WOOCOMMERCE EMAILS

WooCommerce emails not sending: new order, processing, completed

A customer says they never got a confirmation. You did not get the new order alert. Or one email type works and another does not. WooCommerce sends its mail through WordPress's mail function, wp_mail(), so many "WooCommerce email problems" are really problems with how the site sends mail at all.

The official WooCommerce email FAQ gives a clear order of attack. This guide follows it and explains what each result means.

Which symptom do you have?

No emails of any kind. Look at the mail sender, steps 5 and 6.

Only some emails missing. Look at the per-email settings and the order status, steps 1 to 3.

Emails show as sent but never arrive. The log says WooCommerce did its part. The problem is delivery: sender address, authentication, spam. Steps 5 and 6.

Admin or password reset emails missing. These are not in the transactional-emails log. See the note after step 7.

The checks, in order

1. Look at the order status. WooCommerce says an order in Pending Payment does not send an email. If the customer never finished paying, nothing is broken. If you did receive the money and the order still says Pending Payment, WooCommerce says the payment gateway is probably not reporting back to your site. That is a gateway problem, not an email problem, so check the gateway's own docs or support.
2. Check the email is turned on. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails. Open the email you expect and confirm Enable this email notification is ticked. For admin emails like New order, also check the recipient field.
3. Read the email log. Go to WooCommerce > Status > Logs and choose the source transactional-emails. Every attempt is recorded with an outcome: Sent, Failed, Disabled or Skipped. Sent means WooCommerce handed it to WordPress mail. Failed means the attempt errored and the text tells you why. Disabled means that email is switched off. For order emails, Sent and Failed attempts are also added as private order notes, which is the quickest place to look for one specific customer. Disabled and Skipped appear only in the log. Skipped means a needed condition was missing, such as no recipient.
4. If the log is empty, check logging. Make sure logging is enabled and the log threshold is not set high enough to hide the entries. An empty log may mean nothing was recorded, not that nothing happened.
5. Check the From address. WooCommerce says the From address should use your site's own domain, not a free address such as Gmail or Yahoo. Our suggestion: send yourself a test and look at the raw headers to see what the receiving side saw.
6. Use a proper mail sender and check authentication. WooCommerce recommends a dedicated SMTP provider and checking your email authentication. In plain terms, the records on your domain have to say that the service sending your mail is allowed to. Your host or mail provider can tell you which records are needed.
7. Rule out a conflict. WooCommerce suggests switching to a default theme and turning off every plugin except WooCommerce, then placing a test order. If email works, turn plugins back on one by one until it breaks. Our suggestion: do this on a staging copy, not a busy live store.

The admin and password reset catch. Those emails are not recorded in the transactional-emails log. For them, use your SMTP provider's logs or a mail logging plugin.

What the log result tells you (our suggestion, built from the steps above)

How to know it is fixed

Place a test order with an address you can read, using a payment method that moves the order past Pending Payment. Watch for Sent in the log and the note on the order, then confirm the email arrives, and check spam too. Our suggestion: test once with a Gmail address and once with a work address, since providers filter differently.

When to hand it over

If the log says Sent and mail still vanishes, you are in domain authentication territory. If the log says Failed with a server error, the host may be blocking outgoing mail. If a plugin conflict is the cause, replacing it may need custom work. If it is just a switch or a recipient, it is a quick fix.

If you'd rather have it fixed: $299 for one defined problem, with the $99 diagnosis credited. Send us the store address and what the log shows: tidewellsystems.com/#contact

Questions

Why do I get no email when an order is Pending Payment?

WooCommerce does not send one in that status.

Do I need an SMTP plugin?

WooCommerce recommends a dedicated SMTP provider. Which plugin connects it is your choice.

Where are the old attempts?

In the transactional-emails log, if logging was on at the time. Sent and Failed order emails also leave a private note on the order.