Noor Alam

<a href="https://wphowto.net/gmail-smtp-plugin-for-wordpress-1341" rel="nofollow ugc">Gmail SMTP</a> plugin allows you to authenticate with your Gmail account to send email via Gmail SMTP server.
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Most shared hosting servers have restrictions when it comes to email. Usually email will get blocked or missing for no reason. Sometimes it will get blocked when your website reaches the daily limit of outgoing email. This plugin can bypass this issue by routing the email through Gmail’s SMTP server.
<h3>Gmail SMTP Add-ons</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wphowto.net/how-to-add-a-reply-to-address-in-the-gmail-smtp-wordpress-plugin-6756" rel="nofollow ugc">Reply-To</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wphowto.net/gmail-smtp-plugin-cc-configuration-6770" rel="nofollow ugc">Cc</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wphowto.net/gmail-smtp-email-logger-7336" rel="nofollow ugc">Email Logger</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Gmail SMTP Benefits</h3>
<ul>
<li>Gmail SMTP plugin is not like most SMTP plugins. It uses the OAuth 2.0 protocol to authorize access to the Gmail API – which means a more secure login system and users won’t have to enter any username or password.</li>
<li>Gmail SMTP plugin uses PHPMailer – a very popular library used for sending email through PHP’s mail function. This libary is also used in the core WordPress to send email.</li>
<li>Gmail SMTP plugin utilizes “wp_mail” (A function used by WordPress to send email) instead of completely overriding it. This way you still get all the benefits of the default mail function. </li>
<li>You no longer need to enable Allow less secure apps on your gmail account to fix SMTP connection issue. This issue became prominent from December 2014, when Google started imposing XOAUTH2 authentication (based on OAuth2) to access their apps. This issue still affects almost all the SMTP plugins because they authenticate via username and password.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How OAuth 2.0 Authorization Works</h3>
<ul>
<li>You register an application in the Google Developers Console.</li>
<li>The application is launched and it requests that you give it access to data in your Google account.</li>
<li>If you consent, the application receives credentials to access the Gmail API.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Gmail SMTP Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Configure your website to send email using Gmail SMTP server</li>
<li>Authenticate using OAuth 2.0 protocol</li>
<li>Authenticate with encryption when sending an email (TLS/SSL)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Gmail SMTP Basic Setup</h3>
<ul>
<li>Create a new project in Google Developers Console.</li>
<li>Enable Gmail API in it.</li>
<li>Create credentials (OAuth client ID) to access this API.</li>
<li>Configure the consent screen for the web application.</li>
<li>Enter a Product Name and a Privacy policy URL.</li>
<li>Once the consent screen is configured, create a web application.</li>
<li>Go to the plugin settings (<code>Settings->Gmail SMTP</code>).</li>
<li>Set the Authorized Redirect URL of the application as the one shown in the settings.</li>
<li>Finish creating the web app.</li>
<li>Copy the newly created Client ID and Client secret and paste into the settings area.</li>
<li>Enter your OAuth Email, From Email and From name.</li>
<li>Select an encryption.</li>
<li>Enter a port number.</li>
<li>Save the settings.</li>
<li>Now you can authorize your application to access the Gmail API by clicking on the Grant Permission button.</li>
<li>Once the application has been authorized Gmail SMTP plugin will be able to take control of all outgoing email.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Gmail SMTP Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li>Authorized Redirect URI: Authorized redirect URL for your website. You need to copy this URL into your web application.</li>
<li>Client ID: The client ID of your web application.</li>
<li>Client secret: The client secret of your web application.</li>
<li>OAuth Email Address: The email address that you will use for SMTP authentication. This should be the same email used in the Google Developers Console.</li>
<li>From Email Address: The email address which will be used as the From Address when sending an email.</li>
<li>From Name: The name which will be used as the From Name when sending an email.</li>
<li>Type of Encryption: The encryption which will be used when sending an email (TLS/SSL. TLS is recommended).</li>
<li>SMTP Port: The port which will be used when sending an email. If you choose TLS it should be set to 587. For SSL use port 465 instead.</li>
<li>Disable SSL Certificate Verification: As of PHP 5.6 a warning/error will be displayed if the SSL certificate on the server is not properly configured. You can check this option to disable that default behaviour.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Gmail SMTP Test Email</h3>
Once you have configured the settings you can send a test email to check the functionality of the plugin.
<ul>
<li>To: Email address of the recipient.</li>
<li>Subject: Subject of the email.</li>
<li>Message: Email body.</li>
</ul>
For detailed setup instructions please visit the <a href="https://wphowto.net/gmail-smtp-plugin-for-wordpress-1341" rel="nofollow ugc">Gmail SMTP</a> plugin page.

