Test it the way a customer would
Submit the live form from a phone, with an address outside your business, and confirm the notification arrives. Repeat after any host, plugin or DNS change.
Contact form emails not arriving
Form notifications usually go missing because the site sends mail in a way inboxes do not trust. Send from your own domain with SPF or DKIM set up, put the visitor in Reply-To rather than From, and test with a real submission.
Do not rely on email alone
If your form system can also store submissions, keep that copy, so an email problem never loses an enquiry.
Diagnose it
Symptoms, checks and fixes
Common symptoms
- Customers say they filled in the form but you never got the email.
- Notifications sit in spam or junk.
- The form shows "thank you" but nothing arrives.
Checks to run
| Check | How to tell | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Is your sending domain authenticated? | Check your domain DNS for an SPF record and DKIM signing for the service that sends the form email. | Set up SPF or DKIM. Gmail requires at least one of them for every sender.[1] |
| Does the form send "from" the visitor? | Look at a notification's From address. If it shows the visitor's email, the site is sending as someone else's domain. | Send from an address on your own domain and put the visitor's address in Reply-To. Gmail may mark spoofed senders as spam.[1] |
| Are messages being filtered? | Search spam, junk and any mail rules for the form subject line. | Mark a test as not spam and fix authentication so the next one lands normally.[1] |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What do bulk senders need on top?
Gmail asks senders of more than 5,000 messages a day to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC. A typical contact form sends far fewer, but SPF or DKIM is still required.[1]
How we work together
Two ways to get started
Website Subscription
Your website, fully managed — no big upfront cost.
We design, build, host, maintain and keep improving your site for one simple monthly fee.
- Custom-designed & built for your brand
- Hosting, security & maintenance included
- Ongoing edits & content updates
- Continuous SEO & performance improvements
- Scale up or down as you grow
Fixed Project
A one-off custom build you own outright.
A defined scope and a single fixed quote — delivered once, and yours to keep.
- Bespoke design & development
- Defined scope & timeline
- You own the website & code
- Optional care plan after launch
- Custom-quoted to your needs
Sources
- [1] Email sender guidelines (Gmail Help). Checked 9 October 2026.
Ready to get started?
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