How to fix Gmail blocking emails from my WooCommerce WordPress site?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 18 Jun 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
8 min read
It is a common and frustrating problem for e-commerce store owners: your WooCommerce WordPress site isn't sending emails, or worse, the emails are being blocked by Gmail. This issue can severely impact customer communication, leading to missed orders, confusion, and a poor customer experience. Transactional emails, like order confirmations, shipping updates, and password resets, are critical to your business operations.
The root cause often lies in how WordPress and WooCommerce handle email sending by default. They typically use your web server's PHP mail function, which is not designed for reliable email delivery and often lacks the necessary authentication to pass modern spam filters, especially those employed by major providers like Gmail.
In this guide, I will walk you through the essential steps to diagnose and fix why Gmail might be blocking emails from your WooCommerce WordPress site. We'll cover everything from proper email configuration and authentication to understanding sender reputation and crucial monitoring practices, helping you ensure your important emails consistently reach your customers' inboxes.
Why Gmail blocks your WooCommerce emails
The primary reason why WordPress and WooCommerce emails struggle with deliverability is their default sending method. They rely on your hosting server's PHP mail function, which sends emails without proper authentication. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), like Gmail, are increasingly strict about email authentication to combat spam and phishing. Without it, your emails are often flagged as suspicious or outright blocked.
When emails are sent this way, they appear to originate from your web server, not a recognized email service, making them highly susceptible to being caught by spam filters or even blacklisted (or blocklisted) by receiving mail servers. This is why you might see emails not even reaching the spam folder, but instead being soft-bounced by the recipient's server without any visible delivery.
The solution is to configure your WooCommerce site to send emails using a dedicated email service provider (ESP) or an SMTP server. This method ensures that your emails are sent through authenticated channels, significantly improving their chances of reaching the inbox. Using an SMTP plugin for WordPress is the most straightforward way to achieve this, as it bypasses the unreliable PHP mail function and routes your emails through a professional mail server.
Default PHP mail
Sending method: Uses your web server’s native mail function, often lacking authentication.
Deliverability: Low, prone to being marked as spam or blocked by ISPs due to missing authentication.
Security: Less secure, emails are often sent unencrypted and are more vulnerable.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
Sending method: Uses a dedicated SMTP server (e.g., from an ESP), providing robust authentication.
Deliverability: High, as emails are properly authenticated and trusted by receiving mail servers.
Security: Secure, emails are often encrypted and sent through reliable, monitored infrastructure.
Configuring an SMTP plugin on your WordPress site is a critical step. This involves installing a plugin, connecting it to your chosen email service provider, and entering the SMTP credentials. Once set up, all emails from your WooCommerce store, including order notifications, will be routed through this more reliable and authenticated system.
The foundation of trust: email authentication
Email authentication is the bedrock of good deliverability. For Gmail, this means having correctly configured SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain. These records tell receiving mail servers that your emails are legitimate and prevent spoofing or unauthorized sending.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Specifies which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. If an email comes from a server not listed in your SPF record, it may be rejected. You can learn more about what SPF is in our guide to SPF.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails, allowing the receiving server to verify that the email was not tampered with during transit and genuinely came from your domain. If your DKIM record is published, you should ensure there are no errors like no DKIM record found.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): Builds upon SPF and DKIM by allowing you to tell receiving mail servers what to do with emails that fail authentication (e.g., quarantine, reject) and provides reporting on email authentication results. Common issues can include DMARC policy not enabled warnings.
Your email service provider or SMTP plugin will typically guide you on how to set up these DNS records. You'll need to add specific TXT records to your domain's DNS settings. It’s crucial that these records are correctly formatted and published for them to be effective. A misconfigured SPF record, for example, can cause more harm than good, leading to emails being blocked.
Example SPF record for MailjetDNS
v=spf1 include:_spf.mailjet.com ~all
Even with an SMTP service and proper authentication, issues can arise. Sometimes, the problem lies with a misconfigured Return-Path. The Return-Path, also known as the Bounce Address, is where non-delivery reports (bounces) are sent. If this address is incorrect or not properly aligned with your sending domain and authenticated senders, Gmail might still block your emails, causing soft bounces.
