WooCommerce Email Not Sending

WooCommerce Email Not Sending

Elena Rodriguez ·

Symptoms

Your customers are completing orders and hearing nothing. No confirmation email, no shipping update, no receipt. They’re hitting “Contact Us” or — worse — filing chargebacks because they think the order didn’t go through. This is almost always a server-side mail delivery problem, not a WooCommerce bug.

What Causes WooCommerce Email Not Sending?

  1. Your host blocks PHP mail() — Cheap shared hosting frequently disables or throttles the default PHP mail function. WooCommerce relies on wp_mail(), which calls mail() under the hood.
  2. Emails land in spam — Messages sent from mail() lack SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication. Mail providers like Gmail trash them silently.
  3. A plugin conflict is hijacking wp_mail() — Some plugins override the mail function or filter email headers in ways that break delivery.
  4. WooCommerce email settings are misconfigured — Wrong “From” address, disabled email templates, or a mismatch between your sending domain and your site URL.
  5. Your server’s mail queue is stuck — Postfix or Sendmail on the server has a backlog or is misconfigured, and emails sit in a queue that never flushes.

How to Fix It

Step 1: Confirm Emails Are Actually Failing

Before you change anything, prove the problem. Enable WordPress debug logging and send a test.

Add this to wp-config.php (before the “That’s all, stop editing!” line):

All Error Fixes