how-to-set-up-wordpress-outlook-mailer-in-wp-mail-smtp_g

How to Set Up WordPress Outlook Mailer in WP Mail SMTP

Want to use your Outlook account as your WordPress mailer and get reliable email deliverability for your WordPress site?

You can use the Outlook mailer for WP Mail SMTP to securely authenticate your WordPress website’s emails with Microsoft’s API. In this post, we’ll show step by step how to set up the Microsoft Outlook mailer in WP Mail SMTP.

Here are the complete steps in this tutorial:

  1. Get Started with WP Mail SMTP
  2. Configure a Microsoft Azure Account
  3. Save Settings and Authorize WP Mail SMTP
  4. Send a Test Email

Want your contact form pluginย to be able to send reliable email notifications to people who fill them out? Follow these steps:

How to Set up WordPress Outlook Mailer in WP Mail SMTP

If you’re setting up your WP Mail SMTP with the Outlook mailer, here are the steps on exactly how to do it.

Step 1. Get Started with WP Mail SMTP

To get started setting up your WordPress Outlook mailer, the first step is to install and activate the WP Mail SMTPย plugin. For help with this, check out the post how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, go toย WP Mailย SMTP ยป Settings.

Then at the top of the Settings page, you’ll see the From Email and From Name options. We recommended you check the From Email box and skip the from name, as this is overridden by the settings within your Outlook account.

From Email and From Name in WP Mail SMTP wordpress outlook mailer

Next, we recommend checking the optional Return Path checkbox to Set the return-path to match the From Email. With this enabled, youโ€™ll receive an email if any messages bounce as a result of issues with the recipientโ€™s email.

Set return path to match From Email

Now, you’ll need to scroll down to the Mailer section and select the Outlook option.

select outlook mailer in wordpress outlook mailer

And feel free to check out our tutorials on some of the other mailers available with WP Mail SMTP like Mailgun,ย Amazon SES, SendGrid, Zoho Mail, or Gmail.

All of these can help solve issues like Gravity Forms not sending email.

Now that you’ve picked the Outlook mailer, you’ll see a new section appear titled Outlook.

outlook information

To get the info needed for this section, you’ll need to set up a web application within a Microsoft Azure account. We’ll show you exactly what to do next.

Be sure to keep these WP Mail SMTP settings open in a separate tab or window, because you’ll return to that page shortly to paste in all that info.

Step 2. Configure a Microsoft Azure Account

In order to continue the setup process, you’ll need to have a Microsoft Azure account.

Since you most likely already have a Microsoft email account (through Hotmail, Live, Outlook, Office 365, etc), you can simply log into Microsoft Azure with your existing account credentials.

Just be sure that the email you use for your Microsoft Azure account is the same email address you want to use as the From Email on your website.

If you need to create a brand new account, you can click this link sign up for a free Microsoft Azure account. Also be sure to check that the account you use for signup includes email sending permissions.

Note: While your account is free and this mailer setup does not require use of any paid services, Microsoft will require that you enter a credit card to set up an account to reduce spam signups.

After you’ve decided on the email address, open the Azure Portal.

Create an Application ID

Now that the Azure Portal is open, navigate to the left sidebar and click on All services.

select all services

Next click on Identity in the left sidebar. Then an additional column appears, and you’ll want to click on App registrations on the right.

click on identity then app registrations for wordpress outlook mailer

At the top of the App Registrations page, click on the +New Registration option.

select new registration

In this app registration form, here are the details you’ll need to fill out:

  • Name โ€” This is only for you, so we recommend naming it something like “WP Mail SMTP: yourdomain.com”.
  • Supported Account Types โ€”ย Select Accounts in any organizational directory and personal Microsoft accounts.

microsoft app registration form example

  • Redirect URI โ€”ย For the first dropdown, leave this set to Web. Then for the 2nd field, you’ll need to copy this info from your WP Mail SMTP settings (see below).

In order to find the Redirect URI, go back to the tab or window where you left your site’s WP Mail SMTP settings open. Under the Outlook section, you’ll see a field named Redirect URI.

Copy Redirect URI from WP Mail SMTP settings

Copy this info and then paste it into your Microsoft Azure app registration form.

Keep both windows or tabs open in your browser, as we’ll continue to switch between both.

outlook smtp complete app registration

Now, click the Register button to continue.

As soon as this registration form is submitted, you should see a page that includes Application (client) ID.

copy app ID

Here, copy this full ID and paste it into your WP Mail SMTP settings, in the field labeled Application ID.

Paste Application ID into WP Mail SMTP settings

Create an Application Password

Next, you’ll need to generate a password for this app. To do that, click on Certificates & secrets in the left sidebar.

open certificates and secrets menu

Now, scroll down to the Client Secrets section and select +New client secret.

create new client secret for wordpress outlook mailer

An overlay will now appear and you’ll need to fill out a form with these details:

  • Description โ€” This name is only for you, so we recommend a simple name like app_password.
  • Expires โ€” Never

Click on Add.

add a client secret microsoft example

Now once you submit the client secret form, the Application Password will automatically be generated.

copy client secret

Next, copy this password and paste it into your WP Mail SMTP settings in the Application Password field on the WP Mail SMTP window or tab.

