# Switching from an SMTP plugin

Move from WP Mail SMTP, Post SMTP or FluentSMTP to SendWP without a gap, and keep your From address and SPF record right along the way.

If your site sends through WP Mail SMTP, Post SMTP or FluentSMTP today, moving to SendWP is mostly the usual setup from [Getting started with SendWP](/docs/getting-started). Two things catch people out along the way: the From address on your email can change when the old plugin is switched off, and your domain can only have one SPF record. This guide covers both, in the order that keeps your email going.

## Before you start

- **Note your From address and name.** Open your SMTP plugin's settings and write down the **From Email** and **From Name** it uses. You'll need them in [Keep your From address](#keep-your-from-address).
- **Save any old logs you want.** Your SMTP plugin's log, or your old sending provider's, stays with that plugin or provider. SendWP's log starts from the moment you connect. Export or save anything you need first.
- **Pick a quiet moment.** You'll connect SendWP and deactivate the old plugin one straight after the other.

## The move, in order

1. **Install SendWP.** Go to **Plugins → Add New Plugin**, search for **SendWP**, click **Install Now**, then **Activate**. Your email keeps going out through your SMTP plugin for now.
2. **Connect your site.** Go to **Tools → SendWP** and click **Connect to SendWP**, then create your account (or choose **Already registered?**) and pick a plan. [Step 2 of Getting started](/docs/getting-started#step-2-connect-your-site) walks through each screen.
3. **Deactivate your SMTP plugin straight away.** Go to **Plugins → Installed Plugins** and click **Deactivate** under WP Mail SMTP, Post SMTP or FluentSMTP. Don't leave both running: two plugins changing the same email can make every email fail.
4. **Set your From address** where your site's email is written, as in [the next section](#keep-your-from-address).
5. **Check an email in your log.** Log out and use **Lost your password?** on your login page with your own account. In your SendWP dashboard, open your site, go to **Emails** and find the password reset at the top of **Email Logs**.
6. **Authenticate your domain**, updating the SPF record you already have rather than adding a second one. See [Your SPF record](#your-spf-record).
7. **Close your old provider account** once nothing else uses it, and after you've saved anything you need from it.

## Keep your From address

SendWP sends from the From address your site sets. It doesn't add one of its own. SMTP plugins do: as of November 6, 2026, all three put the address from their settings on your email:

| Plugin       | Its From settings                                                        | What they do                                                                                                  |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| WP Mail SMTP | **From Email**, **Force From Email**, **From Name**, **Force From Name** | Replaces WordPress's default From address with its own; with **Force From Email** on, it replaces every From. |
| Post SMTP    | **Force From Email**, **Force From Name**                                | With the force settings on, every email goes out from the address in its settings.                            |
| FluentSMTP   | **Force From Email (recommended)**, **Force Sender Name**                | On by default: every email goes out from the connection's sender email.                                       |

Once the plugin is deactivated, each email goes out from whatever the plugin that wrote it sets. Where nothing sets one, WordPress uses its default: `wordpress@` and your site's domain, with the name “WordPress” (see [WordPress's `wp_mail()` reference](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_mail/)).

So set your From address in each plugin that sends your email:

- **WooCommerce:** go to **WooCommerce → Settings → Emails**. Under **Email sender options**, set **“From” name** and **“From” address**.
- **GiveWP:** go to **Donations → Settings → Emails** and set **From Name** and **From Email**.
- **Form plugins:** each form's email notification has its own From settings. Open the form's notifications and check them.
- **WordPress's own emails** (password resets, new-user emails) have no From setting in WordPress itself. A developer can set one with WordPress's `wp_mail_from` and `wp_mail_from_name` filters. Or leave the default: it's still on your own domain.

Use an address on the domain you authenticate with SendWP, the one your DNS records cover. Then check your log: open an email and look at who it's from.

## Your SPF record

Your domain can have only one SPF record. If you used an SMTP plugin with a sending provider, you probably already have one, with that provider's `include:` in it.

- **Add SendWP to the record you have.** Edit the TXT record that starts `v=spf1` and add `include:spf.sendwp.com`. Don't create a second record: two SPF records on the same name cancel each other out.
- **Remove the old provider's `include:` only when nothing else sends through it.** Other services may still use it, like a newsletter tool, your office email or a help desk. If you're not sure, leave it in.
- **Keep your DMARC record.** If `_dmarc` already exists, keep it.
- **The old provider's DKIM record can stay** until you close that account. SendWP's DKIM record has its own name, so the two don't clash.

[Authenticating your domain](/docs/authenticating-your-domain) shows SendWP's records and [tips for common DNS hosts](/docs/authenticating-your-domain#tips-for-common-dns-hosts).

## Changed your mind?

Deactivate SendWP from **Plugins → Installed Plugins** and reactivate your SMTP plugin. With SendWP deactivated, WordPress goes back to sending email the usual way.

## Still stuck?

If an email doesn't show up in your log, start with [Emails not arriving](/docs/troubleshooting). If it's there but going out from the wrong address, check the From settings of the plugin that sent it. Still not sure? [Write to the SendWP team](/support#contact-form) with the email's subject and what you expected it to say in the From line.