Ошибка could not instantiate mail function

I’m using the mail() basic example modified slightly for my user id and I’m getting the error «Mailer Error: Could not instantiate mail function»

if I use the mail function —

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);

it works fine, though I’m having trouble sending HTML, which is why I’m trying PHPMailer.

this is the code:

<?php
require_once('../class.phpmailer.php');

    $mail             = new PHPMailer(); // defaults to using php "mail()"
    $body             = file_get_contents('contents.html');
    $body             = eregi_replace("[]",'',$body);
        print ($body ); // to verify that I got the html
    $mail->AddReplyTo("reply@example.com","my name");
    $mail->SetFrom('from@example.com', 'my name');
    $address = "to@example.com";
    $mail->AddAddress($address, "her name");
    $mail->Subject    = "PHPMailer Test Subject via mail(), basic";
    $mail->AltBody    = "To view the message, please use an HTML compatible email viewer!";
    $mail->MsgHTML($body);
    $mail->AddAttachment("images/phpmailer.gif");      // attachment
    $mail->AddAttachment("images/phpmailer_mini.gif"); // attachment

    if(!$mail->Send()) {
        echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
    } else {
        echo "Message sent!";
    }
?>

You need to make sure that your from address is a valid email account setup on that server.

If you are sending file attachments and your code works for small attachments but fails for large attachments:

If you get the error «Could not instantiate mail function» error when you try to send large emails and your PHP error log contains the message «Cannot send message: Too big» then your mail transfer agent (sendmail, postfix, exim, etc) is refusing to deliver these emails.

The solution is to configure the MTA to allow larger attachments. But this is not always possible. The alternate solution is to use SMTP. You will need access to a SMTP server (and login credentials if your SMTP server requires authentication):

$mail             = new PHPMailer();
$mail->IsSMTP();                           // telling the class to use SMTP
$mail->SMTPAuth   = true;                  // enable SMTP authentication
$mail->Host       = "mail.example.com";    // set the SMTP server
$mail->Port       = 26;                    // set the SMTP port
$mail->Username   = "johndoe@example.com"; // SMTP account username
$mail->Password   = "********";            // SMTP account password

PHPMailer defaults to using PHP mail() function which uses settings from php.ini which normally defaults to use sendmail (or something similar). In the above example we override the default behavior.

answered Aug 26, 2015 at 21:15

In my case, it was the attachment size limit that causes the issue. Check and increase the size limit of mail worked for me.

answered Nov 10, 2016 at 10:32

I had this issue, and after doing some debugging, and searching I realized that the SERVER (Godaddy) can have issues.

I recommend you contact your Web hosting Provider and talk to them about Quota Restrictions on the mail function (They do this to prevent people doing spam bots or mass emailing (spam) ).

They may be able to advise you of their limits, and if you’re exceeding them. You can also possibly upgrade limit by going to private server.

After talking with GoDaddy for 15 minutes the tech support was able to resolve this within 20 minutes.

This helped me out a lot, and I wanted to share it so if someone else comes across this they can try this method if all fails, or before they try anything else.

answered Jan 21, 2017 at 7:47

answered Jun 6, 2013 at 0:38

answered Dec 30, 2014 at 19:53

I was having this issue while sending files with regional characters in their names like: VęryRęgióńął file - name.pdf.

The solution was to clear filename before attaching it to the email.

answered Aug 20, 2016 at 19:20

answered Oct 5, 2017 at 13:43

For what it’s worth I had this issue and had to go into cPanel where I saw the error message

«Attention! Please register your email IDs used in non-smtp mails through cpanel plugin. Unregistered email IDs will not be allowed in non-smtp emails sent through scripts. Go to Mail section and find «Registered Mail IDs» plugin in paper_lantern theme.»

Registering the emails in cPanel (Register Mail IDs) and waiting 10 mins got mine to work.

Hope that helps someone.

answered Jun 21, 2018 at 10:19

A lot of people often overlook the best/right way to call phpmailer and to put these:

require_once('../class.phpmailer.php');

or, something like this from the composer installation:

use PHPMailerPHPMailerPHPMailer;
use PHPMailerPHPMailerException;
require_once "../../vendor/autoload.php";

on TOP of the page before calling or including anything else. That causes the «Could not instantiate mail function»-error by most folks.

