Python Email Sender Script Example

This example shows how to send an email in Python using the standard library.

You will learn:

How to create a simple email message
How to connect to an SMTP server
How to log in and send the email
Which values you must replace before the script works

This page focuses on a small working script. It also covers common setup problems that beginners often hit.

Quick example

import smtplib
from email.message import EmailMessage

msg = EmailMessage()
msg['Subject'] = 'Test email from Python'
msg['From'] = 'your_email@example.com'
msg['To'] = 'friend@example.com'
msg.set_content('Hello from Python!')

with smtplib.SMTP_SSL('smtp.example.com', 465) as smtp:
    smtp.login('your_email@example.com', 'your_password')
    smtp.send_message(msg)

print('Email sent')

Replace the SMTP server, port, email address, and password with real values from your email provider. Some providers require an app password instead of your normal password.

What this example shows

This script demonstrates the basic steps for sending an email:

Build an email message with a subject, sender, recipient, and body
Connect to an SMTP server
Log in with your email account
Send the message

It uses:

smtplib to talk to the email server
EmailMessage to build the email

You do not need to install extra packages for this basic example. Both modules are included with Python.

Before you run the script

Before this can work, you need a few real values from your email provider:

An email account that allows SMTP sending
The correct SMTP server name
The correct SMTP port
A working password or app password

A few important notes:

Some providers do not let scripts use your normal password
Some providers require an app password
Some providers block sign-in attempts until you enable a security setting

An app password is a special password made for scripts or apps. It is often safer than using your normal account password directly.

How the script works

Here is the same script again:

import smtplib
from email.message import EmailMessage

msg = EmailMessage()
msg['Subject'] = 'Test email from Python'
msg['From'] = 'your_email@example.com'
msg['To'] = 'friend@example.com'
msg.set_content('Hello from Python!')

with smtplib.SMTP_SSL('smtp.example.com', 465) as smtp:
    smtp.login('your_email@example.com', 'your_password')
    smtp.send_message(msg)

print('Email sent')

Step by step:

import smtplib imports the module used to connect to the mail server
from email.message import EmailMessage imports the class used to create the email
msg = EmailMessage() creates a new email message object
msg['Subject'], msg['From'], and msg['To'] set the email headers
msg.set_content(...) sets the plain text body
smtplib.SMTP_SSL(...) opens a secure connection to the SMTP server
smtp.login(...) signs in to your account
smtp.send_message(msg) sends the email

If you are new to Python input, see Python input() function explained for a simple way to ask the user for values.

Important lines to explain

`msg['Subject']`

This sets the subject line that the recipient sees.

msg['Subject'] = 'Test email from Python'

`msg['From']`

This sets the sender address.

msg['From'] = 'your_email@example.com'

In many cases, this should match the account you log in with. If they do not match, some providers may reject the message.

`msg['To']`

This is the recipient email address.

msg['To'] = 'friend@example.com'

`smtp.login(...)`

This authenticates with the email server.

smtp.login('your_email@example.com', 'your_password')

If this line fails, the problem is often:

Wrong email address
Wrong password
App password required
Provider security settings blocking the login

`smtp.send_message(msg)`

This actually sends the email.

smtp.send_message(msg)

If the connection and login are correct, this sends the message to the server.

Expected result

If everything works:

The script prints Email sent
The recipient should receive a plain text email
The message may still be delayed, filtered, or sent to spam

Example output:

Email sent

Even when the script finishes without an error, delivery is not always guaranteed. The provider might still reject or filter the message later.

Safer way to handle passwords

Do not hard-code real passwords in a file you plan to share.

A simple beginner-friendly option is to ask for the password while the script runs:

import smtplib
from email.message import EmailMessage

sender = input("Enter your email address: ")
password = input("Enter your email password or app password: ")
recipient = input("Enter recipient email address: ")

msg = EmailMessage()
msg["Subject"] = "Test email from Python"
msg["From"] = sender
msg["To"] = recipient
msg.set_content("Hello from Python!")

with smtplib.SMTP_SSL("smtp.example.com", 465) as smtp:
    smtp.login(sender, password)
    smtp.send_message(msg)

print("Email sent")

This is better than saving the password in the script, but it still shows the password on screen while typing.

A more advanced next step is to use environment variables. If you are still learning, start with input() and move to safer storage later.

Common problems with email scripts

These are the most common reasons the script does not work:

Wrong SMTP host
Wrong SMTP port
Incorrect username or password
Using a normal password when an app password is required
Provider blocks sign-in from scripts
No internet connection
Firewall or network blocks the SMTP port

Other common causes include:

Using the wrong SMTP server address
Using the wrong SMTP port
Entering the wrong email password
Trying to send from an account that blocks SMTP access
Forgetting to match the From address with the login account

If you get an error, read the full message carefully. A good next step is learning Python errors and exceptions explained and how to handle exceptions in Python.

Simple debugging checks

Try these checks before changing a lot of code:

Make sure the email address in login() is correct
Check the SMTP server and port in your provider's documentation
Print the host and port before connecting
Try sending to your own email address first
Read the full error message instead of guessing

Useful test commands:

python email_sender.py
python -c "import smtplib; print('smtplib imported successfully')"
python -c "from email.message import EmailMessage; print('EmailMessage imported successfully')"

If imports fail, the problem may be with your Python installation or environment. If you see missing module errors in other scripts, read ModuleNotFoundError: no module named X fix.

Good next steps for readers

Once this basic version works, you can improve it by:

Adding HTML email content
Sending to multiple recipients
Attaching a file
Moving login details out of the script
Wrapping the send code in try and except

Here is a simple version with basic error handling:

import smtplib
from email.message import EmailMessage

msg = EmailMessage()
msg["Subject"] = "Test email from Python"
msg["From"] = "your_email@example.com"
msg["To"] = "friend@example.com"
msg.set_content("Hello from Python!")

try:
    with smtplib.SMTP_SSL("smtp.example.com", 465) as smtp:
        smtp.login("your_email@example.com", "your_password")
        smtp.send_message(msg)
    print("Email sent")
except Exception as error:
    print("Could not send email:")
    print(error)

This does not fix every problem automatically, but it helps you see the real error instead of the program stopping with no explanation.