Emails from my site don't arrive

Why it happens

By default Joomla sends mail through PHP on your web server. Many hosts limit that, and mail providers like Gmail treat mail from web servers with suspicion, so it lands in spam or disappears. Sending through a real mailbox with SMTP fixes most problems.

Set up SMTP

1. Go to System → Global Configuration → Server, panel Mail.
2. Set Mailer to SMTP.
3. From Email: an address on your own domain (for example [email protected]), not a Gmail address.
4. Enter SMTP Host, Port and Security from your mail provider: port 465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS. Set SMTP Authentication to Yes and enter the mailbox username and password.
5. Save, then click Send Test Mail.

Using Gmail

• Host smtp.gmail.com, port 465 + SSL/TLS (or 587 + STARTTLS), authentication Yes.
• Use a Google app password, not your normal password (needs 2-Step Verification). Enter it without spaces.

Good to know

• Ask your host to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain: they decide whether mail reaches the inbox.
• Still failing? Turn on Debug System and Log Almost Everything with the log category mail, send a test mail and read administrator/logs/everything.php.