My forms aren't working

A broken form means you could be missing inquiries from customers. Let's fix it quickly. This guide covers contact forms, inquiry forms, and any other form on your site that isn't submitting properly.

Troubleshooter

What's wrong with the form?

When you submit a test entry, what happens?

Step 1: Test the form yourself

Go to the page with the broken form.

Fill in all required fields and submit a test entry. Use a real email address you control.

Note what happens. Does it show an error message? Does it appear to submit but nothing happens? Does the page reload with no confirmation?

Write down the exact error message if one appears. Take a screenshot.

Step 2: Check if submissions are being recorded

Many forms keep a copy of each submission even if the email notification fails. Where to look depends on your platform.

Many form plugins store submissions in your WordPress dashboard.

Log in to your WordPress dashboard.

Look for your form plugin in the left menu. Common plugins: Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms.

Check the "Entries" or "Submissions" section. If your test submission appears there, the form itself is working: the problem is with email notifications, not the form. See I'm not getting form notification emails.

An empty list isn't proof the form failed. Some plugins never store submissions: Contact Form 7 doesn't keep them unless the separate Flamingo plugin is installed, and WPForms doesn't store entries without a paid license, though its Lite Connect option can back them up off-site. If yours is one of those, the email notification may be the only record.

Not sure which form plugin you have?

Plan and settings limits that can quietly stop a form

Some causes aren't errors at all. Check these for your platform:

Squarespace: Squarespace doesn't send form submission emails from trial sites, unless the site owner is a Squarespace Circle member.
Shopify: if your sender email address uses your own domain, Shopify says you might also need to authenticate the domain.
Webflow: on the free Starter plan, a site stops collecting submissions after 50 in total. A site also needs a paid Site plan to receive submissions on your own domain. Only some roles can change a form's notification settings, so ask us to check them.
Wix: notification emails are set up as an automation with a Recipients field. Changing your Wix account email address doesn't update the recipient in your form automations. If the sender and recipient addresses are the same, Wix suggests changing the recipient, because some email providers treat those messages as spam.

Step 3: Check for a spam filter blocking submissions

Many forms have spam protection on them. It may be something you interact with, like the "I'm not a robot" checkbox, or an invisible check with nothing to click: Google's reCAPTCHA comes in both kinds. Sometimes these settings become too strict and block real submissions.

Try submitting the form in a different browser and on a different network (e.g., your phone on mobile data).

If the form shows a checkbox or a puzzle, complete it fully before clicking submit.

If you see a "spam detected" or "verification failed" message, contact us: the spam settings may need adjusting.

Spam protection works differently on each platform:

Squarespace form blocks use Google reCAPTCHA, switched on by default. It works invisibly.
Webflow names four ways to prevent form spam: CAPTCHA, bot blocking, spam filtering and the honeypot technique.
Wix: new Wix Forms include built-in spam filters. Filtered submissions go to the Spam tab (see Step 2).
Shopify doesn't block flagged submissions from its built-in contact form: it sends them with [SPAM] in the subject.

Step 4: Check for a recent update or change

Think back: when did the form last work? Did anything else change around the same time: an update, a new app or embed, a design edit, a change of plan or email address?

On WordPress, a form plugin that updated recently may have a conflict. Do not deactivate or roll back plugins yourself: this can cause other problems. Contact us with the timeline and we'll handle it safely.

On a custom-coded site, tell your developer when the form last worked. They can check what changed.

Checkout or payment forms

If a checkout or payment form is broken, that's a different (more urgent) problem. See Payments aren't working on my store.

What to send us

Before contacting us, gather:

The URL of the page with the broken form
The name of the form (if you know it)
The exact error message shown (or "no message, just nothing happens")
Whether submissions are showing where your platform stores them (Step 2)
When it last worked correctly
A screenshot of the form showing the error

Common questions

The form appears to submit but I never receive an email notification.

This is an email delivery problem. Your site is accepting the submission but the notification email is getting lost. Check the plan and settings limits for your platform, then see I'm not getting form notification emails for a dedicated guide.

The form shows a success message but submissions aren't stored anywhere.

The form may be misconfigured, or set up to send submissions somewhere else (on Webflow, a form with a custom action isn't stored in Webflow). On WordPress, a plugin update may have broken the database connection. Contact us: we'll check the form settings and, on WordPress, the error logs. On a custom-coded site, ask your developer where submissions are sent and stored.

The form was working yesterday but broke today.

On WordPress, check if WordPress or a plugin ran an automatic update overnight. On Webflow's free Starter plan, check whether the site has reached 50 submissions in total. Whatever your platform, contact us with the timeline and we'll investigate.

The submit button does nothing when I click it.

This is often a script on the page that's preventing the button from working. Try in a different browser. If it works there but not your usual browser, see clearing your cache and testing in other browsers.

On Webflow, when bot blocking is on, submit buttons are disabled while the bot protection loads, so give the page a moment. On Wix, if you can't type in the form's fields, Wix suggests checking that no elements are placed over the fields in the editor.