Is your Elementor form not sending emails after someone submits it?
The form can work correctly while email notifications fail somewhere between Elementor, WordPress, your mailer, and the recipient’s inbox. Elementor triggers the email action, while WordPress processes the request through wp_mail() and PHPMailer. So changing the mailer alone won’t fix issues such as incorrect field IDs or missing email actions.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to diagnose and fix Elementor form email problems, verify Elementor email settings, correct field IDs and email shortcodes, configure SMTP with Post SMTP, test WordPress email, inspect email logs, and troubleshoot spam, authentication, and common Elementor errors.
Why Is My Elementor Form Not Sending Emails?
An Elementor form can fail before it reaches the email stage, during WordPress’s mail process, or after the message leaves your website.
That’s why SMTP isn’t always the first place to look.
Cause 1: The form isn’t submitting correctly
If the Submit button doesn’t work, the form shows an error, or the page keeps spinning, investigate the form itself first.
Required fields, field IDs, JavaScript, caching, integrations, security plugins, and theme conflicts can all affect form processing.
Cause 2: The Email action isn’t configured
Elementor uses Actions After Submit to control what happens after a visitor submits a form.
The Email action sends the submission to your chosen address, while the Email 2 notification can send a confirmation to the visitor.
If you remove Email from Actions After Submit, or if its recipient, sender, Reply-To, or message settings contain an error, Elementor can process the form without sending the notification you expect.
Cause 3: WordPress can’t send the message
Elementor sends form email through WordPress’s wp_mail() function.
WordPress uses PHPMailer to process wp_mail(). By default, PHPMailer uses PHP’s mail() function, while an SMTP or API mailer can change the way WordPress sends the message.
So a form can work perfectly while the WordPress email transport fails.
Cause 4: The email leaves WordPress but doesn’t reach the inbox
A successful wp_mail() attempt doesn’t guarantee that the recipient received the message or that it reached the inbox.
At that point, check the spam folder, sender authentication, recipient-side filtering, mailbox rules, and the receiving mail server.
Email delivery has another layer.
SPF, DKIM, DMARC, sender reputation, and recipient-provider filtering can affect what happens after your website hands off the message.
Identify Where Elementor Form Email Delivery Fails
Run one controlled test instead. Submit the form yourself, then check each stage to identify the failure point.
| What happens? | Likely problem | What to check next |
| Form doesn’t submit | Form or frontend problem | Required fields, field IDs, JavaScript, integrations |
| Server_error appears | Field, shortcode, integration, or server issue | Field IDs, email shortcodes, server/PHP logs |
| Submission appears in Elementor Submissions, but no email arrives | Email workflow or sending problem | Email action, mail settings, WordPress mailer |
| No submission appears | Form-processing problem | Form configuration, integrations, conflicts |
| Admin receives the notification, but the visitor doesn’t receive the confirmation | Visitor email notification or recipient-side delivery problem | Visitor email field, recipient address, spam filtering |
| Post SMTP test fails | WordPress mailer problem | Credentials, API/SMTP settings, host, port, authentication |
| Post SMTP test succeeds, but Elementor doesn’t send | Elementor workflow or integration problem | Actions After Submit, Email, field IDs, shortcodes, integrations |
| Email log shows the message as sent, but the recipient doesn’t receive it | Delivery or inbox problem | Spam, authentication, recipient filtering, mailbox rules |
Elementor separates Collect Submissions, Email, and the visitor email notifications into different actions. That gives you useful checkpoints when you troubleshoot the form rather than forcing you to guess where the failure occurs.
Steps to Fix Elementor Form Not Sending Emails
Work through these seven steps in order. Don’t change several unrelated settings at once; you’ll lose the clue that tells you where the problem started.
Step 1: Check Elementor Form Email Settings
- Go to Pages → All Pages.
- Click on Edit with Elementor under the page that has the Elementor Form.
- Select your Form widget, click on the “Actions After Submit” dropdown.
- Make sure Email appears in the action list.
- If not, then add it and click Publish on the top right.
Step 2: Fix Elementor Email Settings, Field IDs, and Shortcodes
Elementor field IDs connect your form fields with the information that appears in email notifications.
For example:
Field ID: email
Email shortcode: [field id=”email”]
The shortcode must match the field ID exactly.
If you copy a shortcode from another form, plugin, or source, Elementor may reject it and show a Server_error.
Check each field involved in your email:
- In your Form widget, click on Email dropdown.
- Enter the correct tags for To, Subject, and Message. Then double check if the From Email, From Name, and Reply-To are correct.
- Click on Publish to save changes.
- Scroll up and click on the Form Field dropdown.
- Select any field, click on Advanced.
