How do I configure email sending (SMTP) on my Odoo instance?

Order confirmations, notifications, invoices, password resets... A well-functioning Odoo instance is also one that sends its emails correctly. Here's how to configure this from Hodiploy.

You have two options

• The built-in server, MailHog. It captures the emails sent by Odoo without delivering them to their actual recipients, and you read them from Hodiploy's "Open Mailhog" button. We recommend it for your development and testing environments, where it's handy for checking your scenarios without risking sending fake emails to real customers.
• Your own custom SMTP server. This is the option to use for any production environment, where your emails need to actually reach their recipients.

Where this is set

You choose when you create the instance, in the "Odoo settings" section, "E-mail sending" field, and it stays changeable afterwards:

1. Log in to Hodiploy from your Client Area
2. Select the instance in your list
3. Click "Edit"
4. Scroll down to "Odoo settings", then "E-mail sending"

You can switch from MailHog to your own SMTP server or the other way round, and adjust the server, port, encryption and credentials. The "Test the SMTP connection" button validates your settings before you save.

Two things to know.

The saved SMTP password is never displayed again. To test the configuration or change it, type it in again.

Like any configuration change, saving triggers a redeployment of the instance. Pick a moment when nobody is working on it.

Which port for which encryption

• STARTTLS: port 587 (recommended), or 25
• SSL/TLS: port 465 (direct secure)
• None: port 25, 587 or 2525 (MailHog, local servers)

Setting the outgoing server from Odoo itself

Hodiploy's setting applies to the whole instance. If you need a different outgoing server per database, or several outgoing servers, that is configured in Odoo:

1. Log in to your Odoo instance
2. Enable developer mode if you haven't already
3. Go to "Settings", then "Technical", then "Outgoing Mail Servers"
4. Create or edit your SMTP server, entering the server, the port, the encryption type (SSL or STARTTLS depending on your provider), and your authentication credentials

This information is normally provided by your hosting or email provider. If you use our email offer for this same domain, you'll find these settings in our article What are the IMAP and SMTP servers?.

An important point for deliverability

Configuring an SMTP server isn't always enough to guarantee that your emails land in the inbox rather than in spam. Also make sure your domain name has valid SPF and DKIM records, which authenticate your outgoing emails with other mail providers. You'll find more details in our article How can I improve my emails' deliverability?.

Careful with instance copies. When you restore a backup into a new instance, the copy's scheduled jobs and outgoing mail servers are disabled by default, so that a copy of production does not write to your real customers believing it is production.

That is not the case for a duplicate: the copy is faithful to the original, scheduled jobs and SMTP server included. If the source instance sends real email, switch the copy to MailHog from "Edit", and disable its scheduled jobs in Odoo, before putting it to use.

A question about configuring your SMTP?

If you run into any difficulty while configuring your sending server, contact us, our team will be happy to help you.

Updated on: 22/08/2026