Sending
In short
Why was an email not sent in Reply?
Open the sequence's Logs tab first; it names the exact reason. The most common causes are a mailbox that reached its daily cap, a sending schedule that is closed right now, contacts with no sending mailbox assigned, and contacts that are not Active. After a launch or a change, allow 20 to 40 minutes before treating it as a fault.
Quick fix
- Open the sequence's Logs tab; it names the exact error.
- Check the dot next to each sending mailbox in the sequence's settings: green is connected, red needs reconnecting.
- In the People tab, filter by Sending email is not set. If any contacts appear, select them and use Change sending email.
- Confirm the sequence's schedule has a sending window open right now, in the schedule's time zone.
- Wait one processing cycle (about 10 minutes, or 20–40 after a launch) then check the Logs tab for a fresh entry.
Didn't work? Contact Reply support; the team can check your account directly.
Symptom
A step you expected to send has not. The contact sits on the step, the stats do not move, and there is no obvious error in sight. Most of these causes are temporary, and each one leaves a trace you can find.
Most likely causes
| # | Cause | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The email account is disconnected: sending needs a well-connected mailbox (green dot next to the email) | Red dot in the sequence settings tab; Email account disconnected in the Log tab. See Why was a mailbox disconnected? |
| 2 | A limit is reached: the mailbox's Total number of emails for the day, the sequence's Max number of emails per day, or your plan's monthly active-contact allowance | Processing error: Max emails per account or Processing error: Max unique contacts per month in the Log tab; a notification when you hover over the toggle: Limits |
| 3 | The schedule window is closed: the sequence sends only within working schedule hours, and schedules run on UTC without Daylight Saving Time | The schedule linked to the sequence: When Reply sends |
| 4 | The contact is excluded: the system sends only to Active contacts with valid emails; Paused and Finished contacts get nothing, and contacts can also sit in a step delay or throttling | The contact's status and current step in the People tab: Statuses |
| 5 | Contacts have no sending email assigned: after deleting an active sending email or swapping accounts, its contacts are not reassigned automatically | An error notification over the sequence toggle: Mailbox selection |
| 6 | The sending step stopped because the sequence's bounce rate crossed Reply's threshold for the day | Red toggle; the step resumes the next day – Bounce handling |
| 7 | Contacts are waiting on their own time zone – with Use contact's specific time zone enabled, each send waits for the recipient's local window, so a sequence can look idle for hours after launch | The schedule is open, contacts are Active, and nothing appears in the Logs tab |
| 8 | The next step carries a long delay | The contact's current step in the People tab, and the delay set on that step in the Steps tab |
Diagnostic checklist
- Open the sequence's Logs tab first. Before sending, Reply checks that the email account is linked and set up correctly, prospects are active, the LinkedIn account is linked, and the selected and follow-up schedules are valid: if any check fails, the sequence does not start and writes an error log naming the problem.
- Check the connection dot next to each sending mailbox in the sequence settings tab: green means connected, red means reconnect.
- Compare today's counts against every limit: the account's Total number of emails (Settings, Email Accounts, mailbox, Safety), the sequence limit shown in sequence settings and next to the toggle, and (on trial) the 300 unique contacts cap shown when you hover over the toggle.
- Confirm the schedule linked to the sequence is open right now, in its sending timezone. If it is closed, sending waits until it opens the next day.
- Open the specific contact: status must be Active with a valid email, an assigned sending email, and no pending step delay or throttling.
- Mind the timing: after a first launch it can take 20-40 minutes to start sending even when everything is set. Reply processes sequences every 10 minutes; if a processing run hits errors, emails wait for the next run.
Resolution
Disconnected account: reconnect it, then restart the sequence. Limit reached: raise the cap deliberately (account Safety settings or sequence settings) or wait for the daily reset; see Configure sending limits. Closed schedule: update it or wait until it opens the next day. Excluded contact: usually correct behaviour rather than a fault; reactivate only if you mean to (People tab, Change Status, add Active). Unassigned contacts; filter the People tab for Unassigned and link a sending email. Bounce-rate stop: the step resumes automatically the next day; validate your list to keep it from repeating.
Verification
After the fix, let the next processing run pick the sequence up; runs happen every 10 minutes, and a first launch can take 20-40 minutes before emails go out. Then check the Log tab for a fresh Sequence started entry (the log itself advises waiting about 30 minutes before checking results) and confirm the send in the contact's activity.
Prevention
Turn on Send reports on sequence errors (Settings, Emails, Email notifications): Reply then emails you about errors such as "Daily limit per sequence reached", "Daily limit per email account reached", "Monthly limit for unique contacts reached", "No email account connected to an active sequence", "Invalid email account credentials", "SMTP/IMAP errors", and empty contact fields used as template variables. Keep a delivery window of at least 2.5-4 hours so all emails have time to send, and validate lists before launch to stay clear of the bounce thresholds.
FAQ
How long after launch should the first email go out?
Allow 20-40 minutes after a first launch. Reply processes sequences every 10 minutes in two stages: a checkup of settings and inbox replies (up to 20 minutes), then the actual sending (around 20 minutes). If the checkup finds errors, sending waits for the next processing run.
The step sent for some contacts but not others: why?
Per-contact state is the usual reason: the system sends only to Active contacts with valid emails, so Paused, Finished, or bounced contacts are excluded while the rest proceed. Some contacts may also still be in a step delay or throttling. Check each missing contact against Statuses.
The email shows sent but never arrived – same problem?
No. That is delivery, not sending. Check the spam folder, the recipient address, and the Delivery Status Notification in the sending mailbox, and confirm your authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). See Deliverability.
Still stuck? Contact Reply support
If these steps didn't solve the problem, the Reply support team can look at your account directly. Open the Reply Help Center and send the team a message.
To get an answer faster, include:
- the exact error text from the Logs tab, or a screenshot of it
- which sequence and which sending mailbox are affected
- roughly when you expected the email, and your timezone
- whether the contact is Active and has a sending email assigned
Don't send passwords, API keys, or access tokens.
Related
- Why is a campaign not running? – the sequence-level variant
- When Reply sends – schedule windows and timezones
- Sequence execution – throttling and step delays
- Bounce handling – how the bounce-rate stop works
- Limits
Build with Reply
- REST API: Sequences – inspect sequence, account and contact state
- MCP: docs.reply.io/mcp – diagnose a stalled sequence from an assistant