How to Create an Automated Thank You Email in WordPress

Most WordPress forms end the same way: someone submits, sees a generic “thanks, we got it” message, and that is the last they hear from your site. The interaction just stops there, which wastes one of the few moments a visitor is actively paying attention to you.

In most sites I build, the moment right after a form submission is one of the easiest opportunities to build trust or guide someone to the next step. An automated thank you email fills that gap — it confirms the action landed, reassures the visitor, and gives you a chance to point them somewhere useful while they are still engaged.

This guide covers setting up that email properly, from choosing a form plugin that supports it through to making sure the email actually arrives.

Quick Answer

Use a form plugin that supports a separate confirmation email to the user (not just a notification to you), write a short message that confirms what happened and what to expect next, and send it through a properly configured SMTP connection so it reaches the inbox instead of spam.

Why This Matters

A confirmation email does more than confirm. It is proof the form worked, a reminder of who you are, and a chance to set expectations — when you will reply, what happens next, where to look in the meantime. Without it, visitors are left guessing whether their submission actually went through, and some will simply submit again or give up.

It is also one of the few emails almost everyone opens, since people expect a reply right after submitting something. That makes it worth more attention than the generic “we got your message” most forms ship with by default.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Choose a form plugin that supports user confirmation emails

Not every form plugin sends a separate email to the person who submitted the form — many only notify the site admin. Check that your plugin supports a “confirmation” or “user notification” email before building anything else around it. WPForms is a reliable option that supports this out of the box, and it is what I reach for on most client sites.

If you have not built the form itself yet, start with a contact form in WordPress before adding the automated email on top of it.

2. Add a second notification for the user

In your form’s notification settings, add a notification where the “Send To” field uses the email address field from the form, rather than your own admin address. This is the email the visitor actually receives, separate from the one that lands in your inbox.

3. Write the email content

Keep it short and specific. A good thank you email covers three things:

• Confirmation of what they submitted
• What happens next and roughly when
• One useful link or action, if relevant — a resource, a related page, or a way to reach you faster

Avoid sounding like an automated system. Write it the way you would actually reply if you had time to answer everyone personally.

4. Set up SMTP so the email actually arrives

WordPress sends email through PHP’s default mail function unless you configure something else, and that default is unreliable — emails frequently land in spam or never arrive at all. Set up SMTP in WordPress so the thank you email sends from a properly authenticated address instead.

5. Test it from a real address

Submit the form yourself using an email address you do not normally use for testing, ideally on a different provider (a Gmail address if your site usually emails Outlook addresses, for example). Check the inbox and the spam folder. If it lands in spam, that is almost always an SMTP authentication issue, not a content problem.

Practical Tips

• Use the visitor’s name in the email if your form collects it — it is a small touch that makes the message feel less automated
• Set a realistic response time expectation rather than a vague one, since “within 24 hours” reduces follow-up emails more than “soon”
• If different forms serve different purposes, write a separate confirmation message for each rather than reusing one generic template
• Review the email every few months — links break and offers expire, and a confirmation email is easy to forget about once it is set up

Common Mistakes

• Only sending a notification to the site admin and assuming the visitor gets something too
• Skipping SMTP setup, which means the confirmation email is sent but rarely arrives
• Writing a confirmation email so generic it could apply to any site
• Including too many links or calls to action, which dilutes the one thing you actually want the visitor to do
• Never testing delivery from an address outside your own inbox

When to Use This vs Alternatives

An automated email works well for confirming a single action — a contact form, a quote request, a download. For a longer relationship, like nurturing someone after a lead magnet signup, a proper thank you page alongside the email gives you more room to guide the next step than an inbox message alone. Use both together where it makes sense: the email confirms, the page does the heavier lifting.

If you are still working through the basics of getting a site live, the step-by-step guide to building a WordPress website covers where this fits alongside the rest of your setup.

Conclusion

Set up a separate confirmation email for the visitor, write it like a real reply rather than an automated notice, and configure SMTP so it actually reaches the inbox. That combination turns a dead-end form submission into the start of an actual conversation.