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

Have you ever sent an important email to your customers only to find out it never reached their inbox? We’ve been there.

When we were very new WordPress users, we couldn’t figure out why our contact form notifications and password reset emails weren’t being delivered.

The problem wasn’t our WordPress setup – it was how our emails were being sent. Most WordPress hosting providers don’t properly configure email delivery by default. This leads to important messages landing in spam folders or disappearing entirely.

That’s where SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) servers come in. After setting up SMTP on dozens of WordPress sites over the years, we can tell you it’s the most reliable way to ensure your WordPress emails actually reach their destination.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you exactly how to configure an SMTP server for your WordPress site. You don’t need to be tech-savvy – we’ll walk you through the process using simple, clear instructions that anyone can follow. 📩

The Problem With WordPress Emails

WordPress uses PHP for most of its functions, including sending emails.

Many shared hosting providers do not have the email function configured properly or have disabled it entirely to avoid abuse. In either case, this can prevent your WordPress emails from being delivered.

The alternative solution is using a third-party email service to send your emails. You can use services like Mailgun, Google Workspace, or SendGrid.

You will have to pay for your account, and the cost will vary depending on how many users you add or the number of emails you send. For more details, you can see our tutorial on how to fix the WordPress not sending email issue.

Additionally, some web hosts limit the number of emails users can send from their servers. For more information about why WordPress emails won’t send, check out our blog post on why you should never use WordPress to send newsletter emails.

There is another option, however. You can use SMTP to send emails using the WordPress hosting that you already have.

SMTP, which stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, allows you to use an external mail server to handle email delivery. This ensures higher email deliverability rates and can prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder.

In the following sections, we’ll share how to use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails. Here’s a quick overview of all the steps you’ll take:

Let’s get started!

Create Email Accounts by Your 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.

Go ahead and enter your email name and password. Then, you can 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 will allow you to send emails from the email address you’ve just created, and the SMTP Port is for secure login.

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 Settings » Email to configure the plugin settings.

First, you’ll need to enter the email address you just created in the ‘From Email’ field. 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). And Port 465 is commonly used for SMTP. If you lose these details, you can obtain them from your hosting provider.

Now, depending on your hosting provider, they’ll provide an encryption method when signing up for an email account. It can be an SSL or a TLS encryption.

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 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.

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 how to send WordPress emails using Amazon SES and how to set up WordPress email tracking.

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