Best solution: put all mail handling in a different file to have it as clean as possible. And always use SMTP.
If that is not working, check your DNS if your allowed to send mail.

answered Dec 24, 2021 at 22:20

My config: IIS + php7.4

I had the same issue as @Salman-A, where small attachments were emailed but large were causing the page to error out.
I have increased file and attachments limits in php.ini, but this has made no difference.

Then I found a configuration in IIS(6.0), and increased file limits in there.

Also here is my mail.php:

use PHPMailerPHPMailerPHPMailer;
use PHPMailerPHPMailerException;
require '../_PHPMailer-master/src/Exception.php';
require '../_PHPMailer-master/src/PHPMailer.php';

try{
    $email = new PHPMailer(true);
    $email->SetFrom('internal@example.com', 'optional name');
    $email->isHTML(true);
    $email->Subject   = 'my subject';
    $email->Body      = $emailContent;
    $email->AddAddress( $eml_to );
    $email->AddAttachment( $file_to_attach );
    $email->Send();
  }catch(phpmailerException $e){echo $e->errorMessage();}

future.

We nee to change the values of ‘SMTP’ in php.ini file
php.ini file is located into

EasyPHP-DevServer-14.1VC11binariesphpphp_runningversionphp.ini

answered Oct 24, 2014 at 5:48

I’m using the mail() basic example modified slightly for my user id and I’m getting the error «Mailer Error: Could not instantiate mail function»

if I use the mail function —

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);

it works fine, though I’m having trouble sending HTML, which is why I’m trying PHPMailer.

this is the code:

<?php
require_once('../class.phpmailer.php');

    $mail             = new PHPMailer(); // defaults to using php "mail()"
    $body             = file_get_contents('contents.html');
    $body             = eregi_replace("[]",'',$body);
        print ($body ); // to verify that I got the html
    $mail->AddReplyTo("reply@example.com","my name");
    $mail->SetFrom('from@example.com', 'my name');
    $address = "to@example.com";
    $mail->AddAddress($address, "her name");
    $mail->Subject    = "PHPMailer Test Subject via mail(), basic";
    $mail->AltBody    = "To view the message, please use an HTML compatible email viewer!";
    $mail->MsgHTML($body);
    $mail->AddAttachment("images/phpmailer.gif");      // attachment
    $mail->AddAttachment("images/phpmailer_mini.gif"); // attachment

    if(!$mail->Send()) {
        echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
    } else {
        echo "Message sent!";
    }
?>

You need to make sure that your from address is a valid email account setup on that server.

If you are sending file attachments and your code works for small attachments but fails for large attachments:

If you get the error «Could not instantiate mail function» error when you try to send large emails and your PHP error log contains the message «Cannot send message: Too big» then your mail transfer agent (sendmail, postfix, exim, etc) is refusing to deliver these emails.

The solution is to configure the MTA to allow larger attachments. But this is not always possible. The alternate solution is to use SMTP. You will need access to a SMTP server (and login credentials if your SMTP server requires authentication):

$mail             = new PHPMailer();
$mail->IsSMTP();                           // telling the class to use SMTP
$mail->SMTPAuth   = true;                  // enable SMTP authentication
$mail->Host       = "mail.example.com";    // set the SMTP server
$mail->Port       = 26;                    // set the SMTP port
$mail->Username   = "johndoe@example.com"; // SMTP account username
$mail->Password   = "********";            // SMTP account password

PHPMailer defaults to using PHP mail() function which uses settings from php.ini which normally defaults to use sendmail (or something similar). In the above example we override the default behavior.

answered Aug 26, 2015 at 21:15

In my case, it was the attachment size limit that causes the issue. Check and increase the size limit of mail worked for me.

answered Nov 10, 2016 at 10:32

I had this issue, and after doing some debugging, and searching I realized that the SERVER (Godaddy) can have issues.

I recommend you contact your Web hosting Provider and talk to them about Quota Restrictions on the mail function (They do this to prevent people doing spam bots or mass emailing (spam) ).

