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Home / Glossary / SMTP
Glossary · Protocol

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

In plain language

The standard way email travels from the sender's server to the recipient's server.

The metaphor

Like the mail carrier who picks up your letter and drives it to the right post office.

Going deeper

How it works

  • Your email program hands the message to your mail server.
  • That server finds the recipient's server and passes it along.
  • It does not decide whether the message is trusted; SPF, DKIM and DMARC do that.
  • Printers and apps use it to send scans and alerts.
In practice
  • A scanner needs an SMTP address to send scans to email.
  • An invoicing tool asks for SMTP settings to send from your domain.
  • A message bounces because the carrier cannot find the destination.

A question owners ask

What do I enter when an app asks for SMTP settings?

Your mail provider supplies the server name, port and a sign-in. Your IT provider can set it up so the app also passes SPF and DKIM.

Related terms
AHAuthentication HeaderARPAddress Resolution ProtocolBGPBorder Gateway ProtocolCCMPCounter Mode/CBC-MAC ProtocolCHAPChallenge Handshake Authentication ProtocolCRCCyclical Redundancy CheckEAPExtensible Authentication ProtocolESPEncapsulated Security Payload

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