How to send email notifications in n8n?

The simplest and most reliable way to send email notifications in n8n is to use the Email Send node with proper SMTP credentials (for example: Gmail, SendGrid, SES, Outlook, your company SMTP). You drop the node at the point in the workflow where you want the email to be sent, fill in “To”, “Subject”, and “Text/HTML”, and then use expressions if you want dynamic content. In production, you normally store credentials in n8n’s built‑in Credentials section, and you always test with a small workflow first to confirm your SMTP accepts connections from your n8n server.

 

How to Set It Up in a Real Production Workflow

 

Below is the clear, practical way to implement email notifications the same way we do in real deployments (Docker/server/cloud). This covers setup, credentials, common pitfalls, and how to structure the workflow so it stays reliable.

• Choose your email provider. n8n sends email through SMTP. Typical choices: Gmail (workspace accounts only), SendGrid, Amazon SES, Outlook/Office365, or your server’s own SMTP. The provider gives you an SMTP host, port, username, and password (or token).
• Create SMTP credentials inside n8n. In the left sidebar under Credentials, create new credentials of type “SMTP”. Fill in host, port, user, password, and the right TLS setting. Save them. This keeps secrets out of the workflow JSON.
• Add the Email Send node to the workflow. This node is a regular node, not a trigger, so it will run whenever the workflow reaches it. In the node’s “Credentials” dropdown, select your SMTP credentials.
• Fill the fields: To, Subject, Text/HTML. You can hardcode text or use expressions like {{ $json.name }} to include dynamic data from previous nodes. Use the “HTML” field if you want a nicely formatted email.
• Test with real data. Run the workflow manually using a test input. If SMTP rejects the message, you’ll see an error directly inside the execution panel.
• Add safety checks for production. Example: use an If node before Email Send to ensure the triggering condition is correct, or use Error Workflow to notify yourself if sending fails.

 

Typical Minimal Example

 

Here’s a simple email notification step using expressions. This would be placed after any node that produces JSON data:

// Email Send node fields
To: [email protected]
Subject: New event received: {{$json.eventType}} 
Text: Hello, a new event occurred with value: {{$json.value}}

This works because n8n passes JSON between nodes. $json refers to the data output by the previous node.

 

Production Notes That Actually Matter

 

• Use a real email delivery service. Gmail accounts often block SMTP from servers; SendGrid or SES is more reliable in production.
• Watch rate limits. Some providers throttle rapid or bulk messages. If you expect high volume, use a queue‑style workflow or offload heavy mail sending outside n8n.
• Error handling is important. If SMTP fails (bad credentials, provider down), the Email Send node throws an error. You can set an error workflow so failures notify you somewhere else (Slack, email via different provider, etc.).
• Long‑running workflows are fine. Email Send is lightweight, so it won’t add significant runtime. Problems usually come from SMTP misconfiguration, not the node itself.

 

When to Avoid Doing All Email Logic Inside n8n

 

If you need heavy templating, bulk sending, or marketing automation, it’s better to send a single event from n8n to a dedicated email service (e.g., SendGrid templates) rather than generate complex HTML inside n8n. n8n is great for orchestration, not for replacing full email marketing engines.

 

That’s the full practical approach: you configure SMTP credentials, drop an Email Send node, populate fields with static or dynamic data, test, then wrap it in proper error handling for production. This is exactly how we ship stable email notifications in real n8n environments.