Why Are My Emails Not Sending?

MemberPress generates, and the default mailer then sends three types of emails.

• Payment-related emails.
• Reminder emails.
• Password set, reset, and manually triggered test emails.

Troubleshooting missing emails consists of two steps. First, you need to check the part that's specific for every email type. Then, if that checks OK, you need to move to the general troubleshooting part. That being said, let's cover the possible reasons for missing emails.

Payment-related emails

WP Cron sends reminder emails. If it doesn't work correctly, reminders will not be sent. In order to confirm that WP Cron works well, please check the How to Test your Reminder Emails and Reminders Not Sending tutorials.

Please note that if you use the wrong trigger, reminders will not be sent, even if WP Cron works well. So please check Creating a Reminder and ensure you used the right triggers.

Password set, reset, and manually triggered test emails

These emails are sent using the WordPress core functionality, so they rarely fail. MemberPress does NOT send them out. We create the formats for them, etc., but the actual sending is executed by your host if you are not using an SMTP plugin.

If test emails are not being sent correctly, start by checking that you have entered the correct email address into your MemberPress -> Settings -> Emails tab -> Admin Emails & Notices section. That is where the MemberPress test emails are sent.

Check, or have your users check, if the emails are being sent to their spam inbox. If they are, then you should check the section below.

Ensure the to/from email addresses are not the same on the MemberPress > Settings > Emails tab. Entering the same email for these two sections can result in sending issues, especially the admin email notifications. 

Test other WordPress emails to see if they send out. The easiest way to test is to create a user (Dashboard -> Users -> Add New) and check the box "Send the new user an email about their account". Use a working email address for this new user, and see if the new account email shows up. If not, it's most likely a hosting problem. If so, then we'll need admin access to troubleshoot further.

Lastly, if you're using Asynchronous emails for MemberPress. Found in the MemberPress -> Settings -> General tab. Try disabling that option first, if enabled, and update the options. Then, see if your emails will send out properly afterwards. If so, then your web host or SMTP provider (if using one) may not be compatible with Asynchronous emails, and that feature should be left disabled.

When everything else checks but emails are still nowhere to be found

If that happens, it is time to establish whether they are being sent but not received or not sent at all. That is relatively easy. All you need is to install and activate the WP Mail Logging plugin. 

After you install and activate it, you'll be able to check its log and see what's happening. If there's any error in the process, it will be displayed in the Error column like this:

Hovering your mouse pointer over it will cause another window with more information about the error to pop up. You should be able to see what exactly is failing.

If you see emails are sent but not received, please check your website URL at https://mxtoolbox.com/emailhealth/ website. It will display all errors and warnings related to your current SMTP setup. For example, you might see something like this (with more or fewer entries):

If you see errors or warnings, or even if your domain is on some anti-spam lists, you should contact your hosting support or support of your SMTP provider and ask them for assistance in resolving those.

Here's a tutorial related to fixing DMARC errors, which are, by far, the most common ones - https://wpmailsmtp.com/how-to-create-dmarc-record/. And here's another one for SPF - https://www.dmarcanalyzer.com/spf/how-to-create-an-spf-txt-record/.

You might also find the Stop WP Emails Going to Spam plugin useful.

If you can't resolve email-sending issues caused by your current default mailer setup, due to whatever reason, you can check the How to connect SMTP with MemberPress tutorial and change your default mailer.