- Check the field’s ID and shortcode.
- Make sure every form field has a unique ID and that each email shortcode matches its field ID.
- Click Publish to save changes.
Keep every field ID unique.
Step 3: Install, Activate, and Configure Post SMTP
If Elementor captures the submission correctly but WordPress can’t send the notification, configure an authenticated mailer through Post SMTP.
This is the WordPress email delivery layer.
Post SMTP gives WordPress a configured mailer connection and tools to test and investigate email failures.
- Go to Plugins → Add Plugin.
- Enter Post SMTP in the top-right search bar.
- Click on Install Now, then click on Activate.
You will be redirected to the setup wizard, and you can now configure your SMTP mailer.
- Select any mailer for your Elementor Form. Post SMTP supports 20+ SMTP mailer integrations, such as Gmail, Brevo, Zoho Mail, Gmail, Microsoft 365, Amazon SES, and others. Depending on your SMTP service selection, Post SMTP can connect through SMTP credentials or an API-based integration.
For this guide, we are choosing SendGrid.
- Enter a valid From Email and From Name. If other plugins or themes may override these values, enable the option that prevents them from changing your sender details.
- Enter the required SMTP credentials, API key, or authorize the OAuth connection, depending on the mailer you choose. For SendGrid, you only need an API key, which you can generate from your SendGrid account. Once you’ve entered the required details, click “Save and Continue.”
- In the next wizard step, click on Send Test Email to test SMTP configuration.
- Once the test email gives a success status, you are good to go; move to the next step.
Post SMTP doesn’t replace Elementor. It handles the mail transport after Elementor triggers the WordPress email process.
What the Post SMTP Test Result Tells You
If the Post SMTP test fails, focus on your mailer settings, credentials, API connection, SMTP host, port, or authentication.
If the Post SMTP test succeeds but the Elementor form still doesn’t send, the problem likely lies in the Elementor form configuration, email action, field IDs, shortcodes, or integrations.
This test helps separate a WordPress mail-sending problem from an Elementor form problem.
Step 4: Fix the From Email and Name
Keep your website’s sender details separate from the visitor’s email address.
Use an email address from your own domain in the From Email field, and set the visitor’s address as Reply-To. This gives your website a consistent sender identity while still letting you reply directly to the person who submitted the form.
Here’s how to configure the From Email and From Name settings in Post SMTP.
- Go to Post SMTP → Settings.
- Click on the Message tab.
- Enter a valid From Email Address and From Name. Tick “Prevent plugins and themes from changing this.”
- Scroll down and click Save Changes.
This setup also gives your authenticated mail service a consistent sender identity.
Step 5: Check Post SMTP Email Logs
- After submitting your Elementor form, open your Post SMTP Email Log.
- Find the message and review the status and, if failed, the error information.
- If it appears as failed, click on View Details beside Failed Status.
- After fixing the issue, you can also resend the email by clicking on the Resend button under Actions.
And don’t confuse a successful sending attempt with confirmed inbox delivery.
WordPress makes that distinction explicitly: a successful wp_mail() result means the mail method processed the request without an error; it doesn’t prove that the recipient received the message.
💡 Pro Tip: After fixing the issue, you can also resend the email by clicking on the Resend button under Actions.
Step 6: Check the Visitor Email Notification
If the site owner receives the Elementor notification but the visitor doesn’t receive a confirmation, check Email 2.
This problem often affects forms that need to send two messages: one notification to the site owner and another confirmation to the person who submitted the form.
Open the Form widget.
Go to:
Actions After Submit → Email 2
Make sure Email 2 appears in the action list.
Then open Email 2 and check the To field.
If you want to send the confirmation to the visitor, use the email field shortcode.
For example:
[field id=”email”]
Also check the Email field itself.
Make sure its field ID matches the shortcode used in Email 2.
If the visitor’s email address never reaches Email 2, Elementor can’t send the confirmation to the right recipient.
Then submit another test form.
Check the Post SMTP email log and the visitor’s inbox.
If the message appears in the log but doesn’t reach the visitor, check the spam folder and recipient-side filtering.
Step 7: Fix Elementor Emails Going to Spam
If the Elementor form works and the email leaves your website but lands in spam, the problem has moved beyond form processing.
Start by checking your sender identity and domain authentication. Post SMTP includes a built-in Spam Score Checker that can help you review the authentication and domain signals associated with your sending address.
- Go to the Post SMTP dashboard and, under Troubleshooting, open Spam Score Checker.
- Click on Copy Email Address to Clipboard.
- Send a test email from your configured sending address.
- Return to Spam Score Checker and click Confirm Email Sent.
- Review the resulting checks.
