Articles on: Troubleshooting

SMTP Troubleshooting (for GMail)

NOTE: SMTP is only available within WriteUpp if configured before 16/09/2020

When SMTP works its great but unfortunately, it can be temperamental and as you're interfacing with an external entity (i.e. your email provider) it is largely out of our control.

Essentially all we do is send your credentials to whichever SMTP server you have specified in the Settings and it either works or it doesn't. Unlike most integrations there is no response or error code from the mail server and consequently no indication as to why the connection failed.

The following checklist should help you get SMTP up and running. 

Are SMTP credentials correct?

In 99% of cases when there is an SMTP issue it is because the credentials are incorrect.

Please ensure that the password that you're entering for your email address is correct. If you have a password manager switched on, this may be pulling the incorrect information into this field. We recommend that you type your password from scratch to ensure that it is correct. 

We recommend ensuring that you can log into your email account using the password that you are entering into the SMTP settings. 

Have you enabled "Allow Less secure Apps"?

It is important that this is switched on. You can do this by following the steps in this article:

Allowing Less Secure Apps to Access your Account

You will see this screen:



Please ensure that the toggle is switched 'On'

Have you confirmed that you received the test email?

If a successful connection has been established you will see the following screen:



and you will receive an email that looks like this:



If you have received the the email you should click on the "yes" button indicated below:



IMPORTANT: If you do not select "yes" then SMTP will not be set up.

If you haven't received the email please be sure to check your junk folder.

Have you enabled Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in Gmail?

By default Two-Factor Authentication is not enabled in Gmail, however if you choose to enable it you will need to use/create an application specific password in WriteUpp if you wish to use SMTP. The following article from Google explains how you do this:

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en

Once you have generated an app specific password this should be entered into the password field in the SMTP settings in WriteUpp instead of your regular Gmail password that you use with 2FA.

Updated on: 10/11/2022

Was this article helpful?

Share your feedback

Cancel

Thank you!