Gmail SMTP


Only the necessary settings, simple and clean, good description. Thanks!


All is good!


The plugin is great when it works.



The plugin suddenly stopped working. I contacted support, they checked the site, and stopped answering. They did not say yes, no, we can or cannot fix it. They stopped answering.My finding are that the plugin only works on small wordpress website installs, on the root directory.



The plugin is not capable to handle large sites or sites installed on directories other than the root.That means, if you grow, you will start encountering problems with this plugin. Same as I did.



I am now using Fluent SMTP, it works out of the box with no sweat.



Thanks 


Good when it works, only for small sites installed at root

Connect to Gmail SMTP server to automatically send email from your WordPress site. Configure wp_mail() to use SMTP with OAuth 2.0 authentication.

Redigit

Emerge Mail replaces SMTP plugins for transactional WordPress email. Connect one or more mail accounts and every <code>wp_mail()</code> call your site makes — password resets, comment notifications, WooCommerce receipts, contact-form submissions — is delivered through that account.
Seven providers, one unified send path:
<ul>
<li>Gmail (OAuth) — sign in to your Google account; no SMTP password needed.</li>
<li>Microsoft 365 / Outlook (OAuth) — sign in to personal Outlook/Hotmail/Live or Microsoft 365 work/school accounts.</li>
<li>SendGrid (API key) — paste a v3 API key with Mail Send permission.</li>
<li>Mailgun (API key) — paste a private API key, sending domain, and pick your region (US or EU).</li>
<li>Amazon SES (Sigv4) — paste an IAM access key + secret with <code>ses:SendEmail</code> permission. No AWS SDK dependency.</li>
<li>Brevo (API key) — paste a v3 API key.</li>
<li>Generic SMTP — host + port + encryption + username + password for any SMTP server (your own host, an SES SMTP endpoint, Postmark SMTP, Fastmail, mailcow, etc.).</li>
</ul>
Because the From address is your own authenticated mailbox or verified sender, messages benefit from SPF, DKIM, and DMARC alignment that PHP’s <code>mail()</code> function cannot provide. This typically results in dramatically better inbox placement than default WordPress mail.
<h4>Key features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Seven providers (above), all sharing the same routing, failover, and From-email overrides.</li>
<li>Multiple connections per site with automatic failover. The Active connection sends first; if it fails, the next available connection is tried, with a 10-minute cooldown on failed connections. Mix-and-match across providers — e.g. SendGrid primary, an SMTP fallback, and a Gmail mailbox as the last-resort backup.</li>
<li>Optional bulk-send throttle: when a burst of sends is detected, rotate through your connected accounts instead of hammering the Active one.</li>
<li>Per-connection From email override for verified send-as aliases / verified senders.</li>
<li>Configurable sender defaults: a custom From name and an opt-in “Reply-To = admin email when sender differs” setting.</li>
<li>Full <code>wp_mail</code> compatibility: To/Cc/Bcc (including from headers), HTML bodies, multipart alternative, attachments, custom headers, RFC 2822 address formats including comma-separated lists and quoted display names, non-UTF-8 charsets.</li>
<li>RFC 2047 encoding for non-ASCII subjects and display names.</li>
<li>One-click Send test button per connection.</li>
<li>Email Controls page: opt-in suppression of WordPress core self-notifications you don’t want to receive (comment moderation, automatic updates, new-user registered, etc.) — recorded to the Activity Log instead.</li>
<li>Activity Log page: unified record of suppressed notifications, provider send errors, and recipient bounces — with type and severity filters, bulk delete, and automatic 30-day pruning.</li>
<li>Bounce classification: provider-specific error patterns map to a unified <code>send.bounce.*</code> / <code>send.error.*</code> taxonomy so per-recipient bounces are distinguished from transport outages across all seven providers.</li>
<li>Last-error visibility per connection and a site-wide admin notice on recent failures.</li>
<li>Automatic hourly token refresh for OAuth connections (Action Scheduler when available, WP-Cron fallback). API-key connections require no maintenance.</li>
<li>Safe fallback to default WordPress mail delivery on any failure — the plugin never blocks email.</li>
<li>Extensible via filters: cooldown, bulk thresholds, HTTP timeouts, token-refresh timing, MIME output, suppression catalog.</li>
</ul>
<h4>How it works</h4>
When you connect an account, the credentials (OAuth tokens, or your API key / SMTP password) are encrypted with a per-site key and stored as a WordPress option. From that point on, your site talks directly to the provider’s API or SMTP endpoint; no third party sits in the send path.
The plugin hooks <code>pre_wp_mail</code>. If at least one connection is active, the message is routed through it. If the provider returns an error — or if no connections are configured — WordPress’s default mail delivery takes over transparently.
<h4>What this is not</h4>
<ul>
<li>Not a marketing or bulk email tool. No subscriber lists, no campaigns, no broadcasts.</li>
<li>Not a shared-IP SMTP relay. Each site sends from its own connected accounts.</li>
