Zoho Mail SMTP WordPress

How to Set Up Zoho Mail SMTP in WordPress (The Easy Way)

Do you want to use Zoho Mail SMTP to send email from your WordPress site? Using Zoho’s SMTP servers will authenticate your emails so that delivery is more reliable.

In this tutorial, we’ll set up Zoho Mail on your website with a plugin. This is a really easy way to send all of the emails from your web forms using your Zoho account.

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How Do I Use Zoho SMTP?

To use Zoho Mail SMTP, you’ll need to create a Zoho Mail account.  You can then easily and securely connect the account to your WordPress site with a plugin.

Zoho Mail lets you use a Zoho email domain as part of the package. If you prefer to use a custom domain, you can connect a domain you own to create a distinctive business email address.

Using your own domain is easy. You’ll just need to change your DNS settings to point to Zoho’s mail servers. Zoho Mail has a really easy onboarding wizard that will walk you through that.

Once your account is set up, it’s really easy to add it to WordPress with WP Mail SMTP. Let’s take a look at how it’s done.

How to Set Up Zoho Mail SMTP in WordPress

We’re going to walk you through the process of adding Zoho Mail to WordPress with the WP Mail SMTP plugin.

If you don’t have a Zoho Mail account yet, you’ll want to sign up before working through these steps:

  1. Install the WP Mail SMTP Plugin
  2. Set Up Zoho SMTP in WordPress
  3. Set Up the Zoho API
  4. Set Up the Zoho Mail WordPress Connection
  5. Send a Test Email With Zoho SMTP

To follow along, you’ll need the WP Mail SMTP Pro plan or higher.

Step 1: Install the WP Mail SMTP Plugin

First up, let’s install WP Mail SMTP. It’s the best SMTP plugin for WordPress.

WP Mail SMTP lets you send all of the emails from your WordPress site through Zoho instead of relying on your webserver to deliver them.

How WP Mail SMTP Works

WP Mail SMTP can fix Ninja Forms not sending email and Gravity Forms not sending email. You can use it with other plugins as well.

You’ll want to start by installing and activating WP Mail SMTP on your site. If you need help installing the plugin, check out this guide to installing a plugin in WordPress.

Don’t forget to enter your license key in the plugin before you move on to the next step.

WP Mail SMTP license key

Now everything’s ready, we can select Zoho Mail in WordPress.

Step 2: Set Up Zoho SMTP in WordPress

Now we have the plugin activated, we’re going to set up Zoho as our WordPress mailer.

Start in the WordPress dashboard and click WP Mail SMTP, then Settings.

WP Mail SMTP settings menu

For now, we can skip over the From Email and head to the From Name field. Type in your name, or the name of your site if that makes sense for you.

It’s also a good idea to check the Return Path checkbox so that any bounced emails always get sent back to you.

Force From Name in Zoho Mail SMTP

Now scroll down and click the Zoho Mail picture in the Mailers section.

Select Zoho Mail SMTP in WordPress

WP Mail SMTP will open up all of the options for Zoho Mail. Let’s pause and set up the API before we fill in anything else here.

But wait – keep this page open in a tab. We’ll need to switch back to WP Mail SMTP in a second.

Step 3: Set Up the Zoho API

Now we’re going to create an API connection in Zoho.

Start by opening the Zoho API console in a new tab. You might need to sign in to Zoho as well.

Once you’re logged in, click Get Started.

Get started with Zoho Mail API

We’re adding a client for a website, so you’ll want to click Server-Based Applications here.

Select Server-Based Applications for Zoho Mail API

Now let’s fill in these 2 fields to start setting up the API:

  • In Client Name, type in any name. If you’re setting up SMTP on more than one site, you might want to include the site name here so that your connection is easy to identify.
  • In Homepage URL, type your full website address.

Create new client for Zoho Mail SMTP

Now let’s switch back to the tab we kept open in step 2.

In WP Mail SMTP, scroll down to the Authorized Redirect URI and press the button to copy it.

Copy the redirect URI for Zoho Mail SMTP

Now switch back to the Zoho tab and paste that web address into the Authorized redirect URI box.

Zoho Mail SMTP WordPress redirect URI

Go ahead and click the Create button to move on to the next tab.

Zoho will now display your API connection details.

