# Activation email sent but account not activated
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [January 21, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029 "2026-01-21T22:20:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@simon\_tong](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon_tong)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/1 "2026-01-21T22:20:08Z")
**Title:** Activation email sent but account not activated / activation link confusion
Hi,
I’m running a self-hosted Discourse (Docker). SMTP test emails are **sending successfully** (verified via Gmail), but **newly registered users do not receive or cannot complete account activation properly**.
What I’ve checked / done:
- SMTP configured and **test email delivered successfully**
- `login_required = false`
- `must_approve_users = false`
- Manual activation via Admin → Users works
- Restarted with `./launcher restart app` (multiple times)
Issue:
- After registration, users land on `/u/account-created`
- Activation email is inconsistent or activation link behavior is unclear
- Unsure where to control **activation link / redirect behavior**
Questions:
1. Where exactly does Discourse handle the **activation link and redirect** after clicking it?
2. Is there a recommended way to **test activation flow without restarting** the container?
3. Any common causes when SMTP test works but **user activation emails fail or don’t complete activation**?
Thanks in advance.
---
### Author:  [@NateDhaliwal](https://meta.discourse.org/u/NateDhaliwal)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/2 "2026-01-21T22:54:52Z")
Hmm… what SMTP provider are you using?
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### Author:  [@simon\_tong](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon_tong)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/3 "2026-01-22T01:06:19Z")
Thanks Nate
I’m using **local SMTP (Postfix)** on the server — not a third-party provider yet. Testing activation emails now.
Thanks. The domain is **forum.168my.my** — feel free to do a test registration to check whether the activation email is received on your side.
Thanks
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### Author:  [@itsbhanusharma](https://meta.discourse.org/u/itsbhanusharma)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 4:18am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/4 "2026-01-22T04:18:56Z")
You can activate the initial account via rails too, alternatively you can choose to set up discourse with the new installer and opt for discourse id. That makes email optional unless you need it for email notifications.
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### Author:  [@simon\_tong](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon_tong)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/5 "2026-01-22T04:23:13Z")
> [@itsbhanusharma](#):
>
> You can activate the initial account via rails too, alternatively you can choose to set up discourse with the new installer and opt for discourse id. That makes email optional unless you need it for email notifications.
Thanks, let me try again.
---
### Author:  [@Andrew\_Rowe](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Andrew_Rowe)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 4:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/6 "2026-01-22T04:49:33Z")
I use docker-mailserver
[https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver](https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver)
It is as simple as a mail server is going to get and runs on the same server as discourse. It doesn’t use a database, keeping the emails in a flat file so not super high volume set up but it works.
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### Author:  [@simon\_tong](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon_tong)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2026, 5:20am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/activation-email-sent-but-account-not-activated/394029/7 "2026-01-22T05:20:43Z")
Thanks Bro
Have a good day