<blockquote>
  <p>Am I correct in thinking that these notifications are being sent via Craft's email settings (currently PHP Mail)?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Probably.  There are <a href="https://craftcms.com/support/troubleshooting-email-errors#dealing-with-email-delivery-issues" rel="nofollow noreferrer">plenty of other reasons</a> to not use PHP Mail on a production environment, though.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>If I change Craft's email protocol to GMail, how safe are the credentials I enter and are they encrypted?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you select the "GMail" as an email delivery method in Craft, Craft sets the SMTP hostname to smtp.gmail.com, forces SMTP authentication over SSL over port 465 and passes in the given username/password.</p>

<p>No encryption is done because SSL is used, so the credentials are as safe as SSL is.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-22T14:58:45.950Z
Thank you, Brad :) Are the GMail credentials stored in the database in plain text or are they encrypted? I want to ensure the client's GMail login is safe in the unlikely event that the database is compromised.
Sam
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-20T23:28:20.010Z
2017-10-20T23:28:20.010Z
Brad Bell
<p>I'm using <a href="https://github.com/am-impact/amforms" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AM Forms</a> on a site that I've built. The site is now in production.</p>

<p>Via the <a href="https://github.com/am-impact/amforms" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AM Forms</a> notifications settings, the email I've entered for <strong>Email recipients</strong> and <strong>Sender email address notification email</strong> is an email which is hosted with <a href="https://gsuite.google.com/together/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">G Suite</a>.</p>

<p>Am I correct in thinking that these notifications are being sent via Craft's email settings (currently PHP Mail)? </p>

<p>G Suite is running DKIM, SPF and DMARC, so the PHP Mail protocol is not the best method for receiving these notifications. If I change Craft's email protocol to GMail, how safe are the credentials I enter and are they encrypted?</p>

<emails><plugin-amforms>
Sending email from GMail protocol
# Sending email from GMail protocol

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-20)

I'm using [AM Forms](https://github.com/am-impact/amforms) on a site that I've built. The site is now in production.

Via the [AM Forms](https://github.com/am-impact/amforms) notifications settings, the email I've entered for **Email recipients** and **Sender email address notification email** is an email which is hosted with [G Suite](https://gsuite.google.com/together/).

Am I correct in thinking that these notifications are being sent via Craft's email settings (currently PHP Mail)?

G Suite is running DKIM, SPF and DMARC, so the PHP Mail protocol is not the best method for receiving these notifications. If I change Craft's email protocol to GMail, how safe are the credentials I enter and are they encrypted?

**Tags:** emails, plugin-amforms

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-10-20. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> Am I correct in thinking that these notifications are being sent via Craft's email settings (currently PHP Mail)?

Probably. There are [plenty of other reasons](https://craftcms.com/support/troubleshooting-email-errors#dealing-with-email-delivery-issues) to not use PHP Mail on a production environment, though.

> If I change Craft's email protocol to GMail, how safe are the credentials I enter and are they encrypted?

If you select the "GMail" as an email delivery method in Craft, Craft sets the SMTP hostname to smtp.gmail.com, forces SMTP authentication over SSL over port 465 and passes in the given username/password.

No encryption is done because SSL is used, so the credentials are as safe as SSL is.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you, Brad :) Are the GMail credentials stored in the database in plain text or are they encrypted? I want to ensure the client's GMail login is safe in the unlikely event that the database is compromised.  

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