[c#] Sending email in .NET through Gmail

Instead of relying on my host to send an email, I was thinking of sending the email messages using my Gmail account. The emails are personalized emails to the bands I play on my show.

Is it possible to do it?

I had the same issue, but it was resolved by going to gmail's security settings and Allowing Less Secure apps. The Code from Domenic & Donny works, but only if you enabled that setting

If you are signed in (to Google) you can follow this link and toggle "Turn on" for "Access for less secure apps"

If you want to send background email, then please do the below

 public void SendEmail(string address, string subject, string message)
 {
 Thread threadSendMails;
 threadSendMails = new Thread(delegate()
    {

      //Place your Code here 

     });
  threadSendMails.IsBackground = true;
  threadSendMails.Start();
}

and add namespace

using System.Threading;

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;

namespace SendMailViaGmail
{
   class Program
   {
   static void Main(string[] args)
   {

      //Specify senders gmail address
      string SendersAddress = "[email protected]";
      //Specify The Address You want to sent Email To(can be any valid email address)
      string ReceiversAddress = "[email protected]";
      //Specify The password of gmial account u are using to sent mail(pw of [email protected])
      const string SendersPassword = "Password";
      //Write the subject of ur mail
      const string subject = "Testing";
      //Write the contents of your mail
      const string body = "Hi This Is my Mail From Gmail";

      try
      {
        //we will use Smtp client which allows us to send email using SMTP Protocol
        //i have specified the properties of SmtpClient smtp within{}
        //gmails smtp server name is smtp.gmail.com and port number is 587
        SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient
        {
           Host = "smtp.gmail.com",
           Port = 587,
           EnableSsl = true,
           DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network,
           Credentials = new NetworkCredential(SendersAddress, SendersPassword),
           Timeout = 3000
        };

        //MailMessage represents a mail message
        //it is 4 parameters(From,TO,subject,body)

        MailMessage message = new MailMessage(SendersAddress, ReceiversAddress, subject, body);
        /*WE use smtp sever we specified above to send the message(MailMessage message)*/

        smtp.Send(message);
        Console.WriteLine("Message Sent Successfully");
        Console.ReadKey();
     }
     catch (Exception ex)
     {
        Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
        Console.ReadKey();
     }
}
}
}

For the other answers to work "from a server" first Turn On Access for less secure apps in the gmail account.

Looks like recently google changed it's security policy. The top rated answer no longer works, until you change your account settings as described here: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en-GB

As of March 2016, google changed the setting location again!

You can try Mailkit. It gives you better and advance functionality for send mail. You can find more from this Here is an example

    MimeMessage message = new MimeMessage();
    message.From.Add(new MailboxAddress("FromName", "[email protected]"));
    message.To.Add(new MailboxAddress("ToName", "[email protected]"));
    message.Subject = "MyEmailSubject";

    message.Body = new TextPart("plain")
    {
        Text = @"MyEmailBodyOnlyTextPart"
    };

    using (var client = new SmtpClient())
    {
        client.Connect("SERVER", 25); // 25 is port you can change accordingly

        // Note: since we don't have an OAuth2 token, disable
        // the XOAUTH2 authentication mechanism.
        client.AuthenticationMechanisms.Remove("XOAUTH2");

        // Note: only needed if the SMTP server requires authentication
        client.Authenticate("YOUR_USER_NAME", "YOUR_PASSWORD");

        client.Send(message);
        client.Disconnect(true);
    }

The above answer doesn't work. You have to set DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network or it will come back with a "client was not authenticated" error. Also it's always a good idea to put a timeout.