Zoho Mail SMTP API credentials

On this screen, copy the Client ID. Switch back to your WP Mail SMTP tab and paste it into the corresponding field.

Do the same thing for the Client Secret.

Then go ahead and click the X icon at the top right to close this window.

Let’s switch back to WP Mail SMTP to complete the connection. Keep the Zoho tab open for now.

Step 4: Set Up the Zoho Mail WordPress Connection

Now we have the connection set up, let’s switch to the WordPress tab and work on the settings in WP Mail SMTP.

First, you’ll want to find the Region dropdown. This should match the data center that Zoho is using for your account.

Set the Region in Zoho Mail SMTP settings

To find yours, switch back to the Zoho Mail tab and look to the URL bar in your browser. Notice the last 2 letters in the domain name here.

Find Zoho data center region

Use this table to figure out which Region to pick in the dropdown:

URL ends with Region
.us United States
.eu Europe
.in India
.cn China
.au Australia

Once you’re done, it’s important to click Save Settings in WP Mail SMTP to save the selection.

Phew. We’re almost done! In WP Mail SMTP, scroll right down to the bottom and click Allow plugin to send emails using your Zoho Mail account.

Authorize Zoho Mail SMTP in WordPress

And then click Accept.

Accept SMTP Zoho connection in WordPress

We’re connected! You can see we have a success message at the top.

Linked WordPress site with Zoho Mail SMTP project

If you see an invalid_client message in WP Mail SMTP, don’t worry. This can happen if the region isn’t set correctly, so it’s a good idea to go back and check that. Remember: you need to save this setting before you click the authenticate button.

Before we finish up, you’ll notice that the From Email section in WP Mail SMTP is grayed out now:

From Email grayed out in WP Mail SMTP

That’s because all of the emails will come from your Zoho Mail account address, so this setting will be ignored in WP Mail SMTP.

We’re done with the Zoho API, so you can close that tab if you want to. Let’s test that our emails are working now.

Step 5: Send a Test Email With Zoho SMTP

Before we finish up, let’s test that everything works.

Click Email Test at the top of WP Mail SMTP.

Test Zoho Mail SMTP

In the Send To field, type in the email address you want to send the test email to. Then click Send Email.

Set the Send To address for the Zoho Mail SMTP test email

After a few minutes, you’ll receive a test email with your Zoho Mail email address as the sender.

Zoho Mail SMTP test email

And that’s it! You’ve successfully set up Zoho Mail SMTP in WordPress.

Now all of the emails from your contact forms, eCommerce transactions, and plugin alerts will be sent securely with Zoho CRM.

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Next Step: Connect WordPress to Zoho CRM

Did you know that you can connect WordPress to Zoho CRM? Using the WPForms plugin, you can easily send your form submissions to Zoho CRM automatically.

Check out this article on how to make a custom Zoho CRM form in WordPress. It’s just one of the useful features that make WPForms better than Contact Form 7.

Ready to try the world’s best form builder plugin? Get started today. WPForms Pro includes tons of free templates and offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

You can create surveys, event registration forms, and so much more. And you can easily collect payments using integrations with Stripe, Square, and PayPal.

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Comments

  1. Thank you for such an informative post.

    After following through all the steps mentioned above, I get the error:
    Not Acceptable!
    An appropriate representation of the requested resource could not be found on this server. This error was generated by Mod_Security.

    I have no idea where the issue may be, may you please help.

    1. Hey Moha- I am sorry to hear about the issue you are facing here! Basically, Mod_security is the server restriction, and to get that resolved, I’d recommend you to get in touch with your hosting provider.

      Hope this helps! 🙂

  2. Hi team at WPforms,

    This post helped me get the connection established but this error log has me stuck. My domain is a .CA and I notices it mentions domain .COM – Any ideas?

    Versions:
    WordPress: 5.9
    WordPress MS: No
    PHP: 7.4.23
    WP Mail SMTP: 3.3.0

    Params:
    Mailer: zoho
    Constants: No
    Domain: com
    Client ID/Secret: Yes
    Tokens: Yes

    Thank you

    1. Hey Adam,

      We’d be happy to help! When you get a chance, please drop us a line in support so we can assist.

      Please feel welcome to submit a support ticket here. That way we can discuss more details and investigate this further.

      Thanks 🙂

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