Checkout reliability

Missing order emails

Those are four different stops, and the store can tell you which one happened. WooCommerce's troubleshooting guide says a new order that is still Pending payment does not send the email. Its email settings define separate notifications, including Processing order after payment, Completed order when the order is marked completed, and Failed order when a pending or on-hold order is marked failed. Each notification can be turned off. WooCommerce logs every transactional attempt as sent, failed, disabled, or skipped. Sent means the store handed the message to its mail system. It does not mean the inbox received it. If the log says sent, the next question belongs to the host or the mail service that sends for the site, including whether the From address uses the store's domain. Confirm any email investigation or implementation scope. This page does not promise delivery. Describe the work you need. Prism will confirm scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work begins.

For: An owner or authorized representative of a research-use-only peptide business tracing one real order whose expected email is absent.

Updated 2026-09-21

Match the order status to a notification that exists

Before looking for a lost message, name the email you expected and the status the order had. WooCommerce's troubleshooting guide says to confirm that an email should have been sent. A new order still in Pending payment does not trigger the email. An error that stops the status from changing also means no email is sent.

The email settings then name the messages. Processing order goes to the customer after payment. Completed order goes when the order is marked completed and usually indicates that the order has shipped. Failed order notifications go when an order is marked failed after it was pending or on hold, including a customer message about the payment. On-hold, refunded, new-order, and customer-note messages have their own triggers. A payment receipt from a payment provider, if that provider sends one, is not one of these store messages.

Write the status and the notification name on the sheet. If they do not pair, the absence is the order state or the wrong expectation. Do not open a mail-delivery investigation for a message the status does not send.

Read the store log before blaming the inbox

WooCommerce logs each transactional email. At WooCommerce, then Status, then Logs, open the source named transactional-emails. Sent means WooCommerce handed the message to the mail system. Failed means the send was attempted and the mail process returned an error. Disabled means that notification is turned off. Skipped means a required condition was missing, such as a recipient. Sent and failed attempts for order emails are also private order notes. Disabled and skipped attempts are only in the log.

The log does not store the raw customer email address. Recipients appear as a WordPress username or as guest. If the log threshold hides INFO or NOTICE entries, a sent, disabled, or skipped row can be absent even though logging exists. Check the log settings before you treat a missing row as a missing send.

Use an order that already exists. Do not put a customer's address, a card number, or a mailbox password into the Prism form. The worksheet does not submit or save entries.

A sent log is not an inbox

WooCommerce's troubleshooting guide separates a send from delivery. Often the server sends the message and it is not received. The same guide says to use a From address on the site's domain. A From address at a public mailbox provider is likely to be filtered because the declared sender and the server that sent the mail do not match.

The authentication document tells the merchant to ask the host, or the SMTP plugin that actually sends, whether SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are in place for that domain. Each host has its own process. This page does not list DNS records. If the log says failed, the failure reason in the log is the lead, and it often points at the host or mail setup rather than at the order status.

WordPress's own messages, such as a password reset, may not appear in the transactional-emails log. Those need the mail service's log. An unknown mail service stays unknown. Do not invent a sender.

What you can close, and what the provider still owns

You can turn on a notification that the log marks disabled, add a missing store recipient, and correct a From address that does not use the store domain, when you control those settings. You can stop telling a buyer that a message was sent when the log says it was not. You cannot make a receiving mailbox accept a message the log already marked sent. That question goes to the host or the named mail service, with the log outcome and the time, not with a copy of the customer's mailbox.

A missing email does not say whether the payment succeeded. Use the order status and the payment record for that question. Prism's consultation can cover the storefront and a provider's website questions. Confirm any email-related assistance in the agreed scope. The contact form does not book an appointment or submit a processing application. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before any work.

Order-email trace

Use one existing order and one expected notification. Write unknown where the log or the inbox was not checked. Do not enter customer email addresses or message contents. Record the notification type and the delivery result only. Worksheet entries are not submitted by this worksheet or saved by this site. Use only non-sensitive summaries; do not enter credentials, government identifiers, card or bank-account numbers, private receipt links, or customer details.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

Order-email trace. The last column is for temporary notes.
Question	Where the answer is	What that answer means	Your finding
Order status when the message was expected	The order's status history, not the buyer's description.	Pending payment does not trigger the new-order email. Other notifications wait for their own status.	Order status when the message was expected: Your finding
Notification that should exist	WooCommerce, then Settings, then Emails. Match the status to that notification's description.	Processing, completed, failed, on-hold, and refunded are different messages. A provider receipt is not this list.	Notification that should exist: Your finding
Enabled, disabled, or no recipient	The notification's enable control and recipient field, or the log outcome disabled or skipped.	Disabled and skipped mean WooCommerce did not try to send. They are not delivery failures.	Enabled, disabled, or no recipient: Your finding
Log outcome	WooCommerce, then Status, then Logs, source transactional-emails, plus private order notes for sent or failed.	Sent means the message was handed to the mail system. Failed means the send returned an error. No row can also mean the log threshold hid it.	Log outcome: Your finding
From address	The From address under email settings.	An address on the store's domain is what WooCommerce tells you to use. A public-mailbox From address is likely to be filtered.	From address: Your finding
Inbox observation	The mailbox that should have received it, including the spam folder, or unknown if you cannot see that mailbox.	A sent log plus an empty inbox is a delivery question. It is not another order-status question.	Inbox observation: Your finding
Mail path	The host or SMTP service the site is configured to use, and whether that party has confirmed authentication.	SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are that party's process. Unknown stays unknown. This sheet does not collect DNS records.	Mail path: Your finding

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. The consultation form does not include these entries.

Limits

A Prism consultation can help you organize the facts and discuss the website or processing question. The payment provider decides eligibility, pricing, reserves, and whether an account is opened or closed.
Do not copy customer email addresses, mailbox passwords, or card numbers into the consultation form.
This page does not publish DNS records or promise that a message will be delivered.

Related guides

Sources checked 2026-09-21

WooCommerce email settings — checked 2026-09-21. Each notification has its own trigger, including processing after payment and completed when the order is marked completed. Notifications can be enabled or disabled, and the From address is configured there.
WooCommerce email troubleshooting — checked 2026-09-21. Pending payment does not trigger the email. The transactional-emails log records sent, failed, disabled, and skipped. Sent means the message was handed to the mail system. Delivery failure is a separate problem.
WooCommerce email authentication — checked 2026-09-21. Use a From address on the store domain. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are implemented through the host or the mail service that sends, and a public-mailbox From address is likely to be filtered.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Public support is a storefront review, card-processing preparation, or help with a provider's website questions.
Prism features — checked 2026-09-21. Findings are informational and are not a legal opinion or a compliance certificate.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The form asks for the website, products, and question. It warns against card details, passwords, and customer records. Follow-up is by email and does not book an appointment.

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Describe the business and this specific question. Prism follows up by email to discuss fit and scope. An inquiry is not a processing application or an approval.

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