Revised code:

using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Net;

var fromAddress = new MailAddress("[email protected]", "From Name");
var toAddress = new MailAddress("[email protected]", "To Name");
const string fromPassword = "password";
const string subject = "test";
const string body = "Hey now!!";

var smtp = new SmtpClient
{
    Host = "smtp.gmail.com",
    Port = 587,
    EnableSsl = true,
    DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network,
    Credentials = new NetworkCredential(fromAddress.Address, fromPassword),
    Timeout = 20000
};
using (var message = new MailMessage(fromAddress, toAddress)
{
    Subject = subject,
    Body = body
})
{
    smtp.Send(message);
}

To avoid security issues in Gmail, you should generate an app password first from your Gmail settings and you can use this password instead of a real password to send an email even if you use two steps verification.

For me to get it to work, i had to enable my gmail account making it possible for other apps to gain access. This is done with the "enable less secure apps" and also using this link: https://accounts.google.com/b/0/DisplayUnlockCaptcha

Source : Send email in ASP.NET C#

Below is a sample working code for sending in a mail using C#, in the below example I am using google’s smtp server.

The code is pretty self explanatory, replace email and password with your email and password values.

public void SendEmail(string address, string subject, string message)
{
    string email = "[email protected]";
    string password = "put-your-GMAIL-password-here";

    var loginInfo = new NetworkCredential(email, password);
    var msg = new MailMessage();
    var smtpClient = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com", 587);

    msg.From = new MailAddress(email);
    msg.To.Add(new MailAddress(address));
    msg.Subject = subject;
    msg.Body = message;
    msg.IsBodyHtml = true;

    smtpClient.EnableSsl = true;
    smtpClient.UseDefaultCredentials = false;
    smtpClient.Credentials = loginInfo;
    smtpClient.Send(msg);
}

Try this one

public static bool Send(string receiverEmail, string ReceiverName, string subject, string body)
{
        MailMessage mailMessage = new MailMessage();
        MailAddress mailAddress = new MailAddress("[email protected]", "Sender Name"); // [email protected] = input Sender Email Address 
        mailMessage.From = mailAddress;
        mailAddress = new MailAddress(receiverEmail, ReceiverName);
        mailMessage.To.Add(mailAddress);
        mailMessage.Subject = subject;
        mailMessage.Body = body;
        mailMessage.IsBodyHtml = true;

        SmtpClient mailSender = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com", 587)
        {
            EnableSsl = true,
            UseDefaultCredentials = false,
            DeliveryMethod = System.Net.Mail.SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network,
            Credentials = new NetworkCredential("[email protected]", "pass")   // [email protected] = input sender email address  
                                                                           //pass = sender email password
        };

        try
        {
            mailSender.Send(mailMessage);
            return true;
        }
        catch (SmtpFailedRecipientException ex)
        { 
          // Write the exception to a Log file.
        }
        catch (SmtpException ex)
        { 
           // Write the exception to a Log file.
        }
        finally
        {
            mailSender = null;
            mailMessage.Dispose();
        }
        return false;
}

use this way

MailMessage sendmsg = new MailMessage(SendersAddress, ReceiversAddress, subject, body); 
SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com");

client.Port = Convert.ToInt32("587");
client.EnableSsl = true;
client.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("[email protected]","MyPassWord");
client.Send(sendmsg);

Don't forget this :

using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;

Copying from another answer, the above methods work but gmail always replaces the "from" and "reply to" email with the actual sending gmail account. apparently there is a work around however:

http://karmic-development.blogspot.in/2013/10/send-email-from-aspnet-using-gmail-as.html

"3. In the Accounts Tab, Click on the link "Add another email address you own" then verify it"

Or possibly this

Update 3: Reader Derek Bennett says, "The solution is to go into your gmail Settings:Accounts and "Make default" an account other than your gmail account. This will cause gmail to re-write the From field with whatever the default account's email address is."

Include this,

using System.Net.Mail;

And then,

MailMessage sendmsg = new MailMessage(SendersAddress, ReceiversAddress, subject, body); 
SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com");

client.Port = Convert.ToInt16("587");
client.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("[email protected]","password");
client.EnableSsl = true;

client.Send(sendmsg);

Here is my version: "Send Email In C # Using Gmail".

