You can publish WordPress posts by email on WordPress.com using a private address generated in your site’s Settings → Writing area. Send one email per post: the subject normally becomes the title and the message body becomes the content. Self-hosted WordPress has a separately documented, legacy mailbox setup that may not work on every current installation, so verify it before relying on it.
Choose the instructions for your WordPress setup
| Setup | Documented route | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress.com | Enable Post by Email in the site dashboard and use its generated address. | Eligibility depends on the site type and plan. Protect the address because anyone who has it can publish. |
| Self-hosted WordPress | WordPress.org documents configuring a mailbox under Writing settings. | This is a legacy feature with a history of removal plans and limitations. Check that it exists and works on your installation. |
These are not interchangeable setup paths. The steps below distinguish the hosted service from a self-hosted installation.
Publish by email on WordPress.com
- Open your site’s dashboard and go to Settings → Writing.
- Find Post by Email and follow the controls to create or enable a publishing address. The available steps and eligibility vary by site type: the guide separates sites without plugins from Business and Commerce sites with plugins. It says Business and Commerce sites with plugins need the Business plan activated, while Free, Personal, and Premium sites must upgrade to use the feature. Plan rules and dashboard labels can change; check the current controls if they differ from these instructions. See WordPress.com’s Post by Email guide.
- Keep the generated address private. WordPress.com warns, “Keep this address secret—anyone who knows it can publish to your blog.” If it is exposed, return to the settings and regenerate it.
- Compose one email for each post. The subject normally supplies the post title, and the message body supplies the content. WordPress.com says it sends a notification with published-post details a few minutes after the email is sent.
Plain text works. Rich formatting may be retained when the email client supports rich text or HTML, but unnecessary HTML is stripped. If appearance matters, check the published post in the site before sharing it.
Set a post’s status and other details with shortcodes
WordPress.com recognizes shortcodes in the email subject or body to set post properties. For example, add [status draft] to save a draft or [status pending] to submit a post for review rather than publishing immediately. Other documented options include title, slug, excerpt, category, tags, scheduling delay, comments, gallery handling, polls, social sharing, geotagging, pagination, and signature truncation with [end].
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[category News]assigns the existing category “News”; categories must already exist.[tags update, WordPress]adds the listed tags.[delay +2 days]schedules the post for two days later.[password]is supported only on sites without plugins. On sites with plugins, create a private post first and add password protection in the editor.
See the current shortcode list and syntax in the official Post by Email instructions before depending on a less common option.
Understand who can use the address
The address is per user account, not per blog; each user on a multi-user site can create their own. Emails from users with the Contributor role are saved as pending rather than published.
What to know about self-hosted WordPress
WordPress.org’s Writing Settings documentation describes a Post via e-mail setup with a mail server address, port, login name, password, and default category. It describes POP3 access and warns that messages received at the configured mailbox will be posted. You may need help from your host or email provider to obtain the correct mailbox settings.
Do not assume this older route is available or reliable on every current self-hosted site. WordPress core history includes an initiative to remove email-to-post from core and move it to a plugin, as well as discussion of bugs and mail-server limitations. A developer reference still documents the enable_post_by_email_configuration filter, whose default is true; that code-level hook does not establish that your host exposes a working configuration. See the core removal initiative, the related limitations discussion, and the developer reference for the filter.
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- Check the actual Writing settings on your site and confirm your WordPress version.
- Ask your host or email provider whether the required mailbox access is available and how to configure it.
- If considering a plugin, check its recent maintenance, compatibility, security, and setup instructions. Do not assume an old plugin listing is safe or current.
Use the dashboard editor when you need more control
If email publishing is unavailable—or you want to review layout and settings before a post goes live—create the post in the WordPress.com dashboard instead. The documented flow is to create a post, customize it, preview it, then publish or schedule it. Follow the WordPress.com post creation guide.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sources and currentness
WordPress.com’s Post by Email guide was last reviewed August 11, 2026, and its general post creation guide was last reviewed September 2, 2026. WordPress.org’s Writing Settings article was last updated June 8, 2024. Core tickets and developer references describe project history and implementation, not a guarantee about a particular host or installation; confirm behavior in your own dashboard.
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