Why Doesn’t Craft Send Emails?
Craft needs to send some important system emails now and then. These include (but are not limited to)…
- A password reset email;
- An activation email to a newly added user;
- A notification that a visitor has submitted a contact form;
- An order confirmation or other notification;
Out-of-the-box, Craft only knows how to use your server’s sendmail program. It may appear as though emails are being sent when they are actually stuck in a misconfigured system outbox. Take a moment to review some general troubleshooting tips for email, then follow these steps to reconfigure your mailer.
You may need to reach out directly to your web agency, developer, or hosting provider to resolve email issues. If you don’t have a developer handy, let us know!
Read more about configuring Craft’s mailer in the documentation.
Setting Up Email #
Navigate in the control panel to Settings → Email.
It’s common to restrict access to this area of the control panel on live websites. If you don’t see the Settings menu item, reach out to someone who can.
Take a look at the options under the Transport Type dropdown. Only Craft’s built-in transport types are described below—the options you see will include any transports provided by plugins, as well.
Option: Sendmail #
Sendmail is the default option, and uses the server’s built-in sendmail command. While this can be sufficient in some cases, there’s no assurance your server is set up correctly to use Sendmail, or that emails will avoid your users’ spam folders.
Sendmail may work for local development and personal websites, but any site or application that sends mission-critical email should use a third-party SMTP server or transactional email API.
Option: Gmail #
The Gmail transport may work for some Google accounts, either using your username and password, or a special App Password.
Type in your credentials and send a test email. If it fails, check the account’s inbox for a notice from Google. If you get an email with a subject like “Review blocked sign-in attempt,” it should instructions for “allowing less secure apps.” Click that link to enable support (or rather, disable safeguards) in your Gmail account. Test your email settings again after a few minutes.
Google began phasing out less secure apps for Workspace customers on May 1, 2025. App Passwords are still available, but still discouraged.
Gmail will set the email’s From header to the address of that Gmail account. If it’s your own account, all of Craft’s system emails (password resets, new users, etc.) will appear to be directly from you.
Option: SMTP #
Craft can connect directly to an SMTP server to send system emails; we recommend this as the most reliable built-in option. A few popular services are (in no particular order):
Many services offer a free tier if you’re not sending many emails, which is often the case with Craft.
If you are unfamiliar with SMTP or unable to find your provider’s sending domain, port, or SSL/TLS settings, you’ll need a developer to assist with this setup. This option may also involve configuring DMARC or DKIM records via your domain registrar or DNS provider.
To fight spam, many hosts block outbound traffic on port 25, which is traditionally used for SMTP. If delivery consistently fails, check with your email provider to see if they offer an alternate port.
HTTP APIs #
Many transactional email providers also have plugins in the Plugin Store that use secure HTTP APIs to send email, instead of SMTP. You provide an API key, and the outbound “email” looks just like any other web request and is less likely to get blocked by firewall rules.
In this model, the SMTP traffic originates from a trusted or “reputable” third-party server (rather than your site’s IP address) and is significantly less likely to be flagged as spam.
Sending password reset and activation links manually #
If you’re in a bind, you can send password reset and account activation links yourself if you have permissions to manage users. Click into a user’s account, then click the gear button at the top, right-hand side of the screen.
Copy an account activation link
Copy a password reset link
Copy one of those links and paste it into an email. This will get you going while your developer sorts out the issue!