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;

namespace SendMailViaGmail
{
   class Program
   {
   static void Main(string[] args)
   {

      //Specify senders gmail address
      string SendersAddress = "[email protected]";
      //Specify The Address You want to sent Email To(can be any valid email address)
      string ReceiversAddress = "[email protected]";
      //Specify The password of gmial account u are using to sent mail(pw of [email protected])
      const string SendersPassword = "Password";
      //Write the subject of ur mail
      const string subject = "Testing";
      //Write the contents of your mail
      const string body = "Hi This Is my Mail From Gmail";

      try
      {
        //we will use Smtp client which allows us to send email using SMTP Protocol
        //i have specified the properties of SmtpClient smtp within{}
        //gmails smtp server name is smtp.gmail.com and port number is 587
        SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient
        {
           Host = "smtp.gmail.com",
           Port = 587,
           EnableSsl = true,
           DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network,
           Credentials    = new NetworkCredential(SendersAddress, SendersPassword),
           Timeout = 3000
        };

        //MailMessage represents a mail message
        //it is 4 parameters(From,TO,subject,body)

        MailMessage message = new MailMessage(SendersAddress, ReceiversAddress, subject, body);
        /*WE use smtp sever we specified above to send the message(MailMessage message)*/

        smtp.Send(message);
        Console.WriteLine("Message Sent Successfully");
        Console.ReadKey();
     }

     catch (Exception ex)
     {
        Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
        Console.ReadKey();
     }
    }
   }
 }

Here is one method to send mail and getting credentials from web.config:

public static string SendEmail(string To, string Subject, string Msg, bool bodyHtml = false, bool test = false, Stream AttachmentStream = null, string AttachmentType = null, string AttachmentFileName = null)
{
    try
    {
        System.Net.Mail.MailMessage newMsg = new System.Net.Mail.MailMessage(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["mailCfg"], To, Subject, Msg);
        newMsg.BodyEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;
        newMsg.HeadersEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;
        newMsg.SubjectEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;

        System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient smtpClient = new System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient();
        if (AttachmentStream != null && AttachmentType != null && AttachmentFileName != null)
        {
            System.Net.Mail.Attachment attachment = new System.Net.Mail.Attachment(AttachmentStream, AttachmentFileName);
            System.Net.Mime.ContentDisposition disposition = attachment.ContentDisposition;
            disposition.FileName = AttachmentFileName;
            disposition.DispositionType = System.Net.Mime.DispositionTypeNames.Attachment;

            newMsg.Attachments.Add(attachment);
        }
        if (test)
        {
            smtpClient.PickupDirectoryLocation = "C:\\TestEmail";
            smtpClient.DeliveryMethod = System.Net.Mail.SmtpDeliveryMethod.SpecifiedPickupDirectory;
        }
        else
        {
            //smtpClient.EnableSsl = true;
        }

        newMsg.IsBodyHtml = bodyHtml;
        smtpClient.Send(newMsg);
        return SENT_OK;
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {

        return "Error: " + ex.Message
             + "<br/><br/>Inner Exception: "
             + ex.InnerException;
    }

}

And the corresponding section in web.config:

<appSettings>
    <add key="mailCfg" value="[email protected]"/>
</appSettings>
<system.net>
  <mailSettings>
    <smtp deliveryMethod="Network" from="[email protected]">
      <network defaultCredentials="false" host="mail.exapmple.com" userName="[email protected]" password="your_password" port="25"/>
    </smtp>
  </mailSettings>
</system.net>

I hope this code will work fine. You can have a try.

