
**Reply-to** so replies reach you — an address nobody can reply to is treated
with more suspicion.

Send yourself a test and see where it lands in your own inbox.