How to test if PHP mail() has successfully delivered mail

Question

How can I test if mail() has successfully delivered mail?

Answer 1

Well mail() simply returns a boolean value depending on whether the mail was successfully accepted for delivery. From the php.net site:

Returns TRUE if the mail was successfully accepted for delivery, FALSE otherwise.

It is important to note that just because the mail was accepted for delivery, it does NOT mean the mail will actually reach the intended destination.

So you can test to see if it's been "sent", however checking if it's been delivered is another story.

Answer 2

As per Ben reply you can check successfully email delivery as below

$result = mail('[email protected]', 'Test Subject', $message);
if(!$result) {   
     echo "Error";   
} else {
    echo "Success";
}

For better result you can use PHPMailer. Click on below link for detailed documentation of PHPMailer.

http://phpmailer.worxware.com/index.php?pg=tutorial

if(!$mail->Send()) {
  echo 'Message was not sent.';
  echo 'Mailer error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
  echo 'Message has been sent.';
}