Why does SendGrid show fewer delivered emails than I sent?
The Twilio SendGrid help pages give 3 common reasons. The first to rule out: Emails to people who unsubscribed, or to addresses whose servers rejected mail before, can be held back, so they never count as delivered.
Is it broken, or just quiet?
A number can fall because fewer people came, or because something stopped counting them. Below are the causes the Twilio SendGrid help pages give, and how to check each one yourself.
What causes it?
Emails to people who unsubscribed, or to addresses whose servers rejected mail before, can be held back, so they never count as delivered.
In the Twilio SendGrid help:
Twilio SendGrid suppresses emails that your recipients unsubscribe from or that recipient email servers reject.
Suppressions, read 2026-11-12.Every bounce is an email you asked to send that is counted as a bounce, not a delivery.
In the Twilio SendGrid help:
The number of emails that bounced instead of being delivered.
Statistics Overview, read 2026-11-12.Mailbox providers can refuse some emails, and those are counted as blocks rather than deliveries.
In the Twilio SendGrid help:
The number of emails that were not allowed to be delivered by ISPs.
Statistics Overview, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check it myself?
Requests include emails that later bounce, are blocked or are held back, so they are expected to be higher than delivered.
In the Twilio SendGrid help:
The number of emails you requested to send via SendGrid.
Statistics Overview, read 2026-11-12.Delivered counts only emails SendGrid could confirm were delivered. It does not tell you whether the email reached the inbox.
In the Twilio SendGrid help:
The number of emails SendGrid was able to confirm were actually delivered to a recipient.
Statistics Overview, read 2026-11-12.Check your account time zone when comparing daily numbers, since a day's totals depend on where the day starts.
In the Twilio SendGrid help:
The timezone for statistics pages is set in your account settings.
Statistics Overview, read 2026-11-12.
How would I know the day it starts?
- Feder reads the emails SendGrid delivered and your new contacts each day and compares each day with your own history.
- It tells you when deliveries go quiet or either number moves outside its usual range.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.
See what Feder reads from SendGrid, which feeds Reach. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in SendGrid.
What else goes wrong with these numbers?
- Why did my SendGrid delivered emails drop?Twilio SendGrid
- Why aren't my new SendGrid contacts showing up?Twilio SendGrid
- Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
- Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
- Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics
See every question.
Where do these answers come from?
Every cause and check on this page comes from the Twilio SendGrid help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.