They may be able to advise you of their limits, and if you’re exceeding them. You can also possibly upgrade limit by going to private server.

After talking with GoDaddy for 15 minutes the tech support was able to resolve this within 20 minutes.

This helped me out a lot, and I wanted to share it so if someone else comes across this they can try this method if all fails, or before they try anything else.

answered Jan 21, 2017 at 7:47

answered Jun 6, 2013 at 0:38

answered Dec 30, 2014 at 19:53

I was having this issue while sending files with regional characters in their names like: VęryRęgióńął file - name.pdf.

The solution was to clear filename before attaching it to the email.

answered Aug 20, 2016 at 19:20

answered Oct 5, 2017 at 13:43

For what it’s worth I had this issue and had to go into cPanel where I saw the error message

«Attention! Please register your email IDs used in non-smtp mails through cpanel plugin. Unregistered email IDs will not be allowed in non-smtp emails sent through scripts. Go to Mail section and find «Registered Mail IDs» plugin in paper_lantern theme.»

Registering the emails in cPanel (Register Mail IDs) and waiting 10 mins got mine to work.

Hope that helps someone.

answered Jun 21, 2018 at 10:19

A lot of people often overlook the best/right way to call phpmailer and to put these:

require_once('../class.phpmailer.php');

or, something like this from the composer installation:

use PHPMailerPHPMailerPHPMailer;
use PHPMailerPHPMailerException;
require_once "../../vendor/autoload.php";

on TOP of the page before calling or including anything else. That causes the «Could not instantiate mail function»-error by most folks.

Best solution: put all mail handling in a different file to have it as clean as possible. And always use SMTP.
If that is not working, check your DNS if your allowed to send mail.

answered Dec 24, 2021 at 22:20

My config: IIS + php7.4

I had the same issue as @Salman-A, where small attachments were emailed but large were causing the page to error out.
I have increased file and attachments limits in php.ini, but this has made no difference.

Then I found a configuration in IIS(6.0), and increased file limits in there.

Also here is my mail.php:

use PHPMailerPHPMailerPHPMailer;
use PHPMailerPHPMailerException;
require '../_PHPMailer-master/src/Exception.php';
require '../_PHPMailer-master/src/PHPMailer.php';

try{
    $email = new PHPMailer(true);
    $email->SetFrom('internal@example.com', 'optional name');
    $email->isHTML(true);
    $email->Subject   = 'my subject';
    $email->Body      = $emailContent;
    $email->AddAddress( $eml_to );
    $email->AddAttachment( $file_to_attach );
    $email->Send();
  }catch(phpmailerException $e){echo $e->errorMessage();}

future.

We nee to change the values of ‘SMTP’ in php.ini file
php.ini file is located into

EasyPHP-DevServer-14.1VC11binariesphpphp_runningversionphp.ini

answered Oct 24, 2014 at 5:48

I’m using the mail() basic example modified slightly for my user id and I’m getting the error «Mailer Error: Could not instantiate mail function»

if I use the mail function —

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);

it works fine, though I’m having trouble sending HTML, which is why I’m trying PHPMailer.

this is the code:

<?php
require_once('../class.phpmailer.php');

    $mail             = new PHPMailer(); // defaults to using php "mail()"
    $body             = file_get_contents('contents.html');
    $body             = eregi_replace("[]",'',$body);
        print ($body ); // to verify that I got the html
    $mail->AddReplyTo("reply@example.com","my name");
    $mail->SetFrom('from@example.com', 'my name');
    $address = "to@example.com";
    $mail->AddAddress($address, "her name");
    $mail->Subject    = "PHPMailer Test Subject via mail(), basic";
    $mail->AltBody    = "To view the message, please use an HTML compatible email viewer!";
    $mail->MsgHTML($body);
    $mail->AddAttachment("images/phpmailer.gif");      // attachment
    $mail->AddAttachment("images/phpmailer_mini.gif"); // attachment

    if(!$mail->Send()) {
        echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
    } else {
        echo "Message sent!";
    }
?>

You need to make sure that your from address is a valid email account setup on that server.

If you are sending file attachments and your code works for small attachments but fails for large attachments:

If you get the error «Could not instantiate mail function» error when you try to send large emails and your PHP error log contains the message «Cannot send message: Too big» then your mail transfer agent (sendmail, postfix, exim, etc) is refusing to deliver these emails.

