Reliable email delivery is an important part of running a WordPress website. Registration emails, password-reset messages, contact-form notifications, and other website emails need to reach their destination correctly, but the default WordPress mail system does not always provide reliable delivery.

In this guide, I will show you how I configured email sending on SkyFada.com using WP Mail SMTP with Google/Gmail, without purchasing the Pro version of WP Mail SMTP. This is a practical, real-world setup based on the configuration I used on my own website, including the Google Cloud OAuth setup, Gmail API, OAuth credentials, authorization, and email testing.

I will also explain how this setup can work with other WordPress features, such as user registration and Contact Form 7. If you already use Google Sign-In or One Tap on your website, I will also show an important precaution: creating a separate OAuth client for WP Mail SMTP so that your existing Google login configuration is not accidentally affected.

The goal is to provide a clear step-by-step method that other WordPress website owners can follow to establish a reliable Gmail-based mail delivery system using the free WP Mail SMTP option.

Since you want the free method, we will use Google/Gmail + WP Mail SMTP manual setup. You do not need WP Mail SMTP Pro.

I checked WP Mail SMTP’s current documentation, updated August 17, 2026, and the manual Gmail setup is still available on the free version. The Pro-only feature is the One-Click Setup.

Because you already created a Google Cloud project for SkyFada’s Google Sign-In, we should be careful not to change the OAuth client that is currently making your Google One Tap work. I recommend creating a separate OAuth client for WP Mail SMTP.

Step 1 — Select Google / Gmail

You are currently on exactly the right screen.

Under Mailer, click:

Google / Gmail

It is the box with the Google logo in your screenshot.

After selecting Google/Gmail, more settings will appear below the Mailer section.

Step 2 — Set your From Email

Before we create the Google connection, look for:

From Email

For the first setup, I recommend using the Gmail address that you will authorize with Google.

For example:

[email protected]

Then:

Force From Email → ON

Your existing:

From Name Example → SkyFada

and

Force From Name → ON

can remain as they are.

WP Mail SMTP explains that Force From Email makes all site emails use the specified address.

Important

Don’t use your business email Example like this: [email protected]

as the Gmail From Email yet, unless that address is configured as a Gmail/Google Workspace alias for the Google account you’re connecting.

Let’s first get reliable email delivery working.

Step 3 — Open Google Cloud in another tab

Open Google Cloud Console in a new browser tab.

Use the same Google account that you want SkyFada to send email through.

You already have a Google Cloud project for SkyFada, but again, don’t modify the OAuth client used for your Sign in with Google/One Tap.

Instead, we’ll create another OAuth client specifically for WP Mail SMTP.

WP Mail SMTP’s current instructions also recommend creating a separate Web Application OAuth credential for this purpose.

Step 4 — Select your SkyFada Google Cloud project

At the top of Google Cloud Console, click the project selector.

Choose your existing SkyFada project.

You previously created a Google Cloud project for SkyFada’s Google login, so you can use that project.

We will create a new OAuth credential inside it.

Step 5 — Enable Gmail API

In Google Cloud:

APIs & Services → Library

Search:

Gmail API

Open Gmail API.

Click:

Enable

This is required because WP Mail SMTP’s Gmail mailer sends through Google’s Gmail API.

Step 6 — Create a new OAuth Client

Go to:

APIs & Services → Credentials

Then:

+ Create Credentials → OAuth client ID

For:

Application type

select:

Web application

This is important.

Do not select Desktop app.

WP Mail SMTP specifically requires a Web application OAuth client for this setup.

You can name it:

SkyFada WP Mail SMTP

Then click Create

Step 7 — Add the Authorized Redirect URI

This is one of the most important steps.

In WP Mail SMTP, the Google/Gmail section will show an Authorized Redirect URI.

The current WP Mail SMTP documentation uses:

In Google Cloud, put it under:

Authorized redirect URIs

—not Authorized JavaScript origins.

So:

Authorized redirect URIs

→ + Add URI

→ paste:

Then click: Save

Don’t put that URL under JavaScript origins

That’s a common cause of an OAuth error. WP Mail SMTP specifically warns that the redirect URI belongs under Authorized redirect URIs.

Step 8 — Copy the Client ID and Client Secret

After creating the OAuth client, Google will show:

Client ID

and

Client secret

Keep this Google Cloud page open.

Go back to:

WordPress → WP Mail SMTP → Settings → General

Scroll to the Google/Gmail section.

