Emails are not sending

A campaign stays on Sending, emails stay Queued, or rows show Failed. Open Deliverability > Sending Log, check the tabs Failed, Queued and Skipped, and read the reason under the subject. Then work through the causes below in order.

1. The scheduler is not running. This is the most common cause. Emails wait in a queue until a job that should run every minute takes them out.

   • Open Settings > Scheduler and click Run the scheduler now. If the emails go out, set up a real cron under Set up a real cron, then click Check again.
   • Details: A scheduled campaign did not go out.

2. No working sending method. In Settings > Sending, if the chosen card says Testing only, there is no SMTP plugin and your server sends the mail directly (many hosts block that). Install an SMTP plugin, or choose Mailgun or SendGrid, save, then use Send test email. Afterwards click Retry all failed in the Sending Log. See Settings: Sending.

3. The service rejects the key. A failed row says "Add your Mailgun API key…", "Mailgun rejected the credentials…" or "… refused the email (HTTP …)". Fix the key (and Mailgun region: United States or Europe) in Settings > Sending, or read the reason in your Mailgun or SendGrid dashboard. A key set in wp-config.php always wins over the box.

4. No valid From address. The row says "No valid "From" email is set". Set Default From email in Settings > General. See Settings: General.

5. Sending speed is low. Queued emails are normal on a big campaign. In Settings > Sending > Sending speed, Recommended sends up to 60 a minute; Manual defaults to 25 emails every 5 minutes. Raise it only if your host allows it.

6. People were skipped on purpose. Skipped rows were not sent: not subscribed, on the suppression list, unsubscribed, bounced, deleted, or the campaign was cancelled. See Contact statuses and Bounces, complaints and the suppression list.

7. The campaign cannot start. The Review step blocks a send with no subject, sender, content or Business address. Add the address in Settings > General. See How to create and send a campaign.

8. A message is stuck. One stuck on Sending for over 30 minutes goes back in the queue, then fails with "Abandoned after repeated attempts" after 3 attempts. "This message has no content to send." means the email is empty: add content.

Hive Mail retries a temporary problem up to 3 times. Retry on a row, or Retry all failed (up to 1,000 at once), starts 3 fresh attempts.

Tip: Send test email in Settings > Sending skips the queue. A test that arrives proves delivery works, not that the scheduler is running.

Still stuck? Read the newest line in Settings > Tools > System log, check Is your site ready to send? in Settings > Sending, and ask your host whether outgoing mail is blocked.

Next: Is my site ready to send email?, The sending log.