Mail Tab

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The Mail tab allows you to configure how emails and messages function in WHMCS.

You can access this tab at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, Setup > General Settings.

Mail Type or Provider

Use the Mail Type or Mail Provider settings, depending on your WHMCS version, to choose how your installation sends mail. Mail Providers determine how your installation sends mail. The mail provider you choose can affect your mail deliverability.

Configuring a Mail Provider in WHMCS 8.0 and later

For WHMCS 8.0 and later, Mail Provider displays your selected Mail Provider. To change and configure it, perform these steps:

1. Click Configure Mail Provider.
2. Choose a Mail Provider from the menu.
3. Fill out the information for your chosen provider. This information is different for each Mail Provider:
   • PHP Mail (default) — Choose an encoding type from Mail Encoding.
   • SMTP — Enter the indicated information, which differs depending on your chosen type of SMTP Authentication.
     • Check SMTP Debug if you want to log debugging output for SMTP email. Go to Configuration () > System Logs or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, Utilities > Logs and click Activity Log to view this log.
     • In SMTP Port, specify the port on which your SMTP server operates.
       • This will usually vary depending on the SSL type and your particular mail server configuration.
       • Check with your mail server administrator for the appropriate port to use. These are the most commonly-used ports by SSL type:
         • None: 25 or 26
         • SSL: 465 or 587
         • TLS: 587
     • Use the SMTP SSL Type setting to specify whether a secure connection is used when communicating with your mail server. Changes to this option will usually also require changing the SMTP Port.
     • WHMCS currently only supports OAuth via Google. For help setting up Google as your Service Provider, see Setting Up Google As Your Mail Service Provider.
   • MailGun — Select a region, and then enter your sending domain and MailGun API key.
   • SendGrid — Enter your API key.
   • SparkPost — Select a SparkPost account and enter a SparkPost API key. Check Use Sink Testing to allow you to check email sending without actually sending emails.
4. Click Test Configuration. The system will send an email to test your configuration. If the test doesn't succeed, you will see an error.
5. Click Save. The system will send an email to test your configuration, and it won't save your changes unless the test is successful. 

Configuring a Mail Type in WHMCS 7.x and earlier

For version 7.x and earlier, use Mail Type to choose one of these options:

• Use PHP Mail to send emails from inside WHMCS. This requires no further configuration, but some email providers may treat email sent this way with increased suspicion.
• Use your SMTP server to send emails. The related SMTP fields are required.
  • In SMTP Port, specify the port on which your SMTP server operates.
    • This will usually vary depending on the SSL type and your particular mail server configuration.
    • Check with your mail server administrator for the appropriate port to use. These are the most commonly-used ports by SSL type:
      • None: 25 or 26
      • SSL: 465 or 587
      • TLS: 587
  • Use the SMTP SSL Type setting to specify whether a secure connection is used when communicating with your mail server. Changes to this option will usually also require changing the SMTP Port.

Mail Providers and Mail Types

WHMCS supports the following mail providers:

• PHP Mail
• SMTP (with OAuth authentication via Google in WHMCS 8.0 and later)
• MailGun (WHMCS 8.0 and later)
• SendGrid (WHMCS 8.0 and later)
• SparkPost (WHMCS 8.0 and later)

PHP Mail

When you choose PHP Mail, you won't need to configure any additional settings. PHP Mail is more likely to be considered spam by spam filtering applications.

SMTP

SMTP uses an SMTP server to send email. You will need to retrieve the SMTP configuration information from your control panel or hosting provider or from Google. The requirements depend on the authentication type you choose.

SMTP with OAuth

WHMCS includes OAuth support for Google email in version 8.0 and later. OAuth is a technology that authorizes apps or services like WHMCS to access another service, such as a Google email account. It's more secure than traditional username-and-password authentication.

Some mail providers require OAuth or have announced a requirement for it in the future.

For instructions to set up OAuth for Google email and the required Google app, see Setting Up Google As Your Mail Service Provider.

MailGun, SendGrid, and SparkPost

MailGun, SendGrid, and SparkPost are email service providers that allow you access to tools for improved mail deliverability and email validation.

To set this up, you will need some information from your email service provider, including an API key.

Custom Modules

You can extend the selection of mail providers with custom modules. For more information, consult our Mail Providers developer documentation.

Disable Email Sending

We added this setting in WHMCS 8.1.

Set the toggle to ON to stop WHMCS from sending any outgoing email. For more information, see Disabling Outgoing Mail.

We recommend that you only enable this setting when you are testing updates or customizations on a development installation or while troubleshooting. The system creates a log entry at Configuration () > System Logs or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, Utilities > Logs whenever you enable or disable this setting.

Disable RFC3834 Headers

Set the toggle to ON to stop WHMCS from including RFC 3834 headers in outgoing support emails. These headers prevent circular responses when both the sender and destination are using autoresponders.

We added this setting in WHMCS 8.1. In WHMCS 8.1 and later, WHMCS sends support emails with RFC 3834-compliant headers by default.

Regardless of the option that you choose for this setting, email piping and email importing won't import email that contains the Auto-Submitted header.

Global Email Signature

Enter the text to be appended to all emails sent to customers by WHMCS containing the {$signature} merge field. HTML can be used here.

Global Email CSS Styling

Enter the CSS code to be used to format every email template sent to clients by WHMCS.

For more information and the default content, see Email Styling.

Global Email Header Content

Content entered in this field will be displayed at the top of every email template sent to clients. HTML can be used here.

For more information and the default content, see Email Styling.

Global Email Footer Content

Content entered in this field will be displayed at the bottom of every email template sent to clients. HTML can be used here.

For more information and the default content, see Email Styling.

System Emails From Name

The sender name that will appear on all emails sent to staff by WHMCS.

For example, these emails include Cron Job Activity, New Order Notification, and Automation Success/Failure Notifications.

System Emails From Email

The email address that will appear on all emails sent to staff by WHMCS. This address does not necessarily have to exist (for example, noreply@yourcompany.com).

BCC Messages

An email address entered here will receive a blind carbon copy of all emails sent to customers by WHMCS.

Presales Form Destination OR Presales Contact Form Email

The department or email address that will receive messages sent via the pre-sales contact form.