The solution is to configure the MTA to allow larger attachments. But this is not always possible. The alternate solution is to use SMTP. You will need access to a SMTP server (and login credentials if your SMTP server requires authentication):

$mail             = new PHPMailer();
$mail->IsSMTP();                           // telling the class to use SMTP
$mail->SMTPAuth   = true;                  // enable SMTP authentication
$mail->Host       = "mail.example.com";    // set the SMTP server
$mail->Port       = 26;                    // set the SMTP port
$mail->Username   = "johndoe@example.com"; // SMTP account username
$mail->Password   = "********";            // SMTP account password

PHPMailer defaults to using PHP mail() function which uses settings from php.ini which normally defaults to use sendmail (or something similar). In the above example we override the default behavior.

answered Aug 26, 2015 at 21:15

In my case, it was the attachment size limit that causes the issue. Check and increase the size limit of mail worked for me.

answered Nov 10, 2016 at 10:32

I had this issue, and after doing some debugging, and searching I realized that the SERVER (Godaddy) can have issues.

I recommend you contact your Web hosting Provider and talk to them about Quota Restrictions on the mail function (They do this to prevent people doing spam bots or mass emailing (spam) ).

They may be able to advise you of their limits, and if you’re exceeding them. You can also possibly upgrade limit by going to private server.

After talking with GoDaddy for 15 minutes the tech support was able to resolve this within 20 minutes.

This helped me out a lot, and I wanted to share it so if someone else comes across this they can try this method if all fails, or before they try anything else.

answered Jan 21, 2017 at 7:47

answered Jun 6, 2013 at 0:38

answered Dec 30, 2014 at 19:53

I was having this issue while sending files with regional characters in their names like: VęryRęgióńął file - name.pdf.

The solution was to clear filename before attaching it to the email.

answered Aug 20, 2016 at 19:20

answered Oct 5, 2017 at 13:43

For what it’s worth I had this issue and had to go into cPanel where I saw the error message

«Attention! Please register your email IDs used in non-smtp mails through cpanel plugin. Unregistered email IDs will not be allowed in non-smtp emails sent through scripts. Go to Mail section and find «Registered Mail IDs» plugin in paper_lantern theme.»

Registering the emails in cPanel (Register Mail IDs) and waiting 10 mins got mine to work.

Hope that helps someone.

answered Jun 21, 2018 at 10:19

A lot of people often overlook the best/right way to call phpmailer and to put these:

require_once('../class.phpmailer.php');

or, something like this from the composer installation:

use PHPMailerPHPMailerPHPMailer;
use PHPMailerPHPMailerException;
require_once "../../vendor/autoload.php";

on TOP of the page before calling or including anything else. That causes the «Could not instantiate mail function»-error by most folks.

Best solution: put all mail handling in a different file to have it as clean as possible. And always use SMTP.
If that is not working, check your DNS if your allowed to send mail.

answered Dec 24, 2021 at 22:20

My config: IIS + php7.4

I had the same issue as @Salman-A, where small attachments were emailed but large were causing the page to error out.
I have increased file and attachments limits in php.ini, but this has made no difference.

Then I found a configuration in IIS(6.0), and increased file limits in there.

Also here is my mail.php:

use PHPMailerPHPMailerPHPMailer;
use PHPMailerPHPMailerException;
require '../_PHPMailer-master/src/Exception.php';
require '../_PHPMailer-master/src/PHPMailer.php';

try{
    $email = new PHPMailer(true);
    $email->SetFrom('internal@example.com', 'optional name');
    $email->isHTML(true);
    $email->Subject   = 'my subject';
    $email->Body      = $emailContent;
    $email->AddAddress( $eml_to );
    $email->AddAttachment( $file_to_attach );
    $email->Send();
  }catch(phpmailerException $e){echo $e->errorMessage();}

future.

We nee to change the values of ‘SMTP’ in php.ini file
php.ini file is located into

EasyPHP-DevServer-14.1VC11binariesphpphp_runningversionphp.ini

answered Oct 24, 2014 at 5:48