How to Use SMTP Server to Send WordPress Emails (Step by Step)

I still remember the first time I tested my WordPress contact form, and the email never arrived. Later, users started telling me they weren’t getting password reset links either. It was frustrating, and I quickly learned that WordPress’s default email system just isn’t very reliable.

The easiest way to fix this is by using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). Once I set it up, emails started going straight to the inbox instead of disappearing or landing in spam.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through step by step how to set up SMTP in WordPress. You’ll see why the default system fails, how to choose the right SMTP service, and how to configure everything so your emails always reach your users.

Why Use an SMTP Service in WordPress?

Using an SMTP service in WordPress makes sure your emails actually get delivered.

By default, WordPress uses the built-in PHP mail() function to send emails, which depends on your web server acting as a mail server.

But most shared hosting providers either don’t configure it properly, disable it for security reasons, or place strict limits on outgoing messages.

This often means important messages like password resets, notifications, or form submissions often fail to reach your inbox.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a more reliable method that routes your emails through a proper mail server instead of PHP mail. This improves deliverability and helps you avoid hosting restrictions.

When setting up SMTP, you usually have two options:

• Use your hosting provider’s email system – This is included with most web hosting plans and works fine for basic site emails (like password resets or form submissions).
• Use a separate email service (third-party provider) – Services like Constant Contact, Brevo, or Mailgun specialize in email delivery. These are the best options if you need to send a lot of emails or want the highest reliability.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through setting up SMTP using the email account provided by your WordPress host:

1. Create Email Accounts with Your WordPress Host
2. Configure SMTP for Your Branded Email Address
3. Test Your SMTP Plugin Settings
4. Troubleshoot WordPress Email Issues
5. Resend Emails Manually
6. Bonus: Pros and Cons of Using Your Web Host’s Mail Servers for WordPress Emails
7. Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress SMTP
8. More Guides to Using Emails in WordPress

Let’s get started!

Create Email Accounts with Your WordPress Host

Most WordPress hosting providers offer email services for each domain you host with them. This means you can create email accounts with your own domain name, like yourname@yoursite.com.

Using your website’s domain will help you engage your subscribers from your email list and help you stay on-brand by sending messages with your domain name rather than a personal inbox.

So, let’s create an email account first and foremost.

For this example, we’ll show you how to create an email account using Hostinger. Your hosting service provider may use a different account management system, but the basic process is the same on most hosting services.

You’ll first want to log into your hosting account and click ‘Emails’ to create a new email under your domain. Then, go ahead and click ‘Manage’ next to your domain.

After that, you’ll want to click the ‘Create email account’ button.

This will allow you to set up a business email under your domain name rather than the default version that WordPress gives you.

You’ll then see a simple form where you need to fill out the information required to create your email account.

Since we will be using this account to send WordPress emails, we recommend that you create an email account like wordpress@example.com. Make sure to replace example.com with your own domain name.

Then, you can enter your email name, create a password, and click ‘Create.’

From here, you’ll be asked to configure third-party email services to connect to.

That said, you can choose ‘Other’ if you don’t want to use any of the given services.

Let’s copy the SMTP Host and Port since you’ll need to add that information to the settings of your WordPress SMTP plugin to start sending emails reliably.

The SMTP Host is the address for your mail server, and the SMTP Port is the specific channel used for secure communication. Think of it like a specific apartment number (the Port) at a building’s street address (the Host).

Finally, go ahead and click on ‘Complete, I’ve set up my client.’

If you’re using another hosting provider, like Bluehost or SiteGround, you can check the support section on your host’s website for this information. Most likely, there will be an article providing this information.

If you don’t find it, then you should contact the hosting support to request this information.

Configure SMTP for Your Branded Email Address

Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t offer built-in native SMTP settings by default. If you want to configure SMTP in WordPress for emails, then you must install an SMTP plugin.

Using a WordPress SMTP plugin allows all of your emails to reach the desired destination by connecting to a server that handles all types of emails. It will replace the default method of sending emails through WordPress, which uses the unreliable PHP mail system.

Used by over 3 million websites, including us, the WP Mail SMTP plugin is the best SMTP plugin for WordPress.

It allows you to easily fix your emails by sending them through an email provider, which is a much more reliable way of sending emails than your web server. Read our full WP Mail SMTP review for more insights into its features.

With that in mind, let’s install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. If you need help, you can refer to our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can navigate to WP Mail SMTP » Settings from your WordPress dashboard to configure the plugin.

First, you’ll need to enter the email address you just created in the ‘From Email’ field. It’s important that this email matches the account you are setting up, as mail servers require this for authentication to work correctly.

After that, you can add a ‘From Name’ that will be used as the sender name.

The next step is choosing the mailer.

Go ahead and check the ‘Set the return-path to match the From Email’ box next to ‘Return Path.’ This option sets the return path to match the sender’s email address. If you leave it unchecked, bounced messages and non-delivery receipts will be lost.

Then, you can click the ‘Other SMTP’ option. If you have another mailer service, you can select that instead.

Next, you’ll need to set up SMTP options.

The first thing to do here is to enter your SMTP host and port that you copied earlier.

Typically, the SMTP host is mail.yourdomain.com (don’t forget to replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name). For the port, Port 465 (with SSL encryption) is very common and secure.

Some hosts may instead provide Port 587 (with TLS encryption). If you lose these details or are unsure, you can always find them in your hosting provider’s documentation or by contacting their support team.

