How to fix not receiving WordPress comment email notifications

Learn how to fix a problem with WordPress not sending email notifications when users comment on your blog posts or reply to comments. 

Problem: Not receiving WordPress comment email notifications  

There are times that you might want to receive email notifications when users comment or reply to comments on your WordPress posts. However, it might turn out that you are not receiving comment email notifications when users comment 

What follows are solutions to the issue. 

Solutions: How to fix WordPress not sending comment email notifications  

Solution 1: Enable posts comment notification  

You probably might have done this but double-check to make sure that you have enabled posts comment notification. To enable post comment notifications.  

• Go to Settings in WP Dashboard (check featured image above)
• Click on Discussion Menu
• Scroll to “Email me Whenever”
• Tick the “Anyone posts a comment” and “A comment is held for moderation” checkbox 
• Then click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page 
• Try to comment and see whether you are now receiving email comment notifications.  

NOTE: Comment email notifications will be sent to the administration Email Address. Confirm that the admin email is the one you expect to receive comment emails. Administration email address can be set in WP-Admin by going to Setting>General>Administration Email Address. If you are using a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) plugin then make sure you have set the from email. 

Solution 2: Confirm if Emails are Enabled in your hosting Server  

Some web hosting companies do disable sending emails using their server and therefore you have to use a third-party SMPT, or email service provider. For instance, you cannot send emails on Google Cloud hosting using TCP Port 25. 

To check if emails can be sent, install an email contact form like Jetpack Contact Form. Try sending a message using the contact form and check whether you received the email. If you have received the contact email, then you will know that emails are enabled in your hosting server. If you did not receive the email, then probably email sending is blocked in your server or you need to try using an SMTP plugin.  

Let us first try to install an SMTP plugin.  

Solution 3: Use SMTP plugin to deliver comment emails  

SMTP plugins make it easy for emails to be delivered in WordPress. One of the most popular and free SMTP plugins that you should consider using is WP Mail SMTP by WP Forms.  

• Install and activate the plugin
• Add the From Email 
• Check force From Email 
• Add From Name 
• Check force from Name 
• Check return path 
• Select Default (uses build-in WordPress PhpMailer). If your hosting service provider has blocked email sending then you will need to use any of the provided third-party SMTP or email services providers like Amazon SES, Gmail, Sendinblue, Mailgun, SendGrid, etc.  
• Click Save Settings 
• Then scroll to the top and Click Email Test 
• Try sending a test email to verify if emails can be delivered from your website.  

If the three solutions provided above did not work, then you need to contact your hosting company to confirm whether they have blocked email sending. 

NOTE: Do not forget to check comment emails in your junk, spam, or promotional folder.  

If you have a problem related to a specific WordPress plugin or theme that was not addressed in the solutions provided above, then let us know in the comment section below.