Why aren't my campaign messages being sent out?
Last updated: September 23, 2026
If your campaigns are set up but no messages are being sent, there are several common reasons this might be happening. Here's how to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:
Verify Campaign Configuration
If you expect emails to be sent, verify that your campaign includes a send email step
If you expect messages to be sent, verify that your campaign includes a send message step
A campaign may be functioning correctly by sending connection requests and messages, but it will not send emails if the workflow does not include a send email action step.
Check for Paused Prospects
The most common reason campaigns stop sending messages is that prospects have been paused. When prospects are paused, the campaign cannot continue to the next steps until they are manually resumed.
To resume paused prospects:
Option 1 (Recommended - Safer):
Open each Contacted folder one by one
Select all the paused prospects in that folder
Resume the campaign for them
Option 2 (Bulk method):
Go to the Prospects section
Filter by active campaigns
Select all campaigns with stuck emails
Choose the next step Send email and click apply
Once you have the results, select all relevant prospects
Use the action menu to resume the campaign for them
Special case: If you have the Recontact prospects toggle enabled, check if prospects are paused in the connected folder. This commonly occurs when the toggle was enabled after prospects were already added to the campaign.
Investigating Individual Prospects
If specific prospects aren't receiving messages, use this diagnostic checklist to identify the issue:
Verify which campaign the prospect is assigned to
Check the prospect's current status (New, Pending, Paused, or Outside of Campaigns)
Confirm whether Manual Approval is enabled for that campaign — prospects will remain in Pending status until manually approved
Use Prospects filters to include Pending/Excluded statuses to see all prospects
Verify the prospect hasn't been moved outside of active campaigns
If the prospect shows as Paused or Pending, review and resolve the reason listed in their status
Confirm the campaign itself is not paused and has new prospects queued
Prospects Not Added to Campaign
If your campaign shows 0% activity or has no prospects in the New column, the prospects may not have been added to the campaign at all. This can occur in two scenarios:
Scenario 1: Prospects already exist in other campaigns
When uploading a CSV file containing prospects who are already active in other campaigns, the system prevents adding them by default.
To resolve this:
Re-upload your CSV file to the campaign
Before saving, go to Settings in the top menu
Enable the "Add Prospects from Existing Campaigns" option
Save the campaign
This will move the prospects from their previous campaigns into the new one.
After enabling this setting, verify that the transferred prospects aren't paused:
Go to the Prospects tab
Filter by your campaign name
Select all prospects using the checkbox in the top-left corner
Click Action → Resume campaign
Scenario 2: No prospects were added to the campaign
If your campaign shows 0 prospects and has never had any activity, you may need to add prospects to the campaign first. Campaigns require prospects to be added before they can send messages.
To add prospects, you can:
Add a search link to the campaign to automatically find prospects
Manually move prospects from another campaign
Rerun previous searches to check for any new results
Connection Request Status
Messages can only be sent to prospects who have accepted your connection requests. If prospects haven't accepted your connection requests yet, the campaign will wait until they do before proceeding with message steps.
Check your pending connection requests and follow up as needed to encourage acceptance.
Withdrawn Connection Requests
If you previously sent a connection request to a prospect and then withdrew it yourself, LinkedIn requires a 3-week waiting period before you can send another request to the same profile. During this time, prospects will show a "Connection was withdrawn" status and cannot proceed with the campaign.
To check if withdrawn connections are affecting your campaigns:
Go to your Prospects tab
Apply these filters:
Campaigns: "Active"
Waiting status: "Not waiting"
Next step: "Send Connection Request"
Look for prospects with "Connection was withdrawn" status
The system will automatically retry sending the connection request after the 3-week waiting period has passed. Once successful, the prospect will resume normal campaign progression.
Withdrawn Connection Requests
If you have the Delete oldest pending invitations feature enabled, withdrawn connection requests may cause your campaign to pause. When this feature withdraws pending invitations, those prospects return to New status, but the system requires a 3-week waiting period before sending new connection requests to them.
This can create a situation where your campaign shows prospects in the New column but is not actively sending messages.
LinkedIn Sending Limits
LinkedIn imposes limits on connection requests and messages that can prevent your campaigns from sending.
Rate Limits
LinkedIn enforces daily and weekly limits on the number of connection requests and messages you can send. If you've reached these limits, your campaign will stop sending until the limits reset, typically on Mondays.
Signs you may have hit rate limits:
Messages suddenly stop sending across all campaigns
Connection requests are no longer being sent during scheduled hours
Activity resumes automatically after the weekly reset
If you encounter rate limits:
Temporarily reduce the number of connection requests being sent in your campaign settings
Gradually increase the volume over time to find a sustainable sending rate
Monitor your Reports page to confirm when sending resumes after limits reset
Personalized Connection Request Limits
Basic LinkedIn accounts have a monthly limit on the number of personalized connection requests they can send. When this limit is reached, you may see a "no personalized connection requests left" error, and your campaigns will stop sending connection requests with messages.
To resolve this issue, enable the Bypass Personalization Limit setting in your account settings. This allows the system to continue sending connection requests without personalized messages once your monthly allocation of personalized messages is exhausted. Your personalized message allocation will refresh at the start of each month.
InMail Sending Limits
If you're using InMail messages, including open profile InMails, in your campaigns, you may have reached your InMail sending limit. When this limit is reached, InMail messages will not be sent until the limit resets automatically.
Prospects with Prior Conversations
By default, the campaign will not send messages to prospects who have previously replied or had prior conversations in your LinkedIn inbox. These prospects are automatically moved to the Replied folder, and the campaign pauses outreach to them to prevent confusion.
If your campaign appears to have stopped sending messages but you still have prospects in your network, check the Replied folder in your prospects list.
To resume messaging prospects with prior conversations, you have two options:
Option 2: Manually resume prospects from the Replied folder
Open the Replied folder in your prospects list
Select all prospects you want to message
Click Action > Resume campaign
Note: Adding an updated search and running the campaign again may also pull in new 1st-degree connections, which can help resume messaging to additional prospects.
Completed Campaigns
Some of your campaigns may have already finished running through all available prospects. You can identify completed campaigns by looking for those with "0" in the New column.
For completed campaigns, you can:
Add new searches to find additional prospects
Rerun previous searches to check for any new results
System Status and Sending Rate
If none of the above issues apply but you're experiencing slow message sending, check these additional factors:
Multiple active campaigns — If you have several campaigns running simultaneously, they share the account's daily sending limits. Review all active campaigns to understand how resources are allocated.
Booster settings — Verify whether Connection Request Booster and InMail Booster are enabled, as these affect your sending capacity.
Daily activity timing — Check your full day's activity rather than a single moment. The system operates on a schedule and may not have started its work day yet when you check.
By addressing paused prospects, monitoring connection request acceptance, and refreshing completed campaigns with new searches, you should see your message outreach resume normal activity.