In this case, Hostinger provides an SSL encryption method, so we will select that option.

Choosing the encryption method is important because it ensures your emails are secure and private. Without it, unauthorized parties could intercept and read the content inside the emails.

Next, you’ll want to turn on the authentication toggle and provide your SMTP username and password. Normally, your email address is also your SMTP username.

Then, go ahead and give your SMTP account a password.

You can always use a password manager, like 1Password, to easily and securely manage your passwords.

Finally, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Settings’ button to store your changes.

Keep in mind that if you have another mailer service, you can add that service as a backup connection. This means that if an email fails to send using your primary connection, WP Mail SMTP will automatically try to send it again using your backup connection.

If you’d like to add another mailer service, just hit the ‘additional connection’ link shown in the screenshot above, and WP Mail SMTP will guide you through the process.

And if you don’t have Hostinger, these steps will look a little different. In that case, you may want to check out our ultimate guide on how to set up WP Mail SMTP with any host.

Test Your SMTP Plugin Settings

Now that you have set up WP Mail SMTP to send emails, let’s test if everything is working fine. To get started, you can head over to WP Mail SMTP » Tools from the WordPress admin panel.

Under the ‘Email Test’ tab, you’ll need to provide an email address where you would like to receive a test email. This could be any valid email address that you can access.

Go ahead and toggle the HTML button to ‘ON.’ After that, you can click the ‘Send Email’ button to continue.

WP Mail SMTP will now send an email message using the SMTP settings you entered earlier.

If you check your inbox, you should see a success message informing you that the email was sent successfully.

Troubleshoot WordPress Email Issues

The most common reason for errors in sending emails using SMTP is an incorrect SMTP host or port.

So, always make sure that you are entering the correct host and port settings provided by your hosting provider.

Plus, you should double-check to see if you have selected the correct encryption method.

SSL usually works in most environments, but if anything, we recommend checking with your web host to see why your emails are not getting delivered. We also have a guide on how to fix the WordPress not sending emails issue. Feel free to check it out.

Resend Emails Manually

Even if there aren’t any SMTP configuration errors, you may still experience temporary issues.

For example, the recipient’s email server might be bouncing emails, or the mailer service may place a cap on the number of emails you can send per day. If you exceed the allowed number of emails sent in a given time frame, the emails may be rejected.

In that case, you can simply resend it to those specific recipients. All you have to do is head over to WP Mail SMTP » Email Log.

Simply check all of the boxes next to the emails that failed to resend. Then, under the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, you’ll want to select the ‘Resend’ option and click ‘Apply.’

This will open a pop-up message asking you to confirm whether you want to resend the selected emails.

Go ahead and hit the ‘Yes’ button.

Finally, you’ll receive a confirmation message on the screen that the emails are in the queue and will be resent shortly.

You can click ‘OK.’

There you have it! Now you know how to successfully use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

Bonus: Pros and Cons of Using Your Web Host’s Mail Servers for WordPress Emails

First things first, the most obvious advantage of using your web host’s servers for sending emails in WordPress is that you can use your own branded email address.

Another pro is that you have already paid for this service when signing up for your hosting account. You will not need to pay any extra money to send and receive emails.

However, some WordPress hosting providers enforce limitations on outgoing emails. This is why we don’t recommend using WordPress to send newsletter emails and suggest using SMTP for transaction emails alone.

Another common problem with shared hosting providers is that their mail servers can be quite unreliable at times.

If you notice delays in email delivery, then you should consider using third-party email services like Google Workspace, Mailgun, or SendGrid. These services specialize in email deliverability by using dedicated servers with strong reputations.

This makes it less likely that Gmail or Outlook will flag your emails as spam.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress SMTP

What is SMTP and why do I need it for WordPress?

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the standard way emails are sent on the internet. WordPress’s built-in email function doesn’t use proper authentication, which means messages often get blocked or end up in spam.

An SMTP plugin connects your site to a real email server. This adds authentication and makes sure your emails are delivered reliably.

Is WP Mail SMTP free to use?

WP Mail SMTP has a free version that works well for most small business websites. It includes integrations with popular mailers like SendLayer, Brevo, and Gmail.

There’s also a WP Mail SMTP Pro version that unlocks advanced features. These include email logging, detailed reports, and additional integrations with services like Amazon SES and Microsoft 365.

What is the best SMTP provider for WordPress?

If you just run a small business site, you can usually use the email account provided by your web host for things like contact form notifications and password resets.

For better reliability, though, we recommend using a dedicated email service like SendLayer or Brevo. These services are built for sending emails and have much higher deliverability rates than standard web host email servers.

What should I do if my emails are still failing after setup?

First, open the WP Mail SMTP settings and make sure your Host, Port, Username, and Password are entered correctly. Even a small typo can cause failures.

If everything looks right, you can check the ‘Email Log’ feature (available in WP Mail SMTP Pro). The error message there will often explain why the mail server rejected your email and help you fix the problem.

More Guides to Using Emails in WordPress

We hope this article helped you learn how to use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails. Next, you may also want to see our guides on:

• WordPress Email Marketing Automation
• How to Create an Email Newsletter in WordPress
• Tested and Easy Ways to Grow Your Email List Faster
• How to Send WordPress Emails Using Amazon SES
• How to Send Email in WordPress Using the Gmail SMTP Server
• How to Set Up WordPress Email Tracking
• Email Verification Tools to Clean Email Lists
• Tips for Using AI to Skyrocket Your Lead Generation Campaign

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