Scheduled reports are meant to work quietly in the background—delivering the right data to the right people at the right time. So, when one doesn’t send, it can feel like something is broken. In most cases, though, it isn’t a defect. It’s usually a configuration detail that can be quickly identified and resolved once you know where to look.
The first step is to understand what actually failed. If the report ran but no one received it, the issue is likely related to email delivery. If the report didn’t run at all, then you’re probably dealing with a scheduling or system issue. Making this distinction early helps you avoid guessing and focus on the right area.
From there, start with the report recipient. Scheduled reports run using the recipient’s permissions, so the recipient must be active and have appropriate access to the data. If the owner has been deactivated or their permissions have changed, the report may stop running entirely. Reassigning the report to an active user—ideally a stable admin account—can often resolve the issue immediately.
Next, take a look at the schedule settings. It’s worth confirming that the schedule is still active, set to the correct frequency, and aligned with the expected time. One of the most common points of confusion here is time zones. A report scheduled for one time zone may appear to run at an unexpected time in another, even though it’s working exactly as configured.
If the report appears to run but isn’t being delivered, it’s time to check email configuration. This includes outbound email (SMTP) settings, authentication, and any spam or quarantine filters that might be blocking delivery. File size is another common issue—large reports sent as attachments may never reach recipients due to mail server limits.
That’s where delivery method becomes important. While attachments are convenient, they’re also more likely to fail for larger reports. Use the Share option to send large reports, because those emails will have a link instead of an attachment. It's far more reliable, especially for recurring or data-heavy reports.
If nothing stands out so far, check the job queue (scheduler). Scheduled reports rely on background jobs to execute, so if the scheduler isn’t running properly, reports won’t run at all. This is especially important if multiple scheduled reports are failing at the same time, which often points to a system-level issue rather than a report-specific one.
It’s also helpful to think about whether anything has changed recently. Reports can stop working after ownership updates, role or team changes, report duplication, or environment migrations. Even small changes can affect how or whether a report runs.
At a high level, scheduled reports are very predictable once you understand how they work. They run using the owner’s permissions, rely on system jobs to execute, and depend on email configuration for delivery. When something breaks, it’s almost always tied to one of those areas.
To make troubleshooting even easier, we recommend using the Scheduling Reports Checklist. This checklist walks through each validation step in a clear, structured way so you can quickly identify and resolve issues before escalating to Support. In most cases, a quick review of ownership, scheduling, and email configuration is all it takes to get things back on track. The more you understand how scheduled reports work, the easier they are to manage—and the fewer surprises you’ll run into along the way.
