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Troubleshooting issues with not receiving expected emails
Who is this article for?
Administrators who who are troubleshooting emails not arriving as expected.
IT Administrator permissions may be required to resolve the issue.
There are several layers at which generation or delivery can fail.
This article walks through each in order, from the most common causes to the most unusual, so that cases can be resolved efficiently.
1. Issue
One or more users are not receiving system emails they should be receiving.
2. Troubleshooting
2.1. Gathering information
Before starting, gather this information:
- Confirm the exact email address the user expects mail at and verify it matches their account.
- Note the expected email date, time, and time zone.
- Ask if they have checked their Spam or Junk folder.
- Check if any email filtering rules are active.
2.2. Triaging issue
The scope of the problem determines where to start investigating.
2.2.1. All users
If all users are affected, this typically means the Robot service was not running when the email job was due to fire.
To check whether the Robot service was running:
- Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Pentana\ServerRobot\PentanaPRDm\.
- Open ServerRobot.txt.
- Check when the service was last started and whether it was running at the time the email job was due to fire.
The logging level may vary, so you may have to search for the relevant lines, e.g.:
INFO: , Pentana.Tng.ServerRobot.RobotService, 5, 09/18/2026 12:47:13, Stopping Robot ...
INFO: , Pentana.Tng.ServerRobot.RobotService, 4, 09/18/2026 14:32:15, Starting Robot...If the Robot was not running at that time, the relevant jobs can be executed manually.
2.2.2. Single/specified user(s)
If the issue is limited to certain users or notification types, continue to the next section.
2.3. Checking criteria
Each email job has specific criteria that must be satisfied before an email is generated. Check the table below for the relevant job.
| Email job | Criteria to be met |
|---|---|
| Action Update – initial notification |
|
| Action Update – reminder |
|
| Risk Management – initial notification |
|
| Risk Management – reminder |
|
| Certification – initial notification |
|
| Certification – reminder |
|
| Document Request – initial notification |
|
| Document Request – reminder |
|
2.4. Checking email records
If the criteria were satisfied when the Robot job ran, the next step is to check whether the email was created but failed at the delivery stage.
2.4.1. Email creation log (if enabled)
The Robot service can optionally log email generation. If logging is active, a file called Email.log will be present at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Pentana\ServerRobot\PentanaPRD\.
- Hosted customers - Our support team can check for this log.
- On-premises customers - Ask your IT team to check for this log.
This log records a timestamp, destination address, and subject line for each email that was successfully sent, allowing you to verify whether email was generated by the service. If logging is not currently enabled, it is worth activating for troubleshooting purposes.
If the email log shows that an email was sent, then the issue is somewhere beyond the Ideagen application and will require additional troubleshooting from your IT team.
2.4.2. Email delivery records (Hosted customers)
For hosted customers, our Support team can check the mail service provider (SendGrid) to verify that the email was sent successfully from the system and delivered to the destination network.
If SendGrid confirms successful delivery, the issue is on the recipient's side. In that case, you should open a ticket with your IT team to trace the missing email.