What Does "Cannot Find Host SMTP" Mean?

The host SMTP message can appear if your email account profile is incomplete.

SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is an Internet standard for sending and receiving email messages. The notice "Cannot find host SMTP" means that your computer cannot locate your mail provider's server.

Function

The host SMTP accepts your mail and forwards it to where it needs to go on the Internet. It can also accept mail from the Internet and deliver it to a mail server. However, client mail applications for individual users use SMTP only for sending mail, and employ a different standard, such as IMAP or POP, to receive email.

Problems

When your computer can't find the host SMTP, the result is that you cannot send email messages. If you're also using the SMTP host to receive email, then it prevents both sending and receiving.

Common Mistakes

Users often receive the "Cannot find host SMTP" error message because their Internet connection is down or because they fail to enter their host SMTP server information correctly when configuring their email account. These are the first issues to check when receiving this message.

References

• Lincoln University: SMTP Protocol Overview
• TopBits: SMTP
• Microsoft: Troubleshooting error messages that you receive when you try to send and receive e-mail in Outlook and Outlook Express