How set up WP SMTP with Google (gmail api)

Creating a Web App in Your Google Account

You’ll be coming back to WP Mail SMTP’s settings page a little later, so for this step, open a new tab or window in your browser.

In the new tab or window you’ve opened, log in to your Google account and open your Google Cloud Console.

Note: Before continuing, be sure to sign out of all other Google accounts besides the account you’ll be using for the SMTP setup.

Also, if you’re using Google Workspace, make sure that the Google account you use has permission to send emails (in other words, access to its own inbox).

If it’s your first time using Google Cloud Console, you may see a popup asking you to select your country and agree to the Terms of Service. Go ahead and do so, then click on AGREE AND CONTINUE to move on to the next step.

If you’ve logged in to the Google Cloud Console before, you’ll likely bypass the Terms of Service.

Creating or Choosing a Project

First, you’ll need to choose a project to use for your app. You can select an existing one or create a new one.

To do so, click on the projects dropdown in the toolbar at the top of your dashboard.

In the popup that appears, select an existing project from the list or click on New Project in the top right corner.

If you selected an existing project, move on to the next step. For a new project, enter a project name and select an organization and location from the dropdowns.

Then click on the CREATE button.

Enabling the Gmail API

Next, you need to enable the Gmail API for your project. In your Google Cloud Console sidebar, go to APIs & Services » Library.

Note: If you don’t see APIs & Services in the sidebar, it may be found by scrolling down and clicking on MORE PRODUCTS.

Then look under Category and click on Google Workspace, or enter “Gmail API” in the search bar.

Click on the Gmail API result.

On the Gmail API page, click on the blue ENABLE button.

Creating Your Application’s Credentials

After you enable the Gmail API, you should be redirected to the Gmail API Overview page. Here, click on the CREATE CREDENTIALS button.

On the next page, Google will ask a few questions to determine the Credential Type you need. From the Select an API dropdown, choose Gmail API.

Note: If you don’t see an option for the Gmail API in the dropdown, be sure that you have the Gmail API enabled for your account.

Next, under What data will you be accessing?, select the User data option. Then click the NEXT button to proceed.

Configuring Your OAuth Consent Screen

Google will then ask for some basic information about your app.

This section is mostly for personal use since no one else will be using your app. However, some fields are still marked as required:

• App name: Enter an app name of your choice (e.g., Pattie’s App).
• User support email: Select your email address from the choices provided.
• App logo: If you’d like, you can upload a logo for your app. This is optional.

Finally, add your email address in the Email addresses field. Then click on the SAVE AND CONTINUE button to proceed to the next step.

Configuring Scopes (Optional)

This is an optional step that we’ll be skipping for this tutorial. Scroll down to the end of the Scopes section and click on the SAVE AND CONTINUE button to proceed.

Note: For more information on Gmail API scopes, please see Google’s developer documentation.

Setting Up Your OAuth Client ID

Next, you’ll need to fill out some information about your OAuth Client ID.

From the Application type dropdown, select the Web application option. Once you do so, more fields will automatically populate.

You can leave the Name field as the default value or change it to something more relevant. For this example, we’ll keep the default name, Web client 1.

Next, skip the Authorized JavaScript origins section and scroll to Authorized redirect URIs.

Click on the + ADD URI button and input the following: https://connect.wpmailsmtp.com/google/. You can also copy this value from your WP Mail SMTP settings and paste it here if you prefer.

Then click on the CREATE button to complete this step.

Once your app has been created, the Your Credentials section will expand to show you your Client ID. There’s no need to copy it now, as you’ll access it from another area in a later step.

Instead, go ahead and click the DONE button at the bottom of the page.

Updating the Publishing Status From Testing to Production

Google will put your app into Internal mode by default. It’s really important that you switch it to External mode and publish it. Otherwise, your app will be super limited and won’t function properly.

Google Workspace Users

In your Google Cloud Console sidebar, go to APIs & Services » OAuth consent screen. Under User type, click on the MAKE EXTERNAL button.

Note: Only users within your organization can access your app if the User type is set to Internal. For example, if your Workspace domain is example.com, users can only access your app using an @example.com email address.

External email addresses will see an error that reads Error 403: org_internal when granting WP Mail SMTP access to your app.

In the popup window that appears, select the In production option. Then click on CONFIRM.

Gmail Users

If you’re not using Google Workspace, you won’t see the MAKE EXTERNAL option. Instead, you’ll need to publish your Google app.

To do so, go to APIs & Services » OAuth consent screen. Under Publishing status, you’ll see the app status is set to Testing. Go ahead and click the PUBLISH APP button to update your app status.

In the overlay that appears, click CONFIRM to publish your app.

Once confirmation is complete, you’ll see that your app’s Publishing status is now In production.

Granting Your Site Google / Gmail Permissions

Next, click on Credentials in the left side menu.

Once you’re on the Credentials page, in the OAuth 2.0 Client IDs section you can see the details of the web application you just created. To view the Client ID and Client Secret, click the pencil icon.

This will open all of the details for your app. On the right side of this page, you’ll see the Client ID and Client secret values.

Go ahead and copy both of these values into the corresponding fields in your WP Mail SMTP settings.

Note: Be very careful not to copy any extra text or spaces with your Client ID or Client Secret, as this will result in an error in the next step.

Once you’ve added these values, click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

After saving your settings, the page will refresh. You must grant permission before Google allows our plugin to use your Gmail API to send emails.

To do this, scroll to the bottom of the WP Mail SMTP settings page and click the button labeled Allow plugin to send emails using your Google account.

This will open a login screen for Google. Go ahead and log in to the account you’re setting up SMTP with.

Next, you’ll see a screen asking for permission for this site to send emails on your behalf.

When you’re ready, click the Allow button to proceed.

Bypassing Google’s Verification Warning (Free Gmail Users Only)

You might see the following screen if you are connecting with a free Gmail account. Go ahead and click on the Advanced link in the bottom left corner.

In the expanded section, click on Go to wpmailsmtp.com (unsafe). Don’t worry, Google only displays this warning because it hasn’t verified your app. There is no need to verify it since you created this app just for your own use.

Then click on the Allow button as shown above.

Backup Connection

Setting up a Backup Connection is optional and isn’t required to complete your Google Workspace / Gmail mailer setup. However, to further improve email deliverability, we recommend configuring an additional connection to serve as a backup in case your Primary Connection fails.

Note: Want to route your emails through a specific additional connection based on a set of rules or conditions? Be sure to check out our tutorial on Smart Routing to learn how.

Sending a Test Email

Next, you’ll be returned to your WP Mail SMTP settings and a success message will be displayed. Once the connection is complete, you’re ready to send a test email. To do so, navigate to WP Mail SMTP » Tools and open up the Email Test tab.

Once the Email Test tab is open, you’ll need to enter an email address whose inbox you have access to.

Note: If you’ve set up an additional connection, you’d be able to choose between your Primary Connection and other connections when sending a test email.

Next, choose whether to send a plain text or HTML email. Unless you know you’ll only be sending plain text emails, we recommend leaving the HTML setting toggled ON. \Then click the Send Email button.

You’ll see a success message when the test email has been sent.