WordPress Not Sending Emails? Here’s How To Fix It!

Even if everything's properly configured, you can still run into problems with WordPress not sending emails. Here's how to fix the most common issues.

Approximate read time: 5 minutes

This probably isn't news to you... but there's a lot that can go wrong when you run a WordPress site.

And one of the biggest pains in the a**? 🫢 Automated transactional emails.

It doesn't seem to matter what you do or how perfectly you configure your WordPress website email settings. Sometimes those darn automatic emails just won't work. 😤

So how do you fix WordPress emails not sending? Let's first learn a little more about how sites send emails. Then we'll show you an easy way to solve the most common problems.

How WordPress sends emails

There are two different ways to send emails from your WordPress website: through your web host via the wp_mail function or through an external mail server using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

Sending emails through your web host

WordPress has a built-in email functionality: the wp_mail function. Since it doesn't require any setup or specific know-how, this is usually how new WordPress users first try sending email notifications from their sites. 📤

These automatic WordPress emails are handled by your web host.

When your website triggers an email, it essentially tells your web host to send the email for you. 🗣️ And some web hosts are more reliable than others. But even the best WordPress hosting won’t have 100% deliverability rates.

Hosting servers then use the PHP mail() function to send emails on your behalf, so problems pop up if your PHP is configured incorrectly. And honestly, it’s easy to make mistakes when coding the backend of your web server in PHP. 😬

The importance of your web host

If you're having trouble sending emails, the issue may come from your hosting server.

Although shared hosting is often cheaper, there is a serious downside: thousands of other sites/domains are on your same IP address and mail server.

All it takes is one unscrupulous user to start spamming, and BOOM! 💥 The reputation of every message sent through that server takes a hit. And that means your messages are more likely to be marked as spam. 👎

Sending emails through an external mail server

One of the best ways to keep your WordPress emails from ending up in spam is to use SMTP.

This method connects your website with a trusted external mail server for sending email messages. 🔗 Although adding SMTP to your WordPress site does require some initial setup, it offers huge advantages and is definitely worth the effort!

Since SMTP specializes in reliable email and completely bypasses your web host, you'll have much better deliverability rates. 📈

So how do you set up SMTP for WordPress?

Luckily, you don't need to know how to code to set up SMTP on WordPress. You just need an SMTP plugin.

And WP Mail SMTP is the best SMTP plugin you'll find! Plus, its premium version is especially useful if you're sending a lot of transactional emails every day.

Whether you want to send order confirmations or send an email from a contact form in WordPress, this plugin ensures your receipts are received and that you don't miss any questions from customers. 📬

Check out this step-by-step guide to setting up SMTP in WordPress, or keep scrolling for a summary of the basic steps below.

How to send SMTP emails from WordPress

1. Install the WP Mail SMTP plugin
2. Configure the plugin settings
3. Enter your SMTP mail server details
4. Send a test email

The best thing about this plugin is that it takes all the guesswork out of the equation by allowing you to send test emails right from your WordPress dashboard.

With a plugin like this, you don’t need to know anything about the technical aspects of email providers or web hosting. Just configure the settings, click save, and you're done! ✅

For advanced users, you're able to configure options based on SMTP servers, SMTP ports, and email addresses as well.

Fix WordPress forms not sending emails

To make sure you don't have any issues with your WordPress contact forms not sending emails, you'll want to connect your WordPress form plugin to your SMTP plugin. 🔌

If you're using Formidable Forms, ensuring your notification emails are sent out reliably is easy. In fact, we’ve partnered with WP Mail SMTP to offer direct SMTP integration.

All you need to do is go to Formidable → SMTP from your WordPress dashboard. From there, you just need to follow a quick two-step process to get things rolling. Easy as pie! 🥧

Are you using a different contact form plugin on your site? See how Formidable compares to WP Forms and Contact Form 7 (CF7).

Give Formidable Forms a try with our free form builder plugin or upgrade to our premium form maker for even more features. We're so sure you'll love it, we offer a 14-day money-back guarantee!

Try Formidable Forms now!

Make WordPress not sending emails a thing of the past

We hope you now feel confident you can fix emails not sending in WordPress! 🧑‍🔧 And by using an SMTP service and a plugin or two, you can also feel confident that your readers and customers are receiving your emails, regardless of which email client they use. 📨

Now that you know your emails are sending correctly, learn more about setting up form notifications on your website.

For more WordPress tips, keep it glued to Formidable's WordPress blog. Until next time!

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