A visitor sees “message sent,” but your inbox stays empty. That does not tell you where the problem is. A contact form has several stages: the browser submits the message, the website processes it, and a notification may reach your email. Check each stage before changing settings.
Start with access and a recovery point
Confirm who owns the website, form service, and receiving mailbox. Get permission to inspect the relevant accounts. Before making changes, save the current form and notification settings and create a suitable backup or platform restore point. Note recent changes: a new email address, a redesigned page, a plugin update, or a connected service that was removed.
Follow one clearly labeled test
Agree on a test with whoever receives inquiries. Use an email address you control and a message such as “Website form test — October 14, 10:30 a.m.” Submit once from the published page, rather than the editor preview. Do not use a real customer's details, place a booking, trigger a payment, or repeatedly press Send. If submissions trigger other workflows, coordinate those first.
Record the page address, time, device, and exact confirmation or error. These details let you follow the same test through the system.
Find the last stage that worked
- No confirmation or a visible error: check required fields, validation messages, and whether the form loads correctly. Capture the error for your developer or platform support.
- Confirmation, but no stored submission: check the correct form, account, date filters, spam folder, and connected storage. First confirm that this form actually saves entries. Some configurations only send email.
- The test is stored, but no email arrives: focus on notification settings and delivery. The submission reached that storage destination; the missing notification is a separate problem.
A success indicator is not proof of inbox delivery. WordPress explicitly makes this distinction in its documentation for sending mail.
Check the settings for your platform
- Wix: look for the test in Forms & Submissions. Then check the relevant automation's email action and recipients using Wix's notification guide.
- Squarespace: inspect the form block's email and storage connection. Changing your account email does not automatically update form storage. Follow Squarespace's storage instructions.
- WordPress: identify the actual form plugin. Storage and delivery differ by plugin; Contact Form 7 does not save submitted messages by itself. Do not assume an empty dashboard proves the message was never submitted.
Trace the notification, then retest
Check the intended recipient, spam or quarantine, mailbox rules, and any available sending logs. A bounce, rejection, or paused automation gives you a specific next step. Share timestamps and error details with the responsible provider, without exposing customer messages or passwords.
Avoid speculative DNS changes or disabling security protections across the site. If authentication or a blocked request is implicated, have the responsible administrator verify the evidence and apply a targeted fix. After an approved change, repeat the coordinated test and confirm both the submission record, where supported, and the intended recipient's inbox.
Need help finding the break?
Our free website check provides limited public-page observations. It does not submit forms or test email delivery. For a coordinated investigation, request a custom audit and repair quote. We confirm the audit scope and price first, then quote any initial repairs separately before implementing and retesting approved work.