Using Force From Email
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Why other plugins change your sender address, what Force From Email and Force From Name do about it, and which mailers lock the From address.
You set a From Email in CRM-NG SMTP, yet some emails still arrive from a different address. This article explains why, what Force From Email and Force From Name do, and why some mailers lock the sender for you. It is for anyone whose emails show the wrong sender, or fail with "sender not allowed" errors.
Why other plugins override the From address
WordPress lets any plugin choose the sender of the emails it creates. A form plugin may send "from" the visitor who filled in the form. A shop plugin may have its own "From address" setting. A membership plugin may use the site's administration email.
Without forcing, CRM-NG SMTP follows a simple rule:
- If a plugin sets its own From address, CRM-NG SMTP keeps it.
- If no plugin sets one, so WordPress would use its default
wordpress@yourdomain, CRM-NG SMTP uses your From Email instead.
The same rule applies to the sender's name and From Name.
Why that can cause problems
Most mail services only send from addresses or domains you have verified with them. If a plugin sets a From address on another domain, such as a visitor's Gmail address, your mail service may:
- refuse the email with a "sender identity" or "send as denied" error, or
- send it, but the recipient's server sees it as forged and files it as spam.
What Force From Email does
On CRM-NG SMTP → Settings → General, switch on Force From Email. The screen explains: If checked, the From Email setting above will be used for all emails, ignoring values set by other plugins.
Every email then leaves from your From Email, whatever other plugins ask for. This keeps your sender consistent and matches the address your mail service and DNS records expect.
Force From Name does the same for the sender's name: If checked, the From Name setting above will be used for all emails, ignoring values set by other plugins.
Press the save button after changing either.
Keep replies working
Forcing the From address does not stop people replying to the right person. Well-built form plugins put the visitor's address in the Reply-To header, which is not changed. Check your form plugin's notification settings for a Reply-To option.
When not to force
Leave Force From Email off if you deliberately send from several verified addresses, for example sales@ for quotes and support@ for tickets, and your mail service allows all of them. Forcing would send everything from one address.
Mailers that lock the From address
Some mail services only ever send as the account that is connected. For these, CRM-NG SMTP enforces the sender for you.
Zoho Mail
The From address is always the Mailbox Email Address you entered, or an alias set up on that mailbox in Zoho. The From Email field is hidden, and Force From Email is switched off and greyed out with the note that the provider forces the From Email automatically. From Name and Force From Name still work. See Zoho Mail mailer.
365 / Outlook
Emails are always sent as the mailbox in your From Email field, which must be a mailbox in your Microsoft 365 tenant. A From address set by another plugin can never choose a different mailbox. This is a deliberate safety measure: the app permission could otherwise send as anyone in your organisation. The From Name field is greyed out for this mailer, so the sender name comes from the email as WordPress or the sending plugin built it. See 365 / Outlook mailer.
Google / Gmail
Google sends from the connected account, or from a "send mail as" alias you have added and verified in Gmail. You can set From Email to one of those aliases. If you want different plugins to use different aliases, switch Force From Email off and use only registered aliases in those plugins. See Google / Gmail mailer.
Fixing it in wp-config.php
To lock these settings so nobody can change them from the screen, use CRMNG_SMTP_MAIL_FROM_FORCE and CRMNG_SMTP_MAIL_FROM_NAME_FORCE. See Securing settings with wp-config constants.