# Email Delivery Issues on Self-Hosted Discourse (SMTP Working but Emails Not Received)

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-delivery-issues-on-self-hosted-discourse-smtp-working-but-emails-not-received/392923
**Category:** Support
**Tags:** email
**Created:** [January 7, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-delivery-issues-on-self-hosted-discourse-smtp-working-but-emails-not-received/392923 "2026-01-07T21:40:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Julius\_Ijidola](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/julius_ijidola/32/530372_2.png) [@Julius\_Ijidola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Julius_Ijidola)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-delivery-issues-on-self-hosted-discourse-smtp-working-but-emails-not-received/392923/1 "2026-01-07T21:40:47Z")

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Hello,

I’m running a self-hosted Discourse instance on a VPS and currently experiencing email delivery issues. Core actions such as password resets, activation email gets delivered; however, emails like summary, private messages, or chat doesn’t get delivered but return **200 OK** However, end users do not receive emails.

Details:

- Self-hosted Discourse (Docker-based)
- SMTP provider: Namecheap Private Email
- Port: 587 (STARTTLS)

I’d appreciate guidance on further debugging steps or any recommended configuration changes.

Thanks

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Andrew\_Rowe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/andrew_rowe/32/445877_2.png) [@Andrew\_Rowe](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Andrew_Rowe)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-delivery-issues-on-self-hosted-discourse-smtp-working-but-emails-not-received/392923/2 "2026-01-07T22:38:54Z")

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if you are an administrator go to the admin menu → tap email settings

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/5/f/5/5f503e8033c87762a431448d1c29d4d02cbf1afe.png)

you have access to the logs right there

There are several tabs in the email settings

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/8/e/e/8eef7f631676ac2eb66b29cae7b7e5b2ff9bbcee.png)

you can send test email

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/3/f/9/3f91ee3f9d709df0537c803a37cd435e7199c3c1.png)

and various other diagnostic tools

good luck!

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Julius\_Ijidola](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/julius_ijidola/32/530372_2.png) [@Julius\_Ijidola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Julius_Ijidola)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-delivery-issues-on-self-hosted-discourse-smtp-working-but-emails-not-received/392923/3 "2026-01-07T22:41:03Z")

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> [@Andrew\_Rowe](#):
>
> test email

Yes, I do receive the test email too

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ToddZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/toddz/32/328350_2.png) [@ToddZ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ToddZ)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2026, 4:39am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/email-delivery-issues-on-self-hosted-discourse-smtp-working-but-emails-not-received/392923/4 "2026-01-08T04:39:42Z")

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You may want to check out the topic [Trouble sending mail via Namecheap Private Email (SMTP) on self-hosted Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/trouble-sending-mail-via-namecheap-private-email-smtp-on-self-hosted-discourse/380098).

TL;DR: Namecheap business email hosting isn’t intended as a transactional SMTP relay, and you can probably expect issues.

Here’s one of the many articles listing and comparing the kind of SMTP services you really need for your forum:

> **[10 Best SMTP Services & Servers in 2026 (Tried & Tested)](https://mailcleanup.com/best-smtp-services-servers/)**
>
> Looking for the best SMTP services in 2026? Explore top SMTP servers for reliable email delivery, scalable pricing, and bulletproof deliverability.