The Contact Form 7 (CF7) plugin successfully sends millions of emails every day. Still, many do not send or arrive. What you put in the From: field can determine if your CF7 email is sent and received.
A simple and effective way to avoid most problems is to always use an email address that belongs to the same domain as your WordPress site in the From: field.
Every CF7 form needs a suitable From: address
In Contact Form 7, the Mail tab/section is where you enter the From: email address.
Contact Form 7 uses the info in the Mail tab to send an email – just like a regular email you send from your computer. To do that it needs a From: email address.
Because the Contact Form 7 email is being sent from your website, it really needs to be seen as coming from your website.
For example if your website is at mysite.com, then you should use an email address like me@mysite.com in the From: field in the Mail tab.
Example MAIL settings
To: [your-name] <[your-email]> From: me@mysite.com
Tip:
[your-name] <[your-email]>uses correct email format to send an email to the form user.
Otherwise it’s now likely that some of your CF7 emails will be rejected as spam somewhere.
Go to Your email may be treated as SPAM for a more detailed explanation of the issue and how to fix it.
Don’t use the customer’s email address
Some Contact Form 7 users assume the From: field should be the email address of the person submitting the form – but this is usually a really bad idea.
It’s important to realize that Contact Form 7 is using the normal email sending process, when it sends an email, after a user fills in a form on your site. It’s using WordPress to do it, but it’s really no different from you sending an email from your computer.
If you use the customers email address in the From: field, then you are effectively sending an email from an email address with their domain name … and you’re doing that from your website which has a different domain name.
WARNING! – the From: email address domain doesn’t match the website domain where it was sent from
The big problem is that is also what spammers do when they send out 1000’s of emails – it’s called email spoofing. So when you do this, you may look like a spammer to many mail servers around the world.
If you use a customers email address in the From: field, it is now likely that some your form emails will be rejected as spam by many mail providers.
Go to Some From: email addresses to NOT use for a more in-depth explanation and even more examples.
Use an email address from your website domain
The solution is a very simple one – always use an email address that belongs to the same domain as your WordPress site in the From: field.
Let’s say your domain is mysite.com & you have me@mysite.com as a valid email address.
Then From: me@mysite.com is a safe option to use to ensure that your form email gets sent & is not seen as spam.
A good rule of thumb is to always use an email address that belongs to the same domain as your WordPress site in the From field in the Mail & Mail(2) sections.
Go to Use a suitable From: address in Contact Form 7 for a more detailed explanation of the issue.
The From: address becomes the Reply-to: address
It’s important to also remember that the From: address becomes the Reply-to: address when the email is received.
If you are sending the form email to others, people will see this From: email address, just like any normal email, and they will likely reply to this email address.
You should make sure you are willing to receive reply emails at the email address you use in the From: field.
Go to Reply back using Additional Headers for some other options on how to deal with this issue.
Further reading
- Learn about common Contact Form 7 email issues & problems
- Make sure your email isn’t being treated as spam in Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 Troubleshooter
If you would like some help from our support staff & are willing to help us by providing information on your use of Contact Form 7 & CF7 Skins, you should complete the following form:
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