Most website contact forms stop sending because they email through the web server itself, which isn't authenticated as your domain, so Gmail and Microsoft junk or refuse the messages. Others break after a plugin update or a change of email provider. The fix is to send form emails through an authenticated service and keep a saved copy of every enquiry.
Signs your form is losing enquiries
- Customers say they filled it in and you never heard
- Test submissions don't arrive, or arrive in junk
- The form shows an error, or spins and never finishes
- Enquiries dropped suddenly with no change in visitors
How to fix it
- Check whether the form plugin stores entries; if so, look there for missed enquiries.
- Send form email through your mail provider or a sending service using an API or OAuth, not the server's own mail.
- Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain.
- Use spam protection that doesn't block real people.
- Send a test after every site update.
If your form uses Microsoft 365 with a password, it may also stop when Microsoft switches off SMTP AUTH at the end of December 2026. We fix forms the same day: contact form not working.
