# Fix "550 Please turn on SMTP Authentication"
Source: https://docs.webgee.com/en/email/understanding-and-resolving-the-550-please-turn-on-smtp-authentication-error



`550 Please turn on SMTP Authentication` means the server would not accept your
outgoing message because the connection did not prove who you are. Applies to
all WebGee mailboxes.

Outgoing mail always requires authentication. A server that relayed unauthenticated
mail would be an open relay and would be blacklisted within hours.

## Turn on SMTP authentication [#turn-on-smtp-authentication]

The setting exists in every mail app, usually near the outgoing server
configuration. It should be **on**, and set to use the **same credentials as
incoming mail**.

**Apple Mail (macOS)**

1. **Mail** → **Settings** → **Accounts**.
2. Select the account, then the **Server Settings** tab.
3. Under **Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)**, set **Authentication** to
   **Password**.
4. Enter your **full email address** as the user name, and your mailbox
   password.

**Microsoft Outlook**

1. **File** → **Account Settings** → **Account Settings**.
2. Select the account, then **Change** → **More Settings**.
3. On the **Outgoing Server** tab, tick **My outgoing server (SMTP) requires
   authentication**.
4. Leave **Use same settings as my incoming mail server** selected.

**Mozilla Thunderbird**

1. **Account Settings** → **Outgoing Server (SMTP)**.
2. Select the server, then **Edit**.
3. Set **Authentication method** to **Normal password**.
4. Enter your **full email address** as the user name.

**iPhone and Android**

Open the account's outgoing server settings and confirm the user name and
password fields are filled in. Many devices leave them blank because the
outgoing server is described as optional — it is not.

<Callout type="warn">
  The user name is your **full email address**, including the domain. Entering
  only the part before the `@` is the single most common cause of this error.
</Callout>

## If authentication is already on [#if-authentication-is-already-on]

Then the message is not reaching the server you think it is.

**Check the outgoing server name.** After a migration, apps often still point at
a previous host. Compare it against
[Email server settings](/en/email/manual-configuration).

**Check the MX records.** If a domain transfer left the MX records pointing at
the old provider, mail is being offered to a server that no longer accepts it.

**Check your email routing.** If the domain's mail is handled externally but
cPanel still thinks it is local — or the reverse — sending fails. See
[Configure email routing in cPanel](/en/email/how-do-i-configure-my-email-routing-in-cpanel).

**Check SPF.** If you send through an external provider such as Google
Workspace, your SPF record must authorise it, or receiving servers will reject
the mail as unauthenticated. See
[SPF records for WebGee hosting](/en/email/what-are-the-correct-spf-records-when-using-webgee-hosting).

## Verify [#verify]

Send a test message to an address outside your domain and confirm it arrives.

If it still fails, capture the full rejection text — the wording after the `550`
identifies which check failed, and a different message points somewhere else
entirely. See
[Read email headers](/en/email/how-to-obtain-email-headers-a-step-by-step-guide).

## Related [#related]

* [Email server settings](/en/email/manual-configuration)
* [Configure email routing in cPanel](/en/email/how-do-i-configure-my-email-routing-in-cpanel)
* [Fix "550 Sender verify failed"](/en/email/how-to-solve-550-sender-verify-failed-error-message)