// Include this.                
using System.Net.Mail;

string fromAddress = "[email protected]";
string mailPassword = "*****";       // Mail id password from where mail will be sent.
string messageBody = "Write the body of the message here.";


// Create smtp connection.
SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient();
client.Port = 587;//outgoing port for the mail.
client.Host = "smtp.gmail.com";
client.EnableSsl = true;
client.Timeout = 10000;
client.DeliveryMethod = SmtpDeliveryMethod.Network;
client.UseDefaultCredentials = false;
client.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(fromAddress, mailPassword);


// Fill the mail form.
var send_mail = new MailMessage();

send_mail.IsBodyHtml = true;
//address from where mail will be sent.
send_mail.From = new MailAddress("[email protected]");
//address to which mail will be sent.           
send_mail.To.Add(new MailAddress("[email protected]");
//subject of the mail.
send_mail.Subject = "put any subject here";

send_mail.Body = messageBody;
client.Send(send_mail);

If your Google password doesn't work, you may need to create an app-specific password for Gmail on Google. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en

This is to send email with attachement.. Simple and short..

source: http://coding-issues.blogspot.in/2012/11/sending-email-with-attachments-from-c.html

using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;

public void email_send()
{
    MailMessage mail = new MailMessage();
    SmtpClient SmtpServer = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com");
    mail.From = new MailAddress("your [email protected]");
    mail.To.Add("[email protected]");
    mail.Subject = "Test Mail - 1";
    mail.Body = "mail with attachment";

    System.Net.Mail.Attachment attachment;
    attachment = new System.Net.Mail.Attachment("c:/textfile.txt");
    mail.Attachments.Add(attachment);

    SmtpServer.Port = 587;
    SmtpServer.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("your [email protected]", "your password");
    SmtpServer.EnableSsl = true;

    SmtpServer.Send(mail);

}

Changing sender on Gmail / Outlook.com email:

To prevent spoofing - Gmail/Outlook.com won't let you send from an arbitrary user account name.

If you have a limited number of senders you can follow these instructions and then set the From field to this address: Sending mail from a different address

If you are wanting to send from an arbitrary email address (such as a feedback form on website where the user enters their email and you don't want them emailing you directly) about the best you can do is this :

        msg.ReplyToList.Add(new System.Net.Mail.MailAddress(email, friendlyName));

This would let you just hit 'reply' in your email account to reply to the fan of your band on a feedback page, but they wouldn't get your actual email which would likely lead to a tonne of spam.

If you're in a controlled environment this works great, but please note that I've seen some email clients send to the from address even when reply-to is specified (I don't know which).

Google may block sign in attempts from some apps or devices that do not use modern security standards. Since these apps and devices are easier to break into, blocking them helps keep your account safer.

Some examples of apps that do not support the latest security standards include:

• The Mail app on your iPhone or iPad with iOS 6 or below
  
• The Mail app on your Windows phone preceding the 8.1 release
  
• Some Desktop mail clients like Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird

Therefore, you have to enable Less Secure Sign-In in your google account.

After sign into google account, go to:

https://myaccount.google.com/lesssecureapps
or
https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps

In C#, you can use the following code:

using (MailMessage mail = new MailMessage())
{
    mail.From = new MailAddress("[email protected]");
    mail.To.Add("[email protected]");
    mail.Subject = "Hello World";
    mail.Body = "<h1>Hello</h1>";
    mail.IsBodyHtml = true;
    mail.Attachments.Add(new Attachment("C:\\file.zip"));

    using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com", 587))
    {
        smtp.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("[email protected]", "password");
        smtp.EnableSsl = true;
        smtp.Send(mail);
    }
}

Try This,

    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            MailMessage mail = new MailMessage();
            SmtpClient SmtpServer = new SmtpClient("smtp.gmail.com");

            mail.From = new MailAddress("[email protected]");
            mail.To.Add("to_address");
            mail.Subject = "Test Mail";
            mail.Body = "This is for testing SMTP mail from GMAIL";

            SmtpServer.Port = 587;
            SmtpServer.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("username", "password");
            SmtpServer.EnableSsl = true;

            SmtpServer.Send(mail);
            MessageBox.Show("mail Send");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
        }
    }