<li>Not a way to spoof arbitrary From addresses. The provider will reject anything that isn’t an authorized sender on the connected account.</li>
</ul>
<h3>External services</h3>
To deliver mail, Emerge Mail can communicate with up to eight external services depending on which providers you connect. An optional ninth service (anonymous usage reporting) is off by default and only activated when the operator explicitly opts in. By installing and using this plugin you agree to use of these services. Nothing is contacted until you connect at least one provider in the plugin settings — every external call below is gated on the corresponding connection existing or the telemetry toggle being enabled.
<h4>1. Emerge OAuth service (emerge.redigit.net)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: A stateless OAuth proxy operated by the plugin author. It exists to broker the OAuth authorization handshake between your WordPress site and Google or Microsoft so the plugin can be authorized to send mail from your mailbox. The proxy holds the OAuth client secrets that Google and Microsoft would otherwise require every site to register individually.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>When you click Connect Gmail or Connect Microsoft, your browser is redirected to <code>https://emerge.redigit.net/oauth/{provider}/authorize</code> with a PKCE code challenge and a state token generated by your site. No personal data is sent.</li>
<li>When the provider redirects back, your site posts the authorization code and PKCE verifier to <code>https://emerge.redigit.net/oauth/{provider}/token</code> to receive the access and refresh tokens. The tokens are returned directly to your site and stored locally, encrypted, in <code>wp_options</code>. The proxy does not persist them.</li>
<li>When an access token nears expiry, your site posts the refresh token to <code>https://emerge.redigit.net/oauth/{provider}/refresh</code> to obtain a new access token. Again, nothing is persisted on the proxy.</li>
<li>No email content, recipient lists, or message metadata is ever sent to the proxy.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>Terms of Service: <a href="https://emerge.redigit.net/terms-of-service" rel="nofollow ugc">https://emerge.redigit.net/terms-of-service</a></li>
<li>Privacy Policy: <a href="https://emerge.redigit.net/privacy-policy" rel="nofollow ugc">https://emerge.redigit.net/privacy-policy</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>2. Google APIs (Gmail)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you connect a Gmail mailbox. Once authorized, the plugin sends every <code>wp_mail()</code> message directly to the Gmail API (<code>gmail.googleapis.com</code>) from your WordPress site. Periodically the plugin also calls the Google OAuth userinfo endpoint (<code>www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v2/userinfo</code>) to verify the access token is still valid.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through a Gmail connection: the full outbound message (To/Cc/Bcc, subject, body, attachments, custom headers) is POSTed to <code>https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/messages/send</code> as a base64-encoded RFC822 message. This is what’s required for the message to reach the recipient.</li>
<li>On token validation: a Bearer token is sent to <code>https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v2/userinfo</code>. No message data is included.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>Google Terms of Service: <a href="https://policies.google.com/terms" rel="nofollow ugc">https://policies.google.com/terms</a></li>
<li>Google Privacy Policy: <a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">https://policies.google.com/privacy</a></li>
<li>Google API Services User Data Policy: <a href="https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-policy" rel="nofollow ugc">https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-policy</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>3. Microsoft Graph (Outlook / Microsoft 365)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you connect a Microsoft mailbox. Once authorized, the plugin sends every <code>wp_mail()</code> message directly to Microsoft Graph (<code>graph.microsoft.com</code>) from your WordPress site. Periodically the plugin also calls Graph’s <code>/me</code> endpoint to verify the access token is still valid.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through a Microsoft connection: the full outbound message (To/Cc/Bcc, subject, body, attachments, custom headers) is POSTed to <code>https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/sendMail</code> as a JSON payload. This is what’s required for the message to reach the recipient.</li>
<li>On token validation: a Bearer token is sent to <code>https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me</code>. No message data is included.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>Microsoft Services Agreement: <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement</a></li>
