Why are my emails to Invoice Scanner bouncing back (Microsoft email accounts including Hotmail and Outlook)

Emails forwarded into Invoice Scanner generally arrive into Farm Focus with no trouble, however if you use a Microsoft email account, including hotmail.com, hotmail.co.nz, outlook.com, or outlook.co.nz, you may get a bounce-back when forwarding invoices to the same address repeatedly.

Why does this happen?

If you use a Microsoft email account, including hotmail.com, hotmail.co.nz, outlook.com, or
outlook.co.nz, you may get a bounce-back when forwarding invoices to the same address repeatedly.

There are a few things that can cause this:

• Your email format. Microsoft's spam filter flags emails sent in Rich Text format, which creates a
  hidden attachment that many systems treat as suspicious.
• A temporary account block. Sending similar-looking emails repeatedly to the same address can cause
  Microsoft's security system to temporarily restrict your account.
• The existing content in the forwarded email is triggering Microsoft's spam filter.

You'll know this has happened because you'll receive a bounce-back from postmaster@outlook.com
with an error that includes:

How to fix it

1.Check your email format is set to HTML
Microsoft's spam filter flags emails sent in Rich Text format. It's worth checking your settings are set to HTML.

In Outlook on the web (Hotmail/Outlook.com):

1. 1. Click the Settings gear icon (top right).
   2. Go to Mail > Compose and reply.
   3. Under "Message format", check the compose format is set to HTML. 
   4. Click Save if you've made a change.

           In the Outlook desktop app:

1. 1. Go to File > Options > Mail.
   2. Under "Compose messages in this format", check it's set to HTML.
   3. Scroll to "When sending messages in Rich Text format" and set it to Convert to HTML format.
   4. Click OK.

2.Change the way you are sending the email 

Remove the email content before forwarding
If you're forwarding an invoice email, delete all the existing content from the body, including the sender details, timestamps, and the email body. Sometimes there are words or hidden files in forwarded emails that trigger Microsoft's spam filters. Only      keep the attached invoice.

• Open the invoice email and click Forward.
• Remove FW: from the subject line.
• Select and delete everything in the body of the email, including the headers and all content below.
• Check the invoice attachment is still included.
• Send.

OR

Add the invoice to a new email

This is the best option. Starting a new email means there's no existing content for the spam filter to flag.

• Save the invoice to your device.
• Create a new email and address it to your invoice scanning address.
• Attach the saved invoice.
• Send. 

NOTE: If you've already tried to send several times and it's still failing, stop and wait a few minutes before trying again. Too many failed attempts can trigger Microsoft to ask you to verify your account, just follow the prompts if that happens.

Still having trouble?

Some customers find that resetting their Microsoft password clears the block. Microsoft may ask you to verify you're human before proceeding, just follow the prompts. 

TIP: Search "Microsoft unblock email sending account" to find the recovery page.