Send Email using SMTP in PHP: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you're developing a website or web application that requires email functionality, using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send email is essential. In this blog post, we'll explore how to send email using SMTP in PHP, a widely used server-side programming language.

We'll start by explaining what SMTP is and why it's important, and then walk you through how to set up SMTP server settings and send emails using PHP. You'll learn how to improve your email deliverability and enhance your website's user experience with this essential feature. So, let's dive in and learn how to send email using SMTP in PHP!

Here's an example PHP code for sending an email using SMTP:

 // SMTP server configuration
$smtpHost = 'smtp.example.com';
$smtpUsername = 'your_username';
$smtpPassword = 'your_password';
$smtpPort = 587;

// Email content
$to = 'recipient@example.com';
$subject = 'Test email using SMTP';
$message = 'This is a test email sent using SMTP in PHP.';

// Create a new PHPMailer instance
$mail = new PHPMailer();

// SMTP configuration
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = $smtpHost;
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = $smtpUsername;
$mail->Password = $smtpPassword;
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
$mail->Port = $smtpPort;

// Email content
$mail->setFrom($smtpUsername);
$mail->addAddress($to);
$mail->Subject = $subject;
$mail->Body = $message;

// Send the email
if (!$mail->send()) {
    echo 'Email could not be sent.';
    echo 'Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
    echo 'Email has been sent.';
}

This code uses the PHPMailer library to send an email using SMTP. You will need to replace the SMTP server configuration variables with your own SMTP server details, and update the email content variables with your own values. The code also includes error handling to display any errors that occur during the email sending process.