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Configure SMTP settings

Who can do this: Superuser Admin  ·  Where: Dashboard → Settings → SMTP Settings

Connect your tenant to an outgoing mail server so NorthGrid can send email — welcome emails, password setup links, and notifications all depend on this. Once settings are saved, a Configured badge appears and a test-email tool becomes available.

Before you begin

Have your email provider's SMTP credentials ready: host, port, username, and password. The Common SMTP Settings table on the right side of the page lists the host/port for Gmail, Office 365, SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES, and cPanel — all using port 587 with TLS.

Using Gmail?

Use an App Password, not your regular account password, and make sure two-factor authentication is enabled on the Google account. Regular passwords are rejected by Gmail's SMTP.

Enter or update SMTP settings

  1. Enter the SMTP Host (for example, mail.yourdomain.com for cPanel hosting).
  2. Enter the Port. New tenants default to 587.
  3. Choose the matching Encryption: STARTTLS (port 587), SSL/TLS (port 465), or None (not recommended). Port and encryption travel together — 587 pairs with STARTTLS, 465 with SSL/TLS.
  4. Under Authentication, enter the SMTP Username (usually the full email address).
  5. Enter the SMTP Password. If settings were saved before, the field shows (leave blank to keep current) — only type here when you're changing the password. NorthGrid never displays the stored password.
  6. Under From Address, confirm the From Email (defaults to do_not_reply@northgridtracking.com) and optionally a From Name (defaults to NorthGrid). This is the sender your users see.
  7. Select Save Settings. Cancel leaves without saving and returns to the Dashboard.

Send a test email

The Send Test Email card is inactive until settings have been saved at least once — it shows "Save your SMTP settings first, then you can send a test email."

  1. After saving, enter a destination address in Send test to. It pre-fills with your own email address, which is usually exactly what you want.
  2. Select Send Test Email and check that inbox (and its spam folder).

Test before you invite

Send a test email right after any settings change and before adding new users — if delivery is broken, welcome emails fail silently from the new user's point of view, and you'll be resending links from Manage Users.

Troubleshooting

The test email never arrived. : Check the destination's spam folder first. Then verify host, port, and encryption as a set against your provider's documentation — a port 465 host with STARTTLS selected (or vice versa) is the most common mismatch. Confirm the username is the full email address and re-enter the password.

Gmail rejects the credentials. : You're likely using the regular account password. Create an App Password (requires 2FA on the account) and use that instead.

A welcome email failed when adding a user. : The account was still created. Fix the settings here, send yourself a successful test, then use Resend Link on the user's row in Manage Users.

Do I need to re-enter the password when changing the From Name? : No. Leave SMTP Password blank and the stored password is kept.