For WordPress and WooCommerce, ensuring that your 'from' email address matches your domain is a crucial step. This alignment helps Gmail trust your emails. If the 'from' address (e.g., someone@yourdomain.com) doesn't match the domain associated with your authentication records, it can trigger spam filters. Always use an email address tied to your actual domain, not a generic gmail.com or yahoo.com address, as these are typically not allowed for automated sending.
Beyond authentication: reputation and monitoring
Beyond technical setup, your sender reputation plays a significant role in email deliverability. Gmail relies heavily on your domain and IP reputation to decide whether to deliver your emails. Even if your authentication is perfect, a poor reputation can lead to emails being blocked or sent to spam.
Factors that impact your sender reputation include spam complaints, bounce rates, sending to invalid or old email addresses (which can turn into spam traps), and sending inconsistent volumes. Google Postmaster Tools is an invaluable, free resource that provides insights into your domain's reputation, spam rate, and authentication errors with Gmail. Regularly checking this tool can help you identify and address issues proactively. You can find out more about Postmaster Tools domain reputation in our in-depth guide.
Even with a reputable SMTP service, your domain (or IP, if you have a dedicated one) can still end up on an email blacklist (or blocklist). These lists are maintained by various organizations and ISPs to identify and block sources of spam. If your domain is listed, it can severely impact your email deliverability. We provide a full explanation of what happens when your domain is blacklisted in our guide.
Best practices for maintaining a good sender reputation
Monitor delivery metrics: Regularly check your email service provider's reports for bounce rates and spam complaint rates.
Use Postmaster Tools: Enroll your domain in Google Postmaster Tools to get insights into your domain's health.
Clean your email lists: Remove inactive or invalid email addresses to reduce hard bounces.
Avoid sending spam: Ensure your content is relevant and not flagged as spam by recipients.
In addition to Postmaster Tools, you should use a reputable email logging plugin for WordPress to track all messages sent through your system. These third-party tools can provide invaluable diagnostic information, helping you quickly identify issues. Monitoring for bounces and understanding the bounce messages (e.g., SMTP error codes) is crucial for pinpointing the exact reason for non-delivery. This continuous monitoring is part of a healthy email deliverability strategy.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always use a dedicated SMTP service for all transactional emails from your WordPress/WooCommerce site.
Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records correctly for your sending domain and verify their alignment.
Monitor your sender reputation regularly using free tools like Google Postmaster Tools.
Maintain clean email lists by removing inactive or invalid addresses to minimize bounces and spam complaints.
Common pitfalls
Relying on the default PHP mail function for critical transactional emails, which lacks proper authentication.
Ignoring bounce messages or delivery failure notifications, preventing proper diagnosis.
Having outdated, incorrect, or missing email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Not aligning the 'From' email address with your authenticated sending domain.
Expert tips
Check your domain's Return-Path configuration, especially after migrating email sending methods.
Regularly check for any blacklist or blocklist listings of your sending IP or domain.
Test email delivery thoroughly across various email providers, including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.
Review your WooCommerce email settings to ensure transactional notifications are enabled and correctly configured.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says understanding the exact bounce message is crucial for diagnosing why Gmail is blocking emails, as it provides specific error codes and details.
2023-11-13 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says an initial diagnostic step involves sending a test email to a service like ping@tools.mxtoolbox.com to receive a comprehensive report on authentication and delivery.
2023-11-13 - Email Geeks
Summary and next steps
Having your transactional emails blocked by Gmail from your WooCommerce WordPress site can be a major headache, but it's a solvable problem. The key is to move away from the unreliable PHP mail function and embrace a robust email sending infrastructure. This means using a dedicated SMTP service and ensuring your domain is properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
Beyond the initial setup, consistent monitoring of your sender reputation, understanding bounce messages, and proactively checking for blacklist (or blocklist) issues are essential. By following these steps, you can significantly improve your email deliverability and ensure your crucial WooCommerce emails reach your customers reliably, every time. For more information, check out our guide on how to fix Gmail email deliverability issues.
Gmail, are increasingly strict about email authentication to combat spam and phishing. Without it, your emails are often flagged as suspicious or outright blocked.
Google Postmaster Tools is an invaluable, free resource that provides insights into your domain's reputation, spam rate, and authentication errors with Gmail. Regularly checking this tool can help you identify and address issues proactively. You can find out more about Postmaster Tools domain reputation in our in-depth guide.
