MemberPress Email Notifications Not Sending? Here Is the Fix

MemberPress sends several types of email notifications, including welcome emails when users sign up, payment receipts after successful transactions, and subscription reminders before renewals. These emails are essential for keeping members informed and engaged. However, sometimes MemberPress stops sending these emails entirely, leaving new members confused about whether their signup was successful and administrators unaware of new registrations.

This problem can be particularly damaging for membership sites because it creates a poor first impression and increases support requests. New members who never receive a welcome email may think something went wrong and abandon the site. Existing members may miss renewal reminders and let their subscriptions lapse unintentionally. The issue may affect all emails or only specific types, and it may appear after updating MemberPress or installing new plugins.

The most common cause of this problem is that MemberPress email notifications are disabled in the plugin settings. Another cause is that the WordPress default mail function (wp_mail) is being blocked by the hosting server, or that SPF and DKIM DNS records are missing from the domain configuration.

Why MemberPress email notifications fail to send

MemberPress uses the WordPress wp_mail() function to send all email notifications, including welcome emails, payment receipts, and subscription reminders. The wp_mail() function sends emails directly from the hosting server using the server’s built-in mail transfer agent (MTA). Most shared hosting servers are not optimized for email delivery, and their IP addresses often appear on email blacklists because other customers on the same server have sent spam.

Even if the email is not blocked outright, it may be filtered as spam due to missing authentication records. SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) are DNS records that prove the email was sent from an authorized server. Without these records, email providers assume the message might be forged and treat it as suspicious.

Another common cause is that specific MemberPress email notifications are turned off inside the plugin settings. MemberPress allows you to disable each email type individually. If the “Welcome Email” notification is disabled, new members will never receive a welcome message. If the “Payment Receipt” notification is disabled, members will not receive confirmation of their payments.

How to check if MemberPress email notifications are enabled

Navigate to MemberPress → Settings → Emails tab. You will see a list of all email types that MemberPress sends, including “Welcome Email,” “Payment Receipt,” “Subscription Reminder,” and others. Check that each notification has a blue checkmark next to the “Enabled” column. If any are missing, enable them individually or use the “Enable All” button to activate every notification type.

Step by step guide to fixing MemberPress email problems

Follow these steps in order to restore email notifications in MemberPress. The most important step is configuring an SMTP plugin to replace the unreliable wp_mail() function.

• Check that MemberPress email notifications are enabled in MemberPress → Settings → Emails
• Install an SMTP plugin like FluentSMTP or Post SMTP from the WordPress repository
• Connect the SMTP plugin to a professional email service such as Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), SendLayer, or SMTP2GO
• Create a free account on Brevo for up to 300 emails per day, which is sufficient for most membership sites
• Copy the SMTP credentials from the email service dashboard into the SMTP plugin settings
• Send a test email using the SMTP plugin to verify the connection works properly before testing MemberPress
• Add SPF and DKIM records to the domain DNS settings as instructed by the email service
• Wait up to 48 hours for DNS changes to propagate across the global internet system
• Test a membership signup to see if the email notifications arrive in the inbox
• Use mail-tester.com to score the email and identify any remaining deliverability problems

How to customize MemberPress email templates

After configuring SMTP, you may want to customize the MemberPress email templates to match your brand. Go to MemberPress → Settings → Emails and click on each email type to edit the subject and body. You can use HTML to format the emails and include merge tags like {{user_login}}, {{membership_name}}, and {{invoice_amount}} to personalize the content. Test the emails by triggering the appropriate events (e.g., signing up as a test user) to ensure they look correct.

MemberPress email troubleshooting reference table

Here is a reference table for diagnosing email problems in MemberPress based on specific symptoms you might encounter.

For more information about MemberPress email configuration, visit the MemberPress page on wpwizzy.com.

Preventing MemberPress email problems in the future

Always configure SMTP as soon as you install MemberPress, before accepting any members. This ensures that all email notifications work correctly from day one. Test the signup process regularly from different email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) to ensure reliable delivery across all major platforms. Monitor email delivery reports provided by the SMTP service to catch potential problems before they become critical issues.

Keep MemberPress and all add-ons updated to their latest versions on a regular schedule, as updates often include fixes for email-related issues. Regularly check the spam folder for MemberPress notifications, and consider adding a note in welcome emails telling new members to check their spam folder if they do not receive expected communications. Document all SMTP configuration settings for future reference, especially when multiple people manage the website.