mail

Description
Syntax
Examples
Links

Syntax

mail(
    string $to,
    string $subject,
    string $message,
    array|string $additional_headers = [],
    string $additional_params = ""
): bool

Parameters

to

Receiver, or receivers of the mail. The formatting of this string must comply with RFC 2822. Some examples are:

user@domain.com

user@domain.com, anotheruser@domain.com

User <user@domain.com>

User <user@domain.com>, Another User <anotheruser@domain.com>

subject

Subject of the email to be sent.

Caution: Subject must satisfy RFC 2047.

message

Message to be sent. Each line should be separated with a CRLF (\r\n). Lines should not be larger than 70 characters.

Caution (Windows only): When PHP is talking to a SMTP server directly, if a full stop is found on the start of a line, it is removed. To counter-act this, replace these occurrences with a double dot.

<?

$text = str_replace("\n.", "\n..", $text);

?>

String or array to be inserted at the end of the email header. This is typically used to add extra headers (From, Cc, and Bcc). Multiple extra headers should be separated with a CRLF (\r\n). If outside data are used to compose this header, the data should be sanitized so that no unwanted headers could be injected. If an array is passed, its keys are the header names and its values are the respective header values.

NOTE: When sending mail, the mail must contain a From header. This can be set with the additional_headers parameter, or a default can be set in php.ini.

Failing to do this will result in an error message similar to Warning: mail(): "sendmail_from" not set in php.ini or custom "From:" header missing. The From header sets also Return-Path under Windows.

NOTE: If messages are not received, try using a LF (\n) only. Some Unix mail transfer agents (most notably qmail) replace LF by CRLF automatically (which leads to doubling CR if CRLF is used). This should be a last resort, as it does not comply with RFC 2822.

additional_params

The additional_params parameter can be used to pass additional flags as command line options to the program configured to be used when sending mail, as defined by the sendmail_path configuration setting. For example, this can be used to set the envelope sender address when using sendmail with the -f sendmail option.

This parameter is escaped by escapeshellcmd() internally to prevent command execution. escapeshellcmd() prevents command execution, but allows to add additional parameters. For security reasons, it is recommended for the user to sanitize this parameter to avoid adding unwanted parameters to the shell command.

Since escapeshellcmd() is applied automatically, some characters that are allowed as email addresses by internet RFCs cannot be used. mail() can not allow such characters, so in programs where the use of such characters is required, alternative means of sending emails (such as using a framework or a library) is recommended.

The user that the webserver runs as should be added as a trusted user to the sendmail configuration to prevent a 'X-Warning' header from being added to the message when the envelope sender (-f) is set using this method. For sendmail users, this file is /etc/mail/trusted-users.

<?

$to = 'myto@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message);

var_export($return);

?>

true

2 · to · single with name subject message

<?

$to = 'Myname <myto@mydomain.com>';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message);

var_export($return);

?>

true

3 · to · multiple subject message

<?

$to = 'myto1@mydomain.com, myto2@mydomain.com, myto3@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message);

var_export($return);

?>

true

4 · to · multiple with name subject message

<?

$to = 'Myname1 <myto1@mydomain.com>, Myname2 <myto2@mydomain.com>, Myname3 <myto3@mydomain.com>';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message);

var_export($return);

?>

true

5 · message · without wordwrap

<?

$to = 'myto@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message';

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message);

var_export($return);

?>

true

6 · message · with wordwrap

<?

$to = 'myto@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message message';

$message = wordwrap($message, 70, "\r\n");

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message);

var_export($return);

?>

true

7 · additional_headers · array

<?

$to = 'myto@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';
$additional_headers = ['from' => 'myfrom@mydomain.com', 'reply-to' => 'myreply-to@mydomain.com', 'cc' => 'mycc@mydomain.com', 'bcc' => 'mybcc@mydomain.com'];

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message, $additional_headers);

var_export($return);

?>

false

8 · additional_headers · string

<?

$to = 'myto@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';
$additional_headers = "from: myfrom@mydomain.com\r\nreply-to: myreply-to@mydomain.com\r\ncc: mycc@mydomain.com\r\nbcc: mybcc@mydomain.com";

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message, $additional_headers);

var_export($return);

?>

false

9 · additional_params

<?

$to = 'myto@mydomain.com';
$subject = 'subject';
$message = 'message';
$additional_headers = ['from' => 'myfrom@mydomain.com', 'reply-to' => 'myreply-to@mydomain.com', 'cc' => 'mycc@mydomain.com', 'bcc' => 'mybcc@mydomain.com'];
$additional_params = '-fwebmaster@mydomain.com';

$return = mail($to, $subject, $message, $additional_headers, $additional_params);

var_export($return);

?>

true