How to Link a Contact Form to Gmail

Creating a contact form is an essential part of any website. But if you’re struggling to connect your form and receive messages directly in your Gmail inbox, this guide will help you out! In this tutorial, we’ll show you the easiest way to link your contact form to Gmail using Web3Forms, all without writing any server-side code.

Why Use Web3Forms?

Web3Forms makes it simple to handle form submissions. It processes the form data for you and sends it directly to your email without requiring backend development. All you need is an API key and a few quick edits to your existing HTML code.

Prerequisites

Before diving into this guide, ensure you have a basic contact form created in HTML and styled with CSS. If you don’t, check out our previous tutorial, where we walk you through the process of building a contact form from scratch.

Here’s what the process looks like step-by-step:

Step 1: Test Your Contact Form

If you’ve already built a contact form using HTML and CSS, the first step is to test it. You’ll likely notice that:

  • It doesn’t send messages to your email.
  • It doesn’t give any confirmation message to users.

That’s where Web3Forms comes in to provide a seamless solution.

Step 2: Visit Web3Forms

  1. Open your browser and go to Web3Forms.
  2. This tool will handle all the backend processing for your contact form.

Step 3: Get Your Free API Key

  1. Scroll down to the HTML Integration section on Web3Forms.
  2. Enter your email address to receive an access key.
  3. Check your Gmail inbox for the key.

Step 4: Update Your HTML Code

  1. Open your form’s HTML file in a code editor.
  2. Replace the action attribute in your <form> tag with the Web3Forms action URL provided in Step 2 of their setup guide.

Example:

<form action="https://api.web3forms.com/submit" method="POST">
  1. Add the hidden input field for the access key just above the first input field in your form:
<input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="your-access-key">

This access key ensures that Web3Forms knows where to send the submitted data.

Step 5: Test Your Form

  1. Save your changes and open your form in a browser.
  2. Enter test data into the form fields (e.g., name, email, and message) and click Send Message.
  3. Check your Gmail inbox.

You’ll receive an email notification with the submitted details, including the name, email address, and message content.

Bonus: Enhance User Experience

Web3Forms automatically displays a confirmation message to users after they submit the form. This reassures visitors that their message has been sent successfully, and it gives them the option to return to your website.

Conclusion

And there you have it! You’ve successfully linked your contact form to Gmail without writing any backend code. By using Web3Forms, you can effortlessly manage form submissions and stay connected with your website visitors.

If you found this guide helpful, don’t forget to check out our YouTube tutorial for a step-by-step walkthrough.