Your store sends several automatic emails to customers: the signup verification email, password reset emails, and the support confirmation email. All of these are sent through your store's own email account, which you configure once in the admin. This guide explains how to set it up with whatever email provider you use, and how to fix the most common problem.
How your store sends email
Each store sends email using its own SMTP settings — your store does not borrow a shared mail account. SMTP is simply the standard way email is sent, and every email provider supports it. You enter your provider's settings once, and from then on every account email goes out from your address. If these settings are missing or wrong, the emails simply do not send, though signup and other actions still complete normally.
Use your own business email
You can use almost any email provider for this. Most store owners use the email account that came with their business domain — for example a Namecheap Private Email address, an address from your web host's cPanel, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, or a Google Workspace address. Using an address at your own domain (such as hello@yourstore.com) looks far more professional to customers than a free generic address, and it is what we recommend.
Whatever you use, the setup is the same: you need that provider's outgoing (SMTP) server details and your mailbox login. Your provider publishes these in their help pages, usually under "mail client" or "SMTP" setup.
Where to enter your email settings
In the Django admin, open your Shop settings and expand the Email Configuration section. You will see these fields.
Email host
Your provider's outgoing (SMTP) server address. A few common ones: Namecheap Private Email is mail.privateemail.com, Microsoft 365 is smtp.office365.com, Zoho is smtp.zoho.com, and Google Workspace is smtp.gmail.com. If you use your web host's email, it is often mail.yourdomain.com — check your host's documentation.
Email port and Use TLS
The port is normally 587 with Use TLS ticked, and this works for the great majority of providers including Namecheap Private Email. Some providers also offer port 465 for SSL. Use whatever your provider lists for outgoing mail; if in doubt, start with 587 and TLS on.
Email host user
The full email address you are sending from, for example hello@yourstore.com. Almost every provider uses the complete address as the username, not just the part before the @.
Email host password
The password your mail server expects. For most providers — Namecheap Private Email, cPanel/web-host email, Zoho — this is simply your normal mailbox password, the same one you use to log in and read your email. A few providers are different and need an "app password" instead (see the note below). This value is stored encrypted.
Email from address
The address customers will see in the "from" line. This is usually the same as the email host user.
A note on app passwords
Most providers let you use your ordinary mailbox password for SMTP, and that is all you need. However, some — notably Google Workspace / Gmail and Microsoft 365 / Outlook — block your normal password for security when two-step verification is switched on, and instead require a special app password: a one-off code you generate in the account's security settings specifically for sending mail. If you use one of those providers, create an app password there and paste that into the Email host password field rather than your everyday password. If you use Namecheap Private Email or most other providers, you can ignore app passwords entirely and just use your mailbox password.
Whichever you use, give each store its own sending account and password. Do not reuse one store's credentials on another store.
Fixing the "535 Bad Credentials" error
If account emails stop sending and your logs show a 535 BadCredentials error, this is almost always a configuration problem, not a fault in the store. It means the mail server rejected the username or password. Work through these checks.
Confirm the username is the full email address
Make sure Email host user is the complete sending address (hello@yourstore.com), not just the name before the @, and that it matches the mailbox the password belongs to.
Confirm the password is correct for your provider
Re-enter your mailbox password carefully — a stray space or an old password is the usual culprit. If your provider is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 with two-step verification on, remember that your normal password will be rejected here: you must generate and paste an app password instead. For Namecheap Private Email and most others, your normal mailbox password is the right one.
Check the host and port match your provider
Confirm the Email host and port are the ones your provider lists for outgoing mail. A mismatch here can also cause a login to fail.
Re-save and test
After correcting the settings, save, then trigger a test email — for example, by sending yourself a password reset. Once the credentials are right, ask any affected customers to request their verification or reset email again, and it will go through.
A quick reminder
Because the problem is almost always the saved settings rather than the store software, start with the username and password — and, for Google or Microsoft accounts, whether an app password is required — every time you see a 535. Changing the code is not the fix.