🧪 Connect WordPress wp_mail

WordPress wp_mail is the connection that needs no setup. The Mailer simply hands each email to WordPress, and WordPress passes it to whatever mail setup your site already has. It is added for you when the plugin is installed, so a brand new site can send a test straight away.

What it really does:

• If your site has an SMTP plugin, the email goes out through that plugin's service.
• If it does not, it goes out through your web server's own mail program.

A web server's own mail program usually has no sending reputation, no DKIM signature for your domain, and a low hourly cap set by the host. That is fine for a test, and it is why a real list belongs on one of the other connections.

Where to find it:

Open Delivery, then Sending. The connection is usually already in the table as WordPress wp_mail, with Provider "WordPress wp_mail (default)" and Priority 100. To add it again, click + Add Sender and choose WordPress wp_mail (default) in the Provider dropdown.

The form:

WordPress wp_mail has no provider boxes, only the checklist and the Routing boxes.

• Display name: for example WordPress wp_mail.
• From name, From email and Reply-To: used for this connection's test.
• Daily limit (0 = unlimited): usually 0, since wp_mail is the last resort.
• Priority (lower = preferred): makes no difference here, because wp_mail always goes last.
• Active: tick it to keep wp_mail as the final fallback, untick it to keep it out of the way.

Good jobs for wp_mail:

• Sending yourself a test while you set the plugin up.
• A handful of site emails from a site with no list.
• A last resort behind your real connections.

How it fits with your other connections:

• It always sorts last, whatever its priority number, so it never jumps ahead of a real service you have added.
• It never takes part in rotation, and it does not appear in the Send Rotation & Warmup table.
• When your real connections have used their Daily limit or warmup cap, waiting emails stay in the queue for the next day. They are never moved onto wp_mail.
• If every real connection reports an error for an email and wp_mail is Active, wp_mail is tried last.
• When wp_mail is your only active connection, it carries all your mail.
• It has no bounce webhook, so it does not appear in the Bounce & complaint webhook box.

Using it, step by step:

1. Open Delivery, then Sending.
2. Click Test on the WordPress wp_mail row.
3. Check where the test landed. If it went to spam, that is a good preview of what would happen to a broadcast.
4. Before you mail a real list, add one of the other connections. See Which Sending Service Should I Pick?

Removing it:

Click Remove on its row and confirm. The plugin remembers your choice, so the entry does not come back after a plugin update. You can add it again at any time with + Add Sender.

A real example:

Leafwise Gardening keeps WordPress wp_mail in the table at Priority 100 with Active ticked, behind Amazon SES, SMTP2GO and Postmark. Its Sent today shows 0, which is exactly what Anna wants: her three real services carry the newsletter, and wp_mail would only be tried if all three reported an error for the same email.

Tips:

• Use wp_mail to check the plugin works on day one, then connect a real service before your first broadcast. See Setting Up Sending With SMTP.
• For the easiest real setups, see Connect SMTP2GO or Connect Resend.
• If you already pay for a mail service, see Connect Your Own SMTP Server.
• If you never want wp_mail used, untick Active or Remove it.

If something does not look right:

• If a test through wp_mail never arrives, your host may block or cap outgoing mail. Connect a real service instead.
• If the test fails with "wp_mail() returned false", WordPress could not hand the email to the server. Connect a real service, or ask your host about mail on your plan.
• If broadcasts seem to go through wp_mail, check that your real connections are Active and that their tests show OK.