Cart Recovery Emails Not Sending

If your Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce plugin is not sending recovery (follow-up) emails, this documentation will help you understand the possible causes and guide you through the recommended solutions.

Overview

Recovery emails are automated messages sent to customers who abandon their carts before completing a purchase. These emails are triggered based on the schedule you set in the plugin’s settings and are key to recovering potential lost sales.

If recovery emails are not being sent, it’s usually related to scheduling or to how your website delivers outgoing emails.

Check That Recovery Emails Are Being Scheduled

Recovery emails are sent by a background task. To make sure they go out on time:

Step 1. Go to WooCommerce → Cart Abandonment → Settings → General and set Background Task Scheduler to Action Scheduler (recommended).

Step 2. Go to Tools → Scheduled Actions and search for cartflows_ca_update_order_status_action. The next scheduled run shows as Pending, and earlier runs show as Complete. If a run shows as Failed, its log shows the reason.

If the task is running but emails still don’t arrive, the next step is your email sending setup, covered below.

Why SMTP Is Important for Recovery Emails

By default, WordPress uses your hosting server’s email function (PHP mail) to send emails. However, this method is often unreliable and can lead to messages being blocked, delayed, or marked as spam.

To ensure reliable email delivery, we recommend using an SMTP plugin such as SureMail. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) routes your website’s outgoing messages through a proper email server, improving deliverability and ensuring that recovery emails reach your customers’ inboxes.

For setup details, refer to the SureMail Knowledge Base.

How to Verify Recovery Email Delivery

Once you’ve installed and configured SureMail or another SMTP plugin, you can confirm that recovery emails are working properly by following these steps:

1: Send a Test Email
Go to your recovery email template settings in the plugin and use the Send Test Email option to send a sample message to your inbox.

2: Check Spam and Promotions Folder
If the test email does not appear in your inbox, check your spam or promotions folders. If it lands there or doesn’t arrive at all, follow the steps in Fix Recovery Emails Going to Spam for troubleshooting.

If the test email is delivered successfully, your SMTP setup is functioning correctly and recovery emails should now send as expected.