### [How to Send a Confirmation Email After Form Submission](https://wpforms.com/how-to-send-confirmation-emails-to-users-after-form-submission/)

**Published:** April 23, 2018
**Author:** Hamza Shahid

**Excerpt:** Let’s say someone signs up through your contact form, makes a booking, or requests a quote, but then nothing happens. No email. No confirmation. No idea if their submission even went through.

That silence? It’s what makes people nervous. I’ve seen users resubmit forms, send follow-up messages, or leave altogether because they weren’t sure if the form worked.

That’s where a confirmation email changes everything. It’s not just a “thank you” but serves as proof that their submission was received, and it gives them peace of mind right away.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to send a confirmation email automatically after someone submits your form. You’ll be able to say thanks, give next steps, or just reassure users that their submission went through!

**Content:**

Let’s say someone signs up through your contact form, makes a booking, or requests a quote, but then nothing happens. No email. No confirmation. No idea if their submission even went through.

That silence? It’s what makes people nervous. I’ve seen users resubmit forms, send follow-up messages, or leave altogether because they weren’t sure if the form worked.

That’s where a confirmation email changes everything. It’s not just a “thank you” but serves as proof that their submission was received, and it gives them peace of mind right away.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to send a confirmation email automatically after someone submits your form. You’ll be able to say thanks, give next steps, or just reassure users that their submission went through!

[🛠️ Add a Confirmation Email Now!](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)

- [Step 1: Install WPForms and Create Your First Form](#step-1-install-wpforms-and-create-your-first-form)
- [Step 2: Set Up a New Confirmation Email](#step-2-set-up-a-new-confirmation-email)
- [Step 3: Set the Send to Email Address and Subject Line](#step-3-set-the-send-to-email-address-and-subject-line)
- [Step 4: Check Sender Details and Reply-to Email](#step-4-check-sender-details-and-reply-to-email)
- [Step 5: Write the Form Confirmation Email Message](#step-5-write-the-form-confirmation-email-message)
- [Step 6: Select an Email Template (Optional)](#step-6-select-an-email-template-optional)

## How to Send Confirmation Emails After Form Submission

I’ve also shared a video below describing all the instructions you need to follow to send emails after form submission using WPForms.

However, if you prefer written instructions, continue reading below and use the handy table of contents to navigate the guide.

### Step 1: Install WPForms and Create Your First Form

WPForms lets you set up confirmation emails that promote trust and professionalism right from the start. By reducing customer support inquiries related to form submissions, you save valuable time and resources.

You can use the emails to cross-sell products, encourage social media follows, or provide valuable content, potentially increasing customer lifetime value. You can check out all of the features in our confirmation emails deep dive.

The first thing you’ll need to do is install and activate the [WPForms plugin](https://wpforms.com/pricing). WPForms is the best-rated form plugin for WordPress, having 13+ thousand 5-star reviews on WordPress.org.

[![The WPForms homepage](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/WPForms-Website.png)](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)If you don’t know how to install the plugin, follow this step-by-step guide on [how to install a plugin in WordPress](http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/step-by-step-guide-to-install-a-wordpress-plugin-for-beginners/).

Next, you’ll need to create a new WordPress form. For help with this, check out our tutorial on [how to create a simple contact form in WordPress](https://wpforms.com/how-to-create-a-contact-form-in-wordpress/).

If you’re using WPForms Lite, you can set up 1 confirmation email per form. You need an [active WPForms license](https://wpforms.com/pricing/) in order to set up *multiple* email notifications.

[Upgrade to WPForms Pro Now! 🙂](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)

### Step 2: Set Up a New Confirmation Email

If you’re using WPForms, [setting up a form confirmation](https://wpforms.com/docs/setup-form-confirmation-wpforms/) is easy and requires no code at all. From the form builder screen, go to **Settings** » **Notifications**.

![Form notifications](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/form-notifications.png)Here, you’ll notice that a notification intended for the site admin is already enabled by default. This email serves to notify you immediately of new form submissions as they happen.

You’re free to change the subject line and even the email body of this notification by editing the default notification settings.

![Admin notification default settings](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/admin-notification-default-settings.png)However, our goal here is to create a new confirmation email that’s meant for the end user submitting the form. Naturally, the confirmation email for the customer needs to be different from the admin-focused email in many aspects.

For instance, you’ll need a more suitable customer-facing email subject line, body text, and so on. To create this new confirmation email, click on the **Add New Notification** button on the top right of the **Notifications** area.

![Add new notifications](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/add-new-notifications.png)Next, give it a name to differentiate it from the default admin notification and then press **OK**. With that done, it’s time to configure the new notification.