<li>Microsoft Privacy Statement: <a href="https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement" rel="nofollow ugc">https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>4. SendGrid (api.sendgrid.com)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you add a SendGrid connection. The plugin sends every <code>wp_mail()</code> message routed through that connection directly to the SendGrid Mail Send API. The connect-time validation also calls SendGrid’s <code>/v3/user/profile</code> to confirm the API key works.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through a SendGrid connection: the outbound message (recipients, subject, body, attachments, custom headers) is POSTed to <code>https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/mail/send</code> as a JSON payload.</li>
<li>On connect: an authenticated GET is sent to <code>https://api.sendgrid.com/v3/user/profile</code> to validate the API key. No message data is included.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>SendGrid Terms: <a href="https://www.twilio.com/legal/tos" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.twilio.com/legal/tos</a></li>
<li>SendGrid Privacy Statement: <a href="https://www.twilio.com/legal/privacy" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.twilio.com/legal/privacy</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>5. Mailgun (api.mailgun.net or api.eu.mailgun.net)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you add a Mailgun connection. The plugin sends every <code>wp_mail()</code> message routed through that connection directly to the Mailgun Messages API on the region (US or EU) you select at connect time.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through a Mailgun connection: the outbound message (recipients, subject, body, attachments, custom headers) is POSTed as multipart/form-data to <code>https://api.mailgun.net/v3/{your-domain}/messages</code> (or the EU equivalent).</li>
<li>On connect: an authenticated GET is sent to <code>/v3/domains/{your-domain}</code> to validate the API key + domain pairing. No message data is included.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>Mailgun Terms of Service: <a href="https://www.mailgun.com/legal/terms/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.mailgun.com/legal/terms/</a></li>
<li>Mailgun Privacy Policy: <a href="https://www.mailgun.com/legal/privacy-policy/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.mailgun.com/legal/privacy-policy/</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>6. Amazon SES (email.{region}.amazonaws.com)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you add an Amazon SES connection. The plugin sends every <code>wp_mail()</code> message routed through that connection directly to the SES v2 SendEmail API in the AWS region you select at connect time. Requests are signed with AWS Signature V4 using the IAM credentials you provided.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through a SES connection: the outbound message (recipients, subject, body, custom headers) is POSTed to <code>https://email.{region}.amazonaws.com/v2/email/outbound-emails</code> as a JSON payload.</li>
<li>On connect: a signed GET is sent to <code>/v2/email/account</code> in the same region to validate the credentials. No message data is included.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>AWS Customer Agreement: <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/agreement/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://aws.amazon.com/agreement/</a></li>
<li>AWS Privacy Notice: <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>7. Brevo (api.brevo.com)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you add a Brevo connection. The plugin sends every <code>wp_mail()</code> message routed through that connection directly to the Brevo Transactional Email API.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through a Brevo connection: the outbound message (recipients, subject, body, attachments, custom headers) is POSTed to <code>https://api.brevo.com/v3/smtp/email</code> as a JSON payload.</li>
<li>On connect: an authenticated GET is sent to <code>https://api.brevo.com/v3/account</code> to validate the API key. No message data is included.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy:
<ul>
<li>Brevo Terms of Use: <a href="https://www.brevo.com/legal/termsofuse/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.brevo.com/legal/termsofuse/</a></li>
<li>Brevo Privacy Policy: <a href="https://www.brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy/</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>8. Your own SMTP server (Generic SMTP)</h4>
What it is and what it’s used for: Used only when you add a Generic SMTP connection. The plugin opens an SMTP connection to whatever host:port you specify, authenticates with the username and password you provide, and sends <code>wp_mail()</code> messages via SMTP. WordPress’s bundled PHPMailer library handles the SMTP protocol.
What data is sent, when:
<ul>
<li>On each <code>wp_mail()</code> call routed through this connection: the outbound message (recipients, subject, body, attachments, custom headers) is transmitted over SMTP to your configured host.</li>
<li>On connect: PHPMailer opens the SMTP connection, runs EHLO + STARTTLS (if enabled), and authenticates — no message is sent.</li>
</ul>
Terms and privacy: Determined by whichever SMTP server you choose to connect to. This plugin does not introduce any third-party SMTP relay; you control the destination.

Emerge Mail

Route wp_mail through Gmail, Microsoft, SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Brevo, or any SMTP server. OAuth or bring-your-own-key, with multi-mailbox fail …

Gmail SMTP vs Emerge Mail