Check SPF
SPF tells receiving systems which servers and email services are authorized to send messages for your domain. Make sure the SPF record published in your domain’s DNS matches the requirements of your mail provider or sending service.
Check DKIM
DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to outgoing messages. Receiving systems use this signature to verify that the message came through an authorized sending path and that the signed content has not been altered.
Check DMARC
DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM. It lets your domain publish instructions for messages that fail authentication and helps receiving systems evaluate whether the visible From domain aligns with the authenticated sending domains.
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC help authenticate your sending domain and give receiving providers useful signals when they evaluate your messages.
Fix Common Elementor Form Errors
Elementor email problems don’t always look like email problems.
A form error can stop the workflow before WordPress ever receives an email request.
- Server_error
A Server_error can occur when Elementor can’t process a field, shortcode, integration, or server request correctly.
Try these steps:
- Check field IDs: Open each form field’s Advanced tab and make sure it has a unique ID.
- Check email shortcodes: Use the shortcode shown in the field’s Advanced tab in your email message.
- Check integrations: Temporarily disable third-party integrations and test the form again.
- Check server logs: Review your server and PHP error logs for related errors.
- Test the form again: Submit a fresh test after each change to identify the cause.
- “An error occurred”
Don’t assume SMTP caused it.
Check:
- Required fields
- Field IDs
- Email shortcodes
- Third-party integrations
- API connections
- Plugin conflicts
- Theme conflicts
Test the form again after each relevant change.
- “The form is invalid”
Check the fields first.
Make sure required fields contain valid values and that each field has a unique ID.
If you’ve connected an integration, check whether its field mapping still matches the form.
- The form refreshes or keeps spinning
A form that never completes may have a frontend problem rather than an email problem.
Check:
- Browser console errors
- JavaScript conflicts
- Caching
- Security plugins
- Theme conflicts
- Third-party integrations
- REST/AJAX requests
Temporarily disable the suspected component and test the form again.
Keep Your Elementor Form Emails Working
When an Elementor form stops sending emails, troubleshoot the delivery path instead of assuming the mailer is at fault.
First, confirm that Elementor captures the submission. Then check Actions After Submit, field IDs, email settings, and the WordPress mailer. Use the email log to confirm whether WordPress processed the submission and attempted to send the message.
If Elementor captures the submission but no email is generated, focus on the form configuration. If the message reaches the mailer but not the recipient, check SPF, DKIM, DMARC, spam filtering, and mailbox rules.
Post SMTP helps you authenticate your WordPress mailer, test email delivery, review email logs, and identify where Elementor notifications fail.
Try Post SMTP Pro and take control of your WordPress email delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my Elementor form show Server_error?
Check the field IDs and email shortcodes first. Incorrect or unsupported shortcodes can trigger server errors. If they’re correct, check server logs, integrations, and plugin conflicts.
How do I configure Elementor form email notifications?
Go to Form widget → Actions After Submit → Email. Configure the To, Subject, Message, From Email, From Name, Reply-To, Cc, and Bcc fields as needed.
What should I use for Elementor’s From Email?
Use an email address from your website’s domain, such as forms@example.com. Use the visitor’s email as Reply-To, not as the sender.
How do I set Reply-To in Elementor Forms?
In the Email action, enter your email field’s shortcode in Reply-To. For example: [field id=”email”].
Why isn’t my Elementor form sending a confirmation email?
Make sure your form includes an Email field and that the visitor email notification is configured under Actions After Submit. Check that the To field uses the correct email field shortcode, such as [field id=”email”]. Then check the Post SMTP email log and the recipient’s spam folder.
Why does my Elementor form submit but not send an email?
If the submission appears under Elementor → Submissions, Elementor captures the data. Next, check the Email action, recipient, From address, Post SMTP log, and mail-sending status.
Why does my Post SMTP test work but Elementor doesn’t send emails?
A successful Post SMTP test confirms the mailer can send a test message, not that Elementor’s Email action is configured correctly. Check the Email action, field IDs, shortcodes, Email 2, integrations, and conflicts.
How do I check Elementor form submissions?
If Collect Submissions is available, go to WP Admin → Elementor → Submissions. Use submitted entries to determine whether Elementor captured the form data.
Does Elementor Forms support SMTP?
Yes. Elementor sends form emails through WordPress’s mail system, so an SMTP mailer can handle the underlying email transport. Configure Post SMTP or another compatible mailer when the default transport fails.
How do I fix Elementor form email errors after a plugin update?
Recheck the field IDs, Email action, integrations, mailer settings, caching, security plugins, and theme. Then submit a fresh test and check both Elementor Submissions and the Post SMTP email log.
