Title: Error: SMTP connect() failed Last modified: August 21, 2016 --- # Error: SMTP connect() failed * [mengsel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mengsel/) * (@mengsel) * [11 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-smtp-connect-failed/) * I’ve been a very happy user of this plugin. Unfortunately, since a short while, it has stopped working. Now I can’t send any messages. * I’ve been using the plugin to send messages via my Microsoft Outlook.com address, for the main purpose of receiving form responses from my own website, because the webserver’s php mail() function has been supressed. Now, when I try to send a test message, I get a lot of errors. * Log: (personal info omitted with <<>>) * ``` Test Message Sent The result was: bool(false) The full debugging output is shown below: object(PHPMailer)#5884 (69) { ["Version"]=> string(5) "5.2.7" ["Priority"]=> int(3) ["CharSet"]=> string(5) "UTF-8" ["ContentType"]=> string(10) "text/plain" ["Encoding"]=> string(4) "8bit" ["ErrorInfo"]=> string(22) "SMTP connect() failed." ["From"]=> string(33) " <<>> " ["FromName"]=> string(22) " <<>> " ["Sender"]=> string(0) "" ["ReturnPath"]=> string(0) "" ["Subject"]=> string(43) "WP Mail SMTP: Test mail to <<>> " ["Body"]=> string(68) "This is a test email generated by the WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin." ["AltBody"]=> string(0) "" ["Ical"]=> string(0) "" ["MIMEBody":protected]=> string(69) "This is a test email generated by the WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin. " ["MIMEHeader":protected]=> string(471) "Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 17:17:45 +0000 Return-Path: To: <<>> From: <<>> Subject: WP Mail SMTP: Test mail to <<>> Message-ID: X-Priority: 3 X-Mailer: PHPMailer 5.2.7 (https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit " ["mailHeader":protected]=> string(0) "" ["WordWrap"]=> int(0) ["Mailer"]=> string(4) "smtp" ["Sendmail"]=> string(18) "/usr/sbin/sendmail" ["UseSendmailOptions"]=> bool(true) ["PluginDir"]=> string(0) "" ["ConfirmReadingTo"]=> string(0) "" ["Hostname"]=> string(0) "" ["MessageID"]=> string(0) "" ["MessageDate"]=> string(0) "" ["Host"]=> string(21) "smtp-mail.outlook.com" ["Port"]=> string(3) "587" ["Helo"]=> string(0) "" ["SMTPSecure"]=> string(3) "tls" ["SMTPAuth"]=> bool(true) ["Username"]=> string(33) " <<>> " ["Password"]=> string(10) " <<>> " ["AuthType"]=> string(0) "" ["Realm"]=> string(0) "" ["Workstation"]=> string(0) "" ["Timeout"]=> int(10) ["SMTPDebug"]=> bool(true) ["Debugoutput"]=> string(4) "echo" ["SMTPKeepAlive"]=> bool(false) ["SingleTo"]=> bool(false) ["SingleToArray"]=> array(0) { } ["do_verp"]=> bool(false) ["AllowEmpty"]=> bool(false) ["LE"]=> string(1) " " ["DKIM_selector"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_identity"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_passphrase"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_domain"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_private"]=> string(0) "" ["action_function"]=> string(0) "" ["XMailer"]=> string(0) "" ["smtp":protected]=> object(SMTP)#5851 (12) { ["Version"]=> string(5) "5.2.7" ["SMTP_PORT"]=> int(25) ["CRLF"]=> string(2) " " ["do_debug"]=> bool(true) ["Debugoutput"]=> string(4) "echo" ["do_verp"]=> bool(false) ["Timeout"]=> int(10) ["Timelimit"]=> int(30) ["smtp_conn":protected]=> bool(false) ["error":protected]=> NULL ["helo_rply":protected]=> NULL ["last_reply":protected]=> string(0) "" } ["to":protected]=> array(1) { [0]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(16) " <<>> " [1]=> string(0) "" } } ["cc":protected]=> array(0) { } ["bcc":protected]=> array(0) { } ["ReplyTo":protected]=> array(0) { } ["all_recipients":protected]=> array(1) { ["mmrli@skndal.com"]=> bool(true) } ["attachment":protected]=> array(0) { } ["CustomHeader":protected]=> array(0) { } ["lastMessageID":protected]=> string(59) "" ["message_type":protected]=> string(5) "plain" ["boundary":protected]=> array(3) { [1]=> string(35) "b1_ea0ed6b24b1d3c629402752ac027fbeb" [2]=> string(35) "b2_ea0ed6b24b1d3c629402752ac027fbeb" [3]=> string(35) "b3_ea0ed6b24b1d3c629402752ac027fbeb" } ["language":protected]=> array(18) { ["authenticate"]=> string(35) "SMTP Error: Could not authenticate." ["connect_host"]=> string(43) "SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host." ["data_not_accepted"]=> string(30) "SMTP Error: data not accepted." ["empty_message"]=> string(18) "Message body empty" ["encoding"]=> string(18) "Unknown encoding: " ["execute"]=> string(19) "Could not execute: " ["file_access"]=> string(23) "Could not access file: " ["file_open"]=> string(33) "File Error: Could not open file: " ["from_failed"]=> string(35) "The following From address failed: " ["instantiate"]=> string(36) "Could not instantiate mail function." ["invalid_address"]=> string(15) "Invalid address" ["mailer_not_supported"]=> string(25) " mailer is not supported." ["provide_address"]=> string(54) "You must provide at least one recipient email address." ["recipients_failed"]=> string(45) "SMTP Error: The following recipients failed: " ["signing"]=> string(15) "Signing Error: " ["smtp_connect_failed"]=> string(22) "SMTP connect() failed." ["smtp_error"]=> string(19) "SMTP server error: " ["variable_set"]=> string(30) "Cannot set or reset variable: " } ["error_count":protected]=> int(2) ["sign_cert_file":protected]=> string(0) "" ["sign_key_file":protected]=> string(0) "" ["sign_key_pass":protected]=> string(0) "" ["exceptions":protected]=> bool(true) } The SMTP debugging output is shown below: SMTP -> ERROR: Failed to connect to server: Connection timed out (110) ``` * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/) Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total) * [kcwebguy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kcwebguy/) * (@kcwebguy) * [11 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-smtp-connect-failed/#post-5042276) * I am encountering the exact same problem. Did you resolve this? If so, then how did you do it? * Thread Starter [mengsel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mengsel/) * (@mengsel) * [11 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-smtp-connect-failed/#post-5042279) * Hi kcwebguy, * I wasn’t able to resolve it and I have little confidence that the plugin author will make an update anytime soon. I moved my websites to a new server and configured it so that I could use PHP mail() again, instead of bothering with SMTP. * As an alternative – and this might be interesting for you – I did initially consider using Mandrill. You can sign up for a small amount of mails per month for free, and there is a good plugin available around here as well. [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpmandrill/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpmandrill/) * Good luck! Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total) The topic ‘Error: SMTP connect() failed’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/wp-mail-smtp/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1755440) * [WP Mail SMTP by WPForms - The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wp-mail-smtp/reviews/) ## Tags * [authentication](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/authentication/) * 2 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [mengsel](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mengsel/) * Last activity: [11 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-smtp-connect-failed/#post-5042279) * Status: not resolved