Paste client secret into Application Password field in WP Mail SMTP

Set up API Permissions

Now that you’ve got both the Application ID and Application Password filled out in your WP Mail SMTP settings, the next step to continue setting up your WordPress Outlook mailer is to set up API permissions.

To do this, click on API permissions in the left sidebar. Then, click on the +Add a permission option.

outlook smtp add a permission

A page titled Request API Permissions will open. Click the option on the top named Microsoft Graph.

select microsoft graph

Next, fill out a couple pieces of info on this page to continue setting up your Microsoft Outlook mailer:

  • What type of permissions does your API require โ€”ย Choose the option named Delegated permissions

wordpress outlook mailer select delegated permissions

  • Select permissions โ€” Type in send. Then, from the options that appear, check the box next to Mail.Send.Shared.

wordpress outlook mailer select mail permissions

When you’re ready, click the Add permissions button to continue.

Now, you’ll need to go through this permissions process again but in a slightly different way. To do this, go ahead and once more click on + Add a permission, followed by the Microsoft Graph option.

Here are the new details you’ll need for this 2nd set of permissions:

    • What type of permissions does your API require โ€”ย Choose the option named Application permissions.

wordpress outlook mailer add app permissions

  • Select permissions โ€”ย Type in send. Then, from the options that appear, check Mail.Send.

add mail sending permissions outlook smtp

Now, click the Add permissions button when you’re ready to continue.

Great job! Your API permissions are all set up in Microsoft’s system, and you can now finish up the WordPress Outlook mailer configuration in WP Mail SMTP.

Step 3. Save Settings and Authorize WP Mail SMTP

Head back to your WP Mail SMTP settings. You should now have all fields filled out.

After confirming this, click Save Settings at the bottom of the page.

Save WP Mail SMTP settings wordpress outlook mailer

After you’ve saved the settings, scroll down to the Authorization setting. You should now see a button that says Allow plugin to send emails using your Microsoft account. Click this.

Provide authorization for Microsoft account wordpress outlook mailer

As soon as you click this button, you should be redirected to a Microsoft permissions form.

allow permissions screen on microsoft outlook smtp

At the bottom of this form, click Yes.

Now you’ll be redirected back to your WP Mail SMTP settings to finish your WordPress Outlook mailer setup.

At the top of the page, you should see a confirmation letting you know that you’ve successfully connected your Microsoft account.

microsoft api confirmation outlook smtp

Step 4. Send a Test Email

Now that your Microsoft API is set up and connected, it’s important to send a test email to make sure that everything is working properly.

To do this, make sure you’re on the Settings ยป WP Mail SMTP page and then click on the tab that says Email Test.

Open the Email Test tab in WP Mail SMTP wordpress outlook mailer

On this page, you can enter any email address that you have access to (the default will be the site’s admin email). Then, click on the Send Email button.

After sending the email, you’ll see a success message.

Notice showing the WP Mail SMTP test email sent successfully

If you check the inbox for the email address you entered, you should receive the test email that says:

confirmation of successful test email outlook smtp

Final Thoughts

Thatโ€™s it! You’ve successfully set up your site to send WordPress emails with the Outlook mailer in WP Mail SMTP. This will fix issues with lots of different plugins, including Ninja Forms not sending email.

You may also want to take a peek at our post on how to add Google Analytics to WordPress.

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Comments

  1. I use WP mail SMTP plugin and actually connected to my SMTP host and it works but not properly, It’s actually sending email only to @gmails but not to @hotmails. So if a customer place an order through my website and he used his hotmail email, he won’t get any email from the website but if he use gmail he will get the confirmation email. My question is: Is there any solution for that? Do you think if I connected to Microsoft instead it will work?

    Thank you

    1. Hi Tony- good question!

      It is possible to use the Other SMTP mailer option under WP Mail SMTP -> Settings page to connect with your Office 365 / Outlook email account, but it is the least recommended option, because you may face server-related issues such as blocked ports, Firewall related issues, and ModRewrite issues, etc.

      In case if it helps! Below are the standard settings to authenticate office 365 emails.
      SMTP Host: smtp.office365.com
      Encryption: TLS
      SMTP Port: 587
      SMTP Username: email address ([email protected])
      SMTP Password: email login password

      However, an API-based ‘Microsoft Outlook’ mailer is the recommended option for the paid customers as it is more reliable, secure, and does not often encounter server-related issues.

      Hope this helps! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Hi Dave! Our apologies, you’re correct that Azure portal has recently made some changes and we’ve not yet been able to update this tutorial to reflect those changes. In the meantime you can search for App registrations directly from search bar, which will bring it up for you ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. I use an IMac and as such cannot use Azure App Proxy (the new version of the App registrations. Do you have another workaround?

    1. Hi James! I apologize for any misunderstanding here.

      The Microsoft Azure portal is accessible through any browser if you have a Microsoft email account (such as Office 365, Hotmail, Outlook or Live).

      Using an iMac should not be relevant, as the app creation and authorization process is handled within a browser, so its relation to hardware or operating system is minimal.

      If you’re having issues with configuring your WP Mail SMTP plugin with the Outlook Mailer, please submit a support ticket if you have a WP Mail SMTP license.
      Otherwise, we provide limited complimentary support in the WP Mail SMTP WordPress.org support forum.

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