Why are my welcome emails not being sent?

After creating and sending out your welcome email to new subscribers, you may encounter situations where the email fails to reach everyone on your list.

There are several reasons that could explain why your welcome emails aren't reaching all new subscribers, here are some of them: 

5 Troubleshooting reasons why a welcome email was not sent

1. Your beehiiv account is not verified yet

This is common for new accounts, and no emails will be sent until verification is complete. To verify your beehiiv account, please follow the instructions sent to your email upon signing up. 

2. Your subscriber has not yet confirmed their email

This is assuming that you have double opt-in enabled. Subscribers with a "pending" status will not receive a welcome email until they confirm their email address, which will then change their status to "active."

You may also want to consider activating Smart Nudge to remind readers to confirm their email if they haven't done so within two days.

You can do this by going to Settings > Publication, which will open on the General tab, then scroll down to the Double Opt-In section, and toggle on Smart Nudge.

 

3. Your welcome email was sent, but ended up in promotions/spam

If you're using a new custom domain, it may take time to establish a positive reputation, a process known as "warming up" your domain.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may initially categorize emails from a new custom domain as promotions or spam. This can persist until you've built a strong, positive reputation for your domain. To learn more about this, check out some of our recent blog articles on deliverability. 

4. You’re using the API to send your welcome emails

Another reason your welcome emails may not be delivered is if you're using the API to send them. In the API setup, there's a "send_welcome_email" parameter that needs to be set to "true" to ensure the welcome email is sent to subscribers via API.

If you've configured subscriptions through the API and the "send_welcome_email" request field is set to "false," the welcome email won't be sent. To rectify this, you must set the "send_welcome_email" field to "true" for subscribers who sign up via the API.

You can find more details about this parameter and its usage in our API documentation.

5. Some more time just needs to pass

Please allow up to 15-30 minutes for your welcome email to be sent to subscribers. In particular, during times of high volume, emails may not be dispatched immediately.