GMAIL STOPS SMTP Connections, Meaning Your Website Contact Form Will Stop Working

Google announced on May 30, 2022, that all SMTP connections will no longer have access to their servers (even with less secure apps turned OFF) meaning any website contact form which was connected through an SMTP connection will simply not send contact forms any longer. 

Google announced:  If an app or site doesn’t meet our security standards, Google might block anyone who’s trying to sign in to your account from it. Less secure apps can make it easier for hackers to get in to your account, so blocking sign-ins from these apps helps keep your account safe.

So What Does This mean if your Website like WordPress Had an SMTP Connection for Sending its Contact Forms?

If you have a GMAIL SMTP connection on your site (for example Contact Form 7 on a WordPress site), the contact form will no longer work and you users subbing a form fill will receive an error message stating the message failed to send or the form will simply not be delivered because the GMAIL servers will reject the connection. 

So How Do You Resolve a Contact Form Which Was Using a GMAIL SMTP Connection 

The good news is there are other SMTP connections you could use for your website to deliver its contact forms. GMAIL is one of many email providers, and other email providers listed below still allow for SMTP connections.  We first recommend working with your own email provider (if outside of GMAIL or Gsuite).  If you do not have an email outside of GMAIL or GSuite, now is the time to get a new email for your website’s contact form. 

Other email providers still providing an SMTP connection are as follows:

Paid SMTP Email Platforms You Can Choose From

  • Hosting Emails (i.e. Godaddy, Ionos, Bluehost, etc). 
  • Office365

Free SMTP Email Platforms You Can Choose From:

  • Yahoo 
  • MSN
  • Hotmail
  • Live

We’ve listed the SMTP connections of Microsoft 365, Outlook, Hotmail, Live.com, and MSN below which belong to the Microsoft Office family of servers.

SMTP connections of Microsoft 365, Outlook, Hotmail, Live.com, and MSN Th below SMTP belongs to the Microsoft Office family of servers of the 5 email accounts listed.

Email Provider SMTP Settings
Microsoft 365

Outlook

Hotmail

Live.com

Server: smtp.office365.com

Port: 587

Encryption: STARTTLS

Yahoo SMTP connection

  • Server Address: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
  • Username: Your Yahoo Address (e.g. [email protected])
  • Password: Your Yahoo Password
  • Port Number: 465 (With SSL)
  • Alternative Port Number: 587 (With TLS)
  • Authentication: Required
  • Sending Limits: 500 Emails a day or Emails to 100 connections a day.

What to know when you connect an SMTP connection to your website. 

  • Turn off the added layer of security called “Less Secure Apps”
  • For Office365 users, turn On SMTP connections settings in your Master account for the user you will allow the connection for.
  • Use an SMTP plugin/extension on your site that allows you to test the connection
  • Test the connection by submitting a form
  • Speak to an experienced website WordPress web developer should you have problems still connecting your SMTP