Reasons your welcome emails may not have sent
After creating and sending out your welcome email to new subscribers, you may encounter situations where the email fails to reach everyone on your list.
There are several reasons that could explain why your welcome emails aren't reaching all new subscribers. Below are the most common.
Your welcome email isn’t enabled
The most common reason welcome emails don't send is that the welcome email feature hasn't been activated.
After creating and saving your welcome email, you must toggle on Enable a welcome email that is sent to new subscribers in Settings > Emails > Preset Emails > Welcome Email. Until this toggle is enabled, your welcome email will not be sent to any new subscribers, even if the email has been fully configured.
To verify your welcome email is enabled:
- Navigate to Settings > Emails.
- Scroll to the Preset Emails section.
-
Under Welcome Email, confirm the toggle next to "Enable a welcome email that is sent to new subscribers" is turned on.
For full setup instructions, see Setting up your welcome email.
Your beehiiv account is not verified yet
This is common for new accounts, and no emails will be sent until verification is complete. To verify your beehiiv account, please follow the instructions sent to your email upon signing up.
Your subscriber has not yet confirmed their email
This is assuming that you have double opt-in enabled. Subscribers with a "pending" status will not receive a welcome email until they confirm their email address, which will then change their status to "active."
You may also want to consider activating Smart Nudge to remind readers to confirm their email if they haven't done so within two days.
You can do this by going to Settings. If you have multiple publications, select one from the dropdown menu. Click Emails from the left panel, then scroll down to Preset Emails. You'll see options for Double Opt in Email and Smart Nudge. Toggle on or off each option to enable the subscriber triggered emails.
Your welcome email was sent, but ended up in promotions/spam
If you're using a new custom domain, it may take time to establish a positive reputation, a process known as "warming up" your domain.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may initially categorize emails from a new custom domain as promotions or spam. This can persist until you've built a strong, positive reputation for your domain. To learn more about this, check out this helpful blog article on deliverability.
You’re using the API to send your welcome emails
Another reason your welcome emails may not be delivered is if you're using the API to send them. In the API setup, there's a "send_welcome_email" parameter that needs to be set to "true" to ensure the welcome email is sent to subscribers via API.
If you've configured subscriptions through the API and the "send_welcome_email" request field is set to "false," the welcome email won't be sent. To rectify this, you must set the "send_welcome_email" field to "true" for subscribers who sign up via the API.
You can find more details about this parameter and its usage in our API documentation.
The subscriber was previously on your list
Welcome emails are designed to be sent to new subscribers — those who are signing up for the first time. In most cases, if a subscriber was previously on your list and resubscribes, they will not receive the welcome email again.
In most cases, when a subscriber resubscribes, the welcome email will not be resent. This includes:
- Existing free subscribers who upgrade to a paid tier
- Subscribers who were already in your system before you created or enabled your welcome email
- Subscribers who resubscribe via a native subscribe from on your website
Sending welcome emails to existing subscribers
If you need to send a welcome-style message to existing subscribers who never received one, you have 2 options:
- Use an automation: Create an automation workflow using a Manual trigger and enroll a segment of existing subscribers. This allows you to send customized onboarding emails to subscribers based on specific criteria. Learn more in Automations overview: Triggers, actions, and builder features.
- Use a one-time broadcast: Send a regular newsletter post to a specific segment of subscribers who meet your criteria.
When importing subscribers, you can optionally toggle on Send Welcome Email in the Advanced Configurations section of the import process. This allows newly imported subscribers to receive your welcome email, even though they're being added in bulk rather than signing up individually.
Some more time just needs to pass
Please allow up to 15-30 minutes for your welcome email to be sent to subscribers. In particular, during times of high volume, emails may not be dispatched immediately.