You’ll see fields for:

Client ID

Client Secret

Copy the values from Google Cloud into those two fields. Then click Save

Don’t send your Client Secret to me or anyone else.

WP Mail SMTP also warns that extra spaces or characters can cause authorization errors.

Step 9 — Publish the Google app

This step is important for a Gmail account.

In Google Cloud, go to:

APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen

Then:

Audience

Look for:

Publishing status

If it says:

Testing

publish it to:

In production

Google’s current behavior can otherwise cause the authorization token to expire after a limited period. WP Mail SMTP specifically recommends publishing the Gmail OAuth app to production.

If you are using a normal personal @gmail.com account, you’ll generally see Publish App rather than the Google Workspace “Make External” workflow.

Step 10 — Save WP Mail SMTP

Go back to:

WordPress → WP Mail SMTP → Settings → General

Click:

Save Settings

After saving, WP Mail SMTP should show an authorization option such as:

Allow plugin to send emails using your Google account

Click it.

Step 11 — Authorize your Gmail account

Google will open.

Select the Gmail account you want SkyFada to use.

Google will ask you to allow WP Mail SMTP to send email through the account.

Choose:

Allow

Then you should be returned to WordPress.

WP Mail SMTP should show that the Google account has been successfully connected.

If Google says “This app isn’t verified”

Don’t panic.

For a Gmail account, this can happen because you created the Google Cloud app yourself and it hasn’t gone through Google’s verification process.

WP Mail SMTP’s documentation says that for this personal setup, you can use:

Advanced → Go to wpmailsmtp.com

and continue the authorization.

Step 12 — Test it BEFORE testing registration

This is very important.

Go to:

WP Mail SMTP → Tools → Email Test

Enter an email address that you can check.

For example, your Gmail address.

Click:

Send Email

You should get a successful send message and receive the test email.

WP Mail SMTP recommends using the Email Test after completing the Gmail connection.

Step 13 — Then test SkyFada registration

Once the Email Test works:

1. Open SkyFada in an incognito/private browser.
2. Go to Register.
3. Create a new test account using another email address.
4. Complete registration.
5. Check that the account appears under Users.
6. Check the new user’s email.
7. Check your administrator email.

At that point, the normal WordPress registration notification should have a functioning mail-delivery route.

What about Contact Form 7?

You don’t need to configure Contact Form 7 with a separate SMTP service.

The arrangement can be:

Contact Form 7

↓

WordPress wp_mail()

↓

WP Mail SMTP

↓

Google/Gmail

↓

Your recipient

So once Gmail is working in WP Mail SMTP, we can test Contact Form 7 as well.

You can leave its existing Brevo-related settings alone for the moment. We don’t need to start changing Contact Form 7 until we know the basic WP Mail SMTP Gmail delivery works.

One important caution for your SkyFada setup

You currently have Google Sign in/One Tap working. Because that is already working, do not replace or edit the existing OAuth client used for Site Kit/Google Sign-In.

Create a new OAuth Client ID named something like: SkyFada WP Mail SMTP

inside your existing SkyFada Google Cloud project.

That keeps the two systems separated:

Google OAuth Client #1 → SkyFada Sign in with Google / One Tap

Google OAuth Client #2 → WP Mail SMTP email sending

That is the safest way to proceed.

Setting up email delivery for a WordPress website does not necessarily require a paid SMTP service. In my SkyFada setup, I used the free version of WP Mail SMTP together with Google/Gmail, the Gmail API, and a separate Google Cloud OAuth client to create a working email-delivery system.

The most important part of the process is to configure the Google Cloud credentials correctly and use the correct Authorized Redirect URI. It is also important to keep the WP Mail SMTP OAuth client separate from any OAuth client already being used for Google Sign-In or One Tap. This helps prevent an email configuration change from interfering with an existing login system.

After completing the configuration, the best practice is to test email delivery from WP Mail SMTP → Tools → Email Test before testing other WordPress features. Once the basic email test succeeds, you can test user registration, password-reset emails, Contact Form 7, and other website notifications.

This setup gives SkyFada a practical Gmail-based solution for sending WordPress emails without immediately paying for another mail service. As the website grows, I can still consider dedicated transactional email services in the future, but for a website that is currently building its audience, this provides a straightforward starting point.

Most importantly, this guide is based on an actual SkyFada configuration and testing process, so the steps can be followed as a practical example rather than simply as a theoretical WordPress tutorial.