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Troubleshoot the recruiting email setup

Note:
You need support from your IT department to troubleshoot SMTP setup issues.

This article explores common issues relating to the recruiting email setup. If you're reading this article, you've already set up email communication for recruiting. 

If the email setup fails, Personio typically shows an error message, which you can click to review the issue. Setup issues can also appear later, for example, if your integration loses access or credentials expire. To troubleshoot the problem, try the steps outlined in this article. 

In this article, we cover the following issues:

If you've already completed the setup and are having issues with sending and receiving emails, refer to the following articles:

Before you start: Check your setup

To proceed, you first need to check which setup you have for sending and receiving emails. For example, you might use the direct integration with Google, the direct integration with Microsoft, or SMTP. Our Support Team can’t check this for you.

To check which connection you have in place, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. In the Recruiting section, click Email setup. 
  3. On the Email setup page, you can see an overview of your current setup and its configuration status.
  4. If you have multiple legal entities, you can also see the setup for each one. 

I can't set up an SMTP connection

Issue: Your company email address might be a shared mailbox. A shared mailbox doesn't have its own username and password. Also, several users can access and send emails from it. Therefore, two essential components of the SMTP settings are missing: the username and the password.

Possible solution: Use a fully licensed recruiting email address rather than a shared mailbox. For example, when you buy a subscription for an email provider, you usually specify the number of licenses you need. You then assign a license to each employee.

I can't set up the integration with Google or Microsoft

Issue: The integration with Microsoft or Google isn’t working.

Possible solution: Make sure the email account you use for the integration isn't a shared mailbox. The email account you use for the integration needs to:

  • Have its own mailbox and login credentials.
  • Have permission to send emails on behalf of your company. If you don't have this permission yet, Personio sends a request to your Microsoft or Google admin. They need to approve it before you can complete the setup.
  • Be licensed. When you buy a subscription for an email provider, like Microsoft 365, you specify the number of licenses you need. You then assign a license to each employee.

My Microsoft integration is showing a sending paused warning

Issue: You see a yellow warning on the Email setup page indicating that Microsoft email sending is paused. Personio has detected that Microsoft is rejecting outbound emails for a known reason. For example, the REST API has been disabled, the mailbox was deleted, or Personio's access to the account was revoked.

Possible solution: The alert shows the specific reason and when Personio will retry automatically (within approximately 4 hours). To resume sending immediately:

  1. Fix the underlying issue depending on the reason shown:
    • REST API disabled or tenant access blocked: Contact your IT admin to re-enable access in Microsoft 365.
    • Mailbox not found: Confirm the mailbox still exists and is licensed.
    • Access revoked: Reconnect your Microsoft account via Settings > Recruiting > Email setup.
  2. Once the issue is resolved, click Resume sending to clear the pause without waiting for the automatic retry.

Note: The alert only appears when there is an active issue. No alert means sending is working normally.

I can't set up an SMTP connection with Google Apps

Issue: You experience issues with setting up an SMTP connection with Google Apps.

Possible solution: Soon, Google won't support new SMTP connections. If you're currently using SMTP, you need to set up our direct integration with Google instead.

My email integration stopped working after it was set up correctly

Issue: Your email integration was working but has stopped sending emails. This can happen when credentials expire, a token is not reauthorized, or an admin revokes access in Google or Microsoft.

Possible solution: Go to Settings > Recruiting > Email setup. If there is an active issue, you'll see a warning with a description of what went wrong and next steps. Follow the guidance shown. If no warning is visible but emails still aren't sending, refer to Troubleshoot why emails to candidates aren't sending. 

I can only send certain IPs via my SMTP server with a firewall

Issue: You can only send certain IPs via your SMTP server with a firewall. Your SMTP server only allows emails to be sent from certain documented IP addresses.

Possible solution: Make sure to allow the following Personio Recruiting IP addresses:

  • 3.121.59.239/32
  • 3.65.146.216/32
  • 18.158.122.164/32

External apps can't establish a connection

Issue: External apps cannot establish a connection. This is despite using a licensed email address and allowlisting the IP addresses.

Possible solution: Check if your email account has permission to connect to external apps. For example, Gmail doesn't allow it by default. Then enable the use of external apps in your email provider settings. Find more information on troubleshooting steps for Gmail and managing access to less secure apps.

I'm receiving an error message about wrong credentials

Issue: You receive an error message about the wrong credentials.

Possible solution: You need to update the credentials on your email server. You can then check that they are updated in Personio. Go to Settings > Recruiting > Email setup to review your email settings.

I'm receiving a timeout message during the setup

Issue: You receive a timeout error message during the setup.

Possible solution: Your IT department needs to check if the email server can be reached.

I'm receiving an error message when trying to set up an SMTP connection with Microsoft 365

Issue: You receive the following error message: "Failed to authenticate on SMTP server with username 'jobs@company.de' using two possible authenticators. Authenticator LOGIN returned the expected response code 235, but got code '535'."

Possible solution: We recommend switching to our direct integration with Microsoft. Alternatively, make sure that SMTP AUTH is enabled. Find more information in this Microsoft help article. Read about troubleshooting Microsoft 365 authentication issues.

Microsoft security defaults are overwriting SMTP AUTH settings

Issue: When using Microsoft, certain security defaults are added to new tenants and may overwrite SMTP AUTH settings.

Possible solution: We recommend switching to our direct integration with Microsoft. Alternatively, you need to disable the security default settings in Microsoft Entra ID. Ensure that Basic Auth is allowed for SMTP via the Org settings in your Microsoft 365 admin center and for the specific account.

 

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