![New notification](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/new-notification.png)### Step 3: Set the Send to Email Address and Subject Line

The new notification that you’ve just created should now appear with its own settings to configure. The first setting here, the Send to Email Address, will have the admin email smart tag in it already.

But we need to change this because we’re trying to **send an email confirmation to site visitors** after they’ve submitted your form.

To do this, first remove the {admin\_email} tag from the Send To Email Address. Then, click on **Show Smart Tags** next to the **Send To Email Address** field.

![Show smart tags](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/show-smart-tags-send-to-address.png)Now, select the **Email** smart tag from the dropdown. By using the Email smart tag, you’re simply instructing WPForms to send this confirmation email to the email address provided by the user when they filled out your form.

![Select email tag](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/select-email-tag.png)The next setting right underneath Send To Email Address is the Email Subject Line. It’s a good idea to edit the subject line to read more like a confirmation of the form submission.

## Pro Tip:

You have a great opportunity here to personalize the subject line by addressing the recipient directly with their name.

You can achieve this by clicking on **Show Smart Tags**, and selecting **Name** from the dropdown list.

Make sure to insert the smart tag where you want the name to appear in your subject line as shown in the example below.

![Email subject line](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/email-subject-line.png)I also recommend checking out our doc guide on[ smart tags](https://wpforms.com/docs/how-to-use-smart-tags-in-wpforms/) to learn more about using these effectively in your forms.

### Step 4: Check Sender Details and Reply-to Email

There are two important settings that together comprise the sender details of your email message: From Name and From Email.

You can check out this guide on [best practices for setting your From Name and From Email](https://wpmailsmtp.com/how-to-choose-your-from-name-and-from-email/). As a general guide:

- You can use your brand name as the From Name or even the name of any individual that customers recognize in your company.
- Ensure that your From Email matches your website domain name to avoid getting flagged as spam by email servers.

If your admin email has your website’s domain in it rather than a generic domain like @gmail.com, you can also use the `{admin_email}` tag in the From Email too.

![Sender details](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/sender-details.png)If you want your site visitors to be able to reply to the email confirmation you send them, make sure to include your site’s admin email, or any other email you want replies to go to, in the Reply-To field.

![Reply-to email](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/reply-to-email.png)(I don’t recommend using ‘noreply@…’ as a From Email or Reply-To email. You can read about [noreply pros and cons](https://sendlayer.com/blog/no-reply-email-addresses-pros-and-cons/) to learn more.)

Great! That’s all the basic notification settings taken care of. In the next step, we can move on to editing the confirmation email message.

### Step 5: Write the Form Confirmation Email Message

The last step in customizing your email confirmation is the **Email Message** section. It’s good practice to use a conversational tone and clearly imply that the form was successfully submitted.

![Custom email message](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/custom-email-message.png)If you want to include all of the form fields filled out by your site visitor in the confirmation message, use the `all_fields` Smart Tag. This is a helpful way of letting your visitors have a copy of their submitted message in their inbox.

You can also use any other Smart Tags available from the dropdown menu when you click on **Show Smart Tags**. So if you want to do some more personalization in the message by adding a smart tag for the visitor’s name or inserting any other piece of info from the form, you can easily do that.

## Pro Tip:

If you’re [accepting payments on your form](https://wpforms.com/how-to-accept-payments-with-stripe/), you may want to click the **Enable for \[your selected payment processor\] completed payments** button under Email Message.

This will ensure that the confirmation email is only sent to the user after successful completion of their payment.

If you don’t enable this option, the confirmation email will be sent even if the form submits but the payment fails, causing confusion to customers.

Once you’ve created your form, customized it, and configured the email notification settings, all that’s left to do is publish your form.

Create a new page or post, or update an existing one. Then, click on the **Add Block** button and then choose the **WPForms** icon.

![Add form widget WPForms](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Add-Form-Widget-WPForms.png "Add Form Widget WPForms")Next, use the dropdown menu in the WPForms widget to choose your custom form and add it to your page or post.

![select your form](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/select-your-form.png "Select Your Form")If you’re happy with how your form looks, all you have to do is hit the **Update** or **Publish** button to make it live.

![Publishing your Contact page](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/publish-simple-contact-form.png)### Step 6: Select an Email Template (Optional)

WPForms Pro includes multiple templates for email confirmations. The best part is that you can select a unique template for each individual email notification in any form.

To select the template for a particular notification, click on the **Advanced** section at the bottom of the notification area, then use the Email Template dropdown to select your notification template.

To override the default template, simply click on the **Email Template** dropdown and choose the desired template.

