How to fix WordPress contact form emails not sending

How to fix WordPress contact form emails not sending

If form submissions aren't reaching you, the usual cause is WordPress sending with PHP mail(), which receiving mail servers often reject or mark as spam.

Step 1: Send via SMTP

Install WP Mail SMTP and configure it with a real mailbox on your domain (see How to send WordPress emails via SMTP).

Step 2: Check the From address

In your form plugin's settings (e.g. Contact Form 7 › Mail tab), set From to an address on your own domain, such as website@yourdomain.co.uk. Never use the visitor's email as the From address; put it in Reply-To instead.

Step 3: Check email routing

If your email is hosted elsewhere (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace), set Email Routing in cPanel to Remote Mail Exchanger. Otherwise the server tries to deliver the message locally and it never reaches your real inbox.

Step 4: Test

WP Mail SMTP has an Email Test tab. Send a test and check the result and your spam folder.

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