Is your WordPress user registration email not sending?
Whenever someone registers on your website, WordPress automatically sends an email notification. Both the website’s admin and the user who registered receive this notification. This email is crucial for the user since it contains a link to set the password. However, sometimes these emails go missing.
In this article, we’ll show you how to easily fix the issue so that new users registering on your website get the email to set the password.
Why Is My WordPress Registration Not Sending Emails?
By default, WordPress uses a bit of code called the PHP mail function to send emails. These emails can be from a contact form on your WordPress site or automated notification emails for new comments, password resets, user registrations, WooCommerce orders, etc.
One common issue that causes the email to go missing is that your hosting server is not configured to use the PHP mail function. Other common reasons include the hosting server blocking PHP entirely.
Another possible issue is that emails are sent without authentication. This sends the emails directly to spam.
Now, let’s see how we can fix the email issue.
How to Fix WordPress User Registration Email Not Sending
In This Article
Step 1: Check the Admin Email
By default, WordPress will use the site administrator email to send all automated emails.
This includes important email notifications such as password reset emails, new user registration, and more.
Many email spam filters block such emails believing them to be spam. Sometimes the emails don’t even make it to the spam folder.
To avoid this, you should always use a branded email address with your website’s domain name. For instance, we use [email protected] for this website.
If you don’t already have one, see our guide on how to get a free business email address in under 5 minutes.
A branded domain email address not only increases trust among users but also helps in brand recognition.
To change the admin email address, click Settings » General from the WordPress navigation menu.
Enter the new email address with your domain name and save your settings. Check for an email at that same address to confirm the change.
You should now see new emails coming from the updated email address.
If that doesn’t fix the problem, we’ll install an SMTP plugin next.
Step 2: Install an SMTP Plugin
WP Mail SMTP is the best WordPress SMTP plugin that re-routes all emails using proper authentication.
Instead of using the PHP mail function, WP Mail SMTP reconfigures the wp_mail() function to use a mailer service like SendLayer.
The setup wizard makes setup a breeze, but if you’d rather have someone else install the plugin for you, full White Glove Setup is available.
If you want to set it up yourself, follow the steps below.
Install WP Mail SMTP
To download the plugin, you must first set up a WP Mail SMTP account. Leaving WordPress open in another window or tab, go to your WP Mail SMTP account page, and under the Downloads tab, grab the latest version of the plugin file.
Switch back to your WordPress dashboard and upload the .zip file to install the plugin. If you aren’t sure how to do this, check out our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Make sure you Activate the plugin. As soon as you do that, the plugin Setup Wizard will open in your browser.
You can also launch the wizard by clicking the Launch Setup Wizard button under the General tab in the plugin settings.
Note that if you previously installed WP Mail SMTP, running the Setup Wizard will overwrite your existing settings.
Click on the Let’s Get Started button.
Choose Your SMTP Mailer
The first step is to choose the primary SMTP mailer service to send emails from your website with proper authentication. You get plenty of options to choose from in WP Mail SMTP.
If you’re unsure which mailer is best for your site, check out this guide listing some of the industry’s best SMTP service providers.
We recommend SendLayer, SMTP.com, or Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), as they have strong reputations for reliability.
Go ahead and choose the one that serves your purpose. We have documentation for each mailer that you can follow to set up the service.
- SendLayer
- SMTP.com
- Brevo
- Amazon SES
- Google Workspace / Gmail
- Mailgun
- Microsoft 365 / Outlook.com
- Postmark
- SendGrid
- SparkPost
- Zoho Mail
- Other SMTP
If you want to configure a backup mailer in case of an outage, you can do so in the Additional Connections settings once you’ve finished the Setup Wizard. Then you can select a Backup Connection and configure Smart Routing.
Enable Email Features
Next, you can choose which features you’d like to enable. By default, the Improved Email Deliverability and Email Error Tracking features are enabled.
The Detailed Email Logs will let you keep track of all the emails that are being sent from your website in Complete Email Reports. To see an overview of your most recent email delivery stats each week, you should also turn on the Weekly Email Summary.
Turning on Instant Email Alerts will ensure you know immediately if your site fails to send an email. You’ll also get information about the error to help you troubleshoot it.
On the next screen, you can enable advanced email logging options.
Storing the content of all your emails will give you the option to resend them if you need to. This is especially useful if you need to resend registration or password reset emails.
Plus, you can track opens and link clicks, export or print logs, save attachments, and much more. Check out our guide to WordPress email logging to find out how this works.
Click on Save and Continue to move to the next step.
For the final step, grab the license key from your WP Mail SMTP account and paste it here. This will enable future automatic updates.
You’ll be able to send a test email at the end of the wizard. This confirms that the issue with the WordPress user registration email not sending has been fixed.
Step 3: Send All Emails From the Same Address (Optional)
Apart from the user registration emails, your website might be sending emails from a few different plugins.
WP Mail SMTP has a feature to force every plugin on your website to use the same email address.
Under the General tab in the plugin settings, make sure there is a checkmark next to Force From Email.
This will ensure all plugins use the same From email address.
Next, Check Your DNS Zone
If you don’t add DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records in your DNS settings, emails from your website might still land in the junk box. You might also see the “be careful with this message” warnings if you’re using Gmail.
To remove such warnings, you can add a DMARC record for your domain in the DNS settings. You will find your DNS records either with the domain registrar or the hosting company of your site.
Ready to fix your emails? Get started today with the best WordPress SMTP plugin. If you don’t have the time to fix your emails, you can get full White Glove Setup assistance as an extra purchase, and there’s a 14-day money-back guarantee for all paid plans.
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