![email template dropdown](https://wpforms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/email-template-dropdown.png "Email Template Dropdown")(The compact template is a personal favorite, but they all look super nice. Feel free to experiment!) If you’re serious about branding, you shouldn’t ignore your form confirmation emails.

You can [customize confirmation email styles](https://wpforms.com/how-to-customize-form-email-notifications-in-wpforms/) with more precision in the global email settings of WPForms. This lets you choose a default email template, add a header image, set the color scheme and typography, and more.

Finally, in order for confirmation emails to send successfully, make sure [WordPress email settings are properly configured](https://wpforms.com/how-to-configure-your-wordpress-email-settings-the-right-way/) on your site.

So there you have it! You now know how to send contact form confirmation emails to users after they’ve submitted your WordPress forms.

### FAQs on How to Send Confirmation Emails to Users after Contact Form Submission

Do you have more questions about form confirmation emails? Many of our customers have reached out to us in the past with these frequently asked questions that might also provide some answers for you:

#### Can I send different confirmation emails based on user responses?

Yes, you can set multiple confirmation emails in WPForms and send them conditionally to the user based on the response. This feature can help you tailor your confirmations to the exact nature of the user’s query so your users can resonate with your emails on a more personal level.

#### Can I include a copy of the user’s form submission in the confirmation email?

Yes, by using the `{all_fields}` Smart Tag, you can include all the details the user submitted in the confirmation email in a sweet and compact manner.

#### How can I add a logo or customize the design of the confirmation email?

You can add a logo to your form confirmation emails by going to the WPForms Settings area and selecting the **Email** tab.

Here, you can add a logo, select an email template, and choose the color scheme and typography for your emails without any code. For details, check out our guide on [custom email templates for WordPress](https://wpforms.com/how-to-make-a-custom-email-template-in-wordpress/).

#### Is there a way to send a confirmation email only after payment is successfully processed?

When you’re editing confirmation emails for a payment form, WPForms allows you to send the confirmation email conditionally upon successful payment.

This can be easily set up by enabling the option for your selected payment processor under the **Email Message** textbox.

#### Can I track if the confirmation emails are successfully delivered and opened?

You’ll need a third-party plugin like WP Mail SMTP to track delivery, open, and click statistics for confirmation emails. You can learn about adding this functionality to your WordPress site in our guide on [enabling WordPress email tracking](https://wpmailsmtp.com/enable-wordpress-email-tracking/).

#### Can you send a confirmation email in WPForms Lite?

Yes, you can. WPForms Lite lets you send one confirmation email per form. That’s usually enough for simple use cases like contact or booking forms.

But if you want to send different messages based on how someone fills out your form, or trigger emails after successful payments, you’ll need a WPForms Pro license.

#### What’s the difference between a confirmation and notification email?

It’s easy to mix up the two — I’ve been there.

- A **notification email** goes to you (the site owner) and lets you know someone filled out your form.
- A **confirmation email** goes to the person who submitted the form to let them know their message was received.

Both are important, but this guide focuses on setting up confirmation emails for users.

#### How do I send a confirmation email using WPForms?

Go to your form’s **Settings » Notifications**, then click **Add New Notification**. Change the recipient to the user’s email using the smart tag.

#### Can WPForms send an auto-reply to users?

Yes. The confirmation email works like an auto-reply. You can personalize it, include form fields, and even delay sending until after a payment is confirmed.

#### How to write a confirmation email?

Not sure what to write? Here’s a sample confirmation email you can customize:

“**Subject:** Thanks for reaching out, {Name}!

**Message:**
Hi {Name},

Thanks for getting in touch with us. We’ve received your message and will get back to you shortly.

If you have any urgent questions, feel free to reply to this email.

– **The \[Your Site\] Team**“

### Next, Learn How to Create Multiple Form Notifications

If you’re looking to send different types of email confirmations to one user, check out this helpful guide on [creating multiple notifications](https://wpforms.com/how-to-create-multiple-notifications-in-wordpress-forms/) in WordPress forms. You can even [use your forms to add your visitor to a Slack channel](https://wpforms.com/how-to-send-an-automatic-slack-invite-from-a-wordpress-form/).

In addition, check out this article to learn how to [market your email campaigns](http://optinmonster.com/beginners-guide-to-email-marketing/) to those who have been in touch with you in the past.

[🛠️ Add a Confirmation Email Now!](https://wpforms.com/pricing/)

Ready to build your form? Get started today with the easiest WordPress form builder plugin. [WPForms Pro](https://wpforms.com/pricing) includes lots of free templates and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

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**Categories:** WordPress Tutorials

**Tags:** confirmation email wordpress forms, email confirmation, form confirmation, user confirmation

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