# Notification emails aren't sending

Find which of the five layers of Content Central's e-mail pipeline is failing — connection, sign-in, trigger, template, or delivery — by testing them in order.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.x · Audience: system-administrator · Time: 30 minutes · Last verified: 2026-08-30

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/notification-emails-arent-sending

**By the end of this guide you'll know exactly which of the five layers of Content Central's e-mail pipeline is failing — connection, sign-in, trigger, template, or delivery — and have it fixed, or have the exact evidence support needs.**

Work the layers in order. Each one depends on the ones before it, so skipping ahead wastes time.

| Layer | Question it answers |
| --- | --- |
| 1. Connection | Can Content Central reach your mail server? |
| 2. Sign-in | Does the mail server accept the credentials? |
| 3. Trigger | Was a notification actually generated? |
| 4. Template | Is the message addressed and built correctly? |
| 5. Delivery | Did a real message reach a real inbox? |

## Layer 1: Check the connection settings

1. Go to **Admin > System Settings** and open **E-mail Server Settings > SMTP Settings**.

2. Check **Outgoing mail server type**. If it's `OAuth2` (Microsoft 365 or Google), the SMTP fields don't apply — open the **OAuth2 Settings** subcategory instead, use its own **Test Connection**, then continue at Layer 3.

3. Confirm **Outgoing mail server (SMTP)** is your provider's server name (like `smtp.example.com`) and that **Server Port** matches the **Connection security** choice:
   
   | Server Port | Connection security |
   |---|---|
   | `587` | **STARTTLS (commonly port 587)** |
   | `465` | **SSL/TLS (commonly port 465)** |
   | `25` | **None** (unencrypted — only if your mail server requires it) |

> **IMPORTANT:** STARTTLS and SSL/TLS are alternatives, not settings to combine — and changing **Connection security** never changes the port for you. Port `587` paired with the wrong security choice is the single most common cause of sudden send failures.

> **NOTE:** If your version shows two separate switches — **Use SSL** and **Use TLS** — instead of one dropdown, enable only one. With both on, Content Central opens an encrypted connection and then tries to start encryption again inside it, which mail servers refuse. On port `587`, turn SSL off and keep TLS on.

> **NOTE:** Recheck this screen after any Content Central upgrade or mail-provider change. A combination that was tolerated for years can start failing the day either side changes.

*[Screenshot: The healthy pairing: port 587 with STARTTLS — and the setting's own reminder that STARTTLS and SSL/TLS are alternatives, never combined.]*

## Layer 2: Verify the sign-in

1. Still under **SMTP Settings**, check **Username (if required)** and re-enter **Password (if required)**. The password field is masked, so a stale or mistyped password looks identical to a correct one.

2. At the top of **E-mail Server Settings**, confirm **From name** and **From address** are values your mail provider allows this account to send as.

3. In the **Test Connection** row, click **Test**. The test uses the values currently on the form — even unsaved ones — so you can safely try a correction before saving it.
   
   **What you should see:** a success result. The test connects and signs in; no message is sent.

4. If the test fails, stay on layers 1–2 until it passes — nothing downstream can work. Once it passes, save the settings and continue.

> **WARNING:** Never share your SMTP password with anyone, including support. Support never needs it — a screenshot with the password field masked is enough.

## Layer 3: Confirm the notification actually fired

A perfect mail setup sends nothing if the workflow never generated a message.

1. Open the **Event Viewer** from the menu behind your user avatar. (If you don't see it, your account needs the **Event Viewer** permission.)

2. Set the **Action** filter to the e-mail action type, set **From** and **To** to the time window in question, and click **Apply**.
   
   **What you should see:** one row per sent notification, showing the document, the recipient as `To: <address>`, and the subject.

3. No rows at all? The problem is upstream of mail. In the workflow rule's e-mail action, confirm a template is selected in **Message Template:** — `There are no available message templates.` means the template it needs is missing or disabled.

> **NOTE:** The message `Server info not defined for workflow. Please visit System Settings.` is **not** about your mail server — it means Content Central doesn't know its own web address for building links. Fix it under **System Settings > Notification Settings**: turn on **Override server URL in outgoing notifications** and fill in **Server URL** (like `http://domain.com/ContentCentral/`).

> **NOTE:** Event Viewer entries are purged after the **Purge Days** value in **Admin > System Settings > Event Log** (empty = keep forever). Evidence for very old notifications may already be gone.

*[Screenshot: The Action filter set to Email. Rows here mean messages were generated; an empty result like this one means the problem is upstream of mail — the notification never fired.]*

## Layer 4: Check the template

Open the **Message Templates** page (**Manage Message Templates**) and verify, for the template in question:

- [ ] **Enabled** is on
- [ ] **Message Type** is `Email` — an `Internal` template delivers an in-app message and will never produce an e-mail
- [ ] **To** and **CC** addresses are correct, separated by semicolons
- [ ] Variables use the correct syntax: `{!CodeName;}` for system codes, `{!Field:FieldName;}` for document field values

> **NOTE:** An empty **To** field doesn't mean no recipients — templates can also target selected users, groups, and roles such as document-type admins or the document creator. Check every recipient source, not just the typed addresses.

> **NOTE:** Can't find the template? Disabled and system-generated templates (like approval deadline notices) are hidden behind the **Hide system records** toggle in the template list.

## Layer 5: Prove real delivery

A passing **Test** proves connection and sign-in only — it never sends a message. Only a real message proves the whole pipeline.

1. Trigger the actual workflow (or another rule that uses the same template) with yourself as a recipient — for example, submit a test document that meets the rule's conditions.

2. Confirm a new e-mail row appears in the **Event Viewer**, then check your inbox **and** your spam or quarantine folder.

3. If the row exists but no message arrives, the hand-off to your mail server or beyond is failing. Your mail administrator can trace it from their side using the exact timestamp, sender, and recipient from that row.

> **NOTE:** Before declaring a message "missing," search the inbox for the exact subject shown in the Event Viewer. Messages sometimes arrive looking wrong rather than not at all — an unexpected subject, or an attachment whose filename came out differently than expected — and get overlooked.

## If capture or processing stopped too

Notifications and document capture run in separate background services on the server, but they can share a root cause. If e-mails stopped **and** documents also stopped importing or moving through workflow around the same time:

1. Check **Admin > System Health** for the live status of Content Central's subsystems.

2. Report both symptoms together to support in one message, and include the diagnostics bundle System Health offers (nothing downloads until you confirm in a preview dialog). On older builds this combination can indicate a known product issue that an update resolves — it is not something to fix with settings.

## Still stuck?

Send support this compact evidence set — nothing more is needed to start:

- [ ] Screenshot of **E-mail Server Settings > SMTP Settings** (password stays masked — never share it)
- [ ] The exact server, port, and **Connection security** values, and whether **Test** passes or fails
- [ ] A screenshot of the **Event Viewer** filtered to the e-mail action for the affected time window
- [ ] The template's name, **Message Type**, and recipient settings
- [ ] One concrete example: expected recipient, workflow, and date/time
- [ ] Whether capture or processing also stopped — and if so, the **System Health** diagnostics bundle

## What's next

- [Hot folder documents aren't processing](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/capture/hot-folder-documents-arent-processing)