Emails not arriving, landing in spam or missing password resets

Email that doesn't show up is stressful, especially when it's a customer's receipt or your own password reset. Work through these checks in order. Most problems are found in the first two.

#Emails not arriving

#1. Is SendWP connected and turned on?

In WordPress, go to Tools → SendWP.

• “SendWP is currently enabled and sending email.” Good, move on to the next check.
• The switch is off (“SendWP is currently disabled and NOT sending email.”). Turn it on.
• “Your site is currently not connected to sendwp.com.” Click Connect to SendWP and log in. This can happen after the plugin is deactivated and reactivated, or if your site's address changed.

If you see a notice in your WordPress dashboard saying “The SendWP plugin is installed, but the service is currently disabled or disconnected on this site”, it's the same fix: follow its link and connect.

#2. Did the email reach SendWP?

Search for the email in your SendWP dashboard: open your site, go to Emails and search for the recipient's address.

• It's in the log. Great, SendWP has it. Check its status (see Reading your email log). If it's Sent, the recipient's mail server accepted it: ask them to check their spam or junk folder, and see Emails landing in spam. If it Bounced, Failed or was Blocked, open it to see the reason, and see Why an email failed.
• It's not in the log. It never reached SendWP. Go to the next check.

#3. Was it turned down on the way in?

SendWP turns an email down before it reaches your log when your site has no active subscription, or when its attachments are over the limits. Check your subscription in your SendWP account, and if the email had attachments, check their number, size and type, then send it again.

#4. Did your site send it at all?

If the email is in neither place, WordPress probably never sent it. A few things to check:

• Another email plugin. SMTP plugins and other mailer plugins can take over WordPress's email before SendWP sees it. If you have one active, deactivate it: SendWP replaces it.
• The plugin's own settings. Check that the email is turned on in the plugin that sends it (your form's notification, your store's email settings), and that the recipient address is right.

#Emails landing in spam

When your log says Sent but people find your email in spam, it's about trust. These make the biggest difference:

1. Authenticate your domain. If your Deliverability page shows Needs Setup on any record, start here: Authenticating your domain.
2. Send from your own domain. Make sure your site and your plugins send from an address at the domain you authenticated, like orders@yourstore.com, not a free address like Gmail or Yahoo. For form notifications, put the visitor's address in Reply-To, not From.
3. Watch your spam complaints. The Spam Complaints card on your Deliverability page shows how often people mark your email as spam. If it says anything other than Good, make sure people expect the emails you send them.
4. Write like a person. Clear subjects, a real reply address, and a plain-text version of the email all help. Very short emails that are mostly a link, or all images, look suspicious to spam filters.

No sender can see which folder an email lands in, but an authenticated domain gives every email you send its best chance.

#Password reset emails not arriving

Password resets are sent by WordPress itself, so they go through SendWP like everything else.

1. Request the reset again, then search your Email Logs for the account's email address. WordPress's reset email has “Password Reset” in its subject.
2. If it's in the log and Sent, check the spam folder, and make sure the account's email address is the one you're checking. It's easy to have an old address on an account.
3. If it's not in the log, work through Emails not arriving above.

Locked out of your own site in the meantime? Your host can usually reset your password for you, or give you a way to log in.

#What to send us

If you're still stuck, email support@sendwp.com or use our support form. To help us help you faster, include:

• your site's address;
• who the email was to, roughly when it was sent, and which plugin sent it;
• what Tools → SendWP says about your connection, and the email's status in your log.

If we need to look at your site, we may ask you to click Grant Support Access at the bottom of Tools → SendWP. It gives the SendWP team secure access to your site that you can revoke, and we'll only ask when we need it.

On the same screen, Debug Info shows your site's connection details. Please don't post those anywhere public, as they include your site's secret. Reset Security Hash creates a new secret and disconnects your site, so only use it if we ask you to.