How to Find Missing Activation Emails in Gmail

We use SMTP2GO for our email delivery system. It logs the delivery of all email to recipients. Because Gmail uses strict automated filters, it may have hidden the email in a folder you don't normally see.

If our system delivery logs show that your Ham Radio Deluxe activation details or support tickets were successfully delivered, but you cannot see them in your inbox, Gmail's automated filters have likely hidden or misclassified the message.

Please follow these exact, step-by-step instructions on your computer to locate your email and prevent this from happening in the future.

Step 1: Unhide and Check Your "Spam" or "All Mail" Folders

Gmail collapses its folder list automatically, which completely hides the Spam folder from your everyday view. Here is how to reveal it:

1. Open your Gmail account on your computer browser.
2. Look at the left-hand menu sidebar (the menu that lists Inbox, Starred, Sent, etc.).
3. Hover your mouse cursor over that menu and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list until you see a button called More (accompanied by a small downward-pointing arrow).
4. Click More to expand your folder options.
5. Scroll down further through the newly revealed list until you see the Spam folder (marked with an exclamation icon) or the All Mail folder.
6. Click on Spam first. If the message is not found there, click on All Mail (which displays every single piece of mail in your account regardless of folder categorization).

Step 2: Force a Complete Search of Your Gmail Account

If you prefer to bypass browsing individual hidden folders, you can search Gmail's entire archival database at once:

1. Locate the large Search mail bar at the very top center of your Gmail window.
2. Click inside the bar and type or paste our exact automated sending address: sales@hrdsoftwarellc.com
3. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
4. Gmail will instantly pull up any hidden matching results from all archives, tabs, and spam filters.

Step 3: Whitelist Our Address so Emails Aren't Blocked in the Future

Once you locate your missing activation email, you need to configure your settings so Gmail permanently trusts our domain. This guarantees future software updates, renewal notifications, and support keys bypass the filters completely.

If you found the email inside your Spam folder:

1. Click on the email to open and view it.
2. Look at the gray or yellow system warning bar located at the top of the email body.
3. Click the button that says Report not spam or Not spam. This immediately tells Gmail it made an error and shifts the email back into your primary Inbox.

The permanent fix (Add us to your safe sender list):

1. Open the email message sent from our address.
2. Hover your mouse cursor directly over our sender name or email address (sales@hrdsoftwarellc.com) in the header section.
3. Wait 1–2 seconds for a small rectangular user profile window to automatically pop up on your screen.
4. Click the Add to Contacts icon located in the upper right corner of the popup window (this icon looks like a small silhouette of a person next to a plus sign +).

By registering our specific address directly into your personal Google Contacts database, Gmail will flag our domain as safe, completely protecting all future correspondence from being blocked.