Here a quick guide on how to fix Contact Form 7 error messages.

Contact Form 7 has three error types:

  • Yellow
  • Orange
  • Red

You can find the meaning of each error message below.

Yellow Error

A Yellow error tells you there is a form validation error.

Error Message:

"Misconfiguration leads to mail delivery failure or other troubles. Validate your contact forms now."

Solution:

  1. Go to your WordPress admin dashboard.
  2. Click on the "Contact Forms" button.
  3. Select on the "validate form now" button.
CF7 Validate
CF7 Validate

Orange Error

The orange error tells us that your form isn't sending because of spam issues.

Error Message:

"There was an error trying to send your message. Please try again later."

Solution:

  1. Go to the Contact Form 7 tab.
  2. Click on integration.
  3. Select "remove keys."
  4. Go to the Google ReCaptcha page.
  5. Sign in and create site keys for your website (choose reCaptcha V2).
  6. Add the new V2 site keys to Contact Form 7
Google reCaptcha
reCaptcha

Red Error

The red error tells us that your website hosting/server is blocking WordPress from CF7 sending emails.

Error:

"There was an error trying to send your message. Please try again later."

Solution:

  1. Install WP Mail SMTP or Mailgun plugin
Mailgun API
Mailgun API

Still not working?

Deactivate any caching plugins (WP-Rocket, W3TC etc...) on your website, re-test.

Gravity Forms

I strongly recommend using Gravity Forms instead of CF7; it has a better GUI, has more advanced features, and is easier to use.