# How to Adjust Recipients on WooCommerce Automated Emails: A Beginner’s Guide
WooCommerce’s automated emails are fantastic for streamlining your business, from order confirmations to abandoned cart reminders. But what if you need to tweak who receives these emails? Perhaps you want to exclude certain customer groups or add a specific recipient for crucial notifications. This guide will walk you through modifying WooCommerce’s automated email recipients, even if you’re new to the platform.
Understanding WooCommerce Email Recipients
Before diving into adjustments, let’s understand the basics. WooCommerce’s email system typically sends messages based on predefined triggers such as:
- Order Received: Sent to the customer after an order is placed.
- Order Processing: Informs the customer their order is being processed.
- Order Completed: Confirms the order has been shipped.
- Customer Account Creation: Welcomes new users to your store.
- Abandoned Cart: Reminds customers about items left in their cart.
- Customize email content: Change the text, add branding, and include personalized information.
- Manage recipients based on customer roles or tags: Send specific emails only to VIP customers or those who have purchased specific products.
- Add conditional logic: Trigger emails based on complex criteria, like order value or product category.
- Customer: Yes (default)
- Admin: Yes (default)
- Specific Email Addresses: `[email protected]`
- Customer Roles: “Wholesale Customer” (Only send to Wholesale Customers)
By default, these emails are sent to the customer placing the order and sometimes to the store administrator. But you can customize this.
Method 1: Using WooCommerce Email Settings (Easiest Method)
This is the simplest way to manage many of your email recipients. It’s ideal for basic adjustments.
Accessing Email Settings:
1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.
Modifying Recipient Emails:
Here, you’ll find options for various email types. Let’s say you want to add a second email address to receive New Order notifications, alongside your admin email. You can simply add this address to the “Recipient Email” field, separating multiple addresses with commas. For example: `[email protected], [email protected]`.
Important: This method primarily modifies who receives administrative notifications. You can’t directly adjust recipient emails for customers using this method alone for every single type of email notification.
Method 2: Using WooCommerce Email Plugins (For Advanced Customization)
For more granular control, consider using a plugin. Several powerful plugins extend WooCommerce’s email capabilities. These plugins often allow you to:
Example using a hypothetical plugin: Many plugins provide settings similar to the following, allowing you to specifically choose which email types will go to customers vs. admins and adjust the recipients based on rules:
(Hypothetical Plugin Setting):
* Email Type: “Order Completed”
* Send to:
Reasoning: Imagine you operate a wholesale business alongside your retail store. You want to send separate confirmation emails to your wholesale customers. A plugin allows you to achieve this easily.
Method 3: Direct Code Modification (Advanced Users Only!)
Caution: This method requires comfort with PHP code and directly modifying your WooCommerce files. Incorrectly modifying files can break your site. Always backup your files before making any changes.
This method involves modifying the email sending functions within the WooCommerce core files. This is generally not recommended unless you are very comfortable with PHP programming and understand the potential risks.
//This is a highly simplified example and should not be used without extensive knowledge of WooCommerce's codebase. //It illustrates a conceptual approach, not a complete solution.
add_filter( ‘woocommerce_email_recipient_new_order’, ‘custom_new_order_recipient’, 10, 2 );
function custom_new_order_recipient( $recipient, $order ) {
//Add your custom logic here to modify the recipient based on order data, customer data, etc.
return ‘[email protected]’; //Replace with your custom recipient logic
}
Conclusion
Adjusting email recipients in WooCommerce can significantly improve your workflow and customer communication. Start with the simplest method – WooCommerce’s built-in email settings – then explore plugins for more advanced control. Remember to always back up your site before making any code changes. With a little effort, you can fine-tune your automated emails for maximum efficiency and customer satisfaction.
