GUIDE

Get form submissions by email

A contact form is only useful if the responses actually reach you. A plain HTML form has no way to email you on its own, so you need something on the server side to catch the submission and forward it. This guide explains how form-to-email delivery works, how to keep those messages out of spam, and how to reply to people directly. Then it shows how Formstork gives you all of that without running a mail server.

Why a plain HTML form can't email you

HTML gives you the form fields and a submit button, but the browser has no ability to send mail. The old mailto: action just opens the visitor's email client, which breaks on shared computers and mobile, and most people abandon it. To actually receive a message, the form has to POST its data to a server that can talk to an email service on your behalf.

How form-to-email delivery works

When the form POSTs, a backend receives the fields, formats them into a readable message, and hands it to an email provider over SMTP or an API. The provider signs the message with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC so inbox providers trust it. That signing is why you cannot reliably send from your own address in the browser, the mail has to originate from an authenticated server.

Set reply-to so you can answer in one click

The notification email should come from your sending service, but the Reply-To header should carry the visitor's address. That way hitting Reply in your inbox writes back to the person who filled out the form, not to a no-reply mailbox. Always collect an email field and map it to Reply-To, otherwise every reply bounces.

Filter spam before it hits your inbox

Public forms attract bots, and without a filter your inbox fills with junk. A hidden honeypot field that humans never see but bots fill in catches the crudest bots for free. For the rest, add server-side content checks and an optional CAPTCHA so real messages get through and noise gets dropped before it reaches you.

Receive submissions by email with Formstork

Formstork is the backend, so you point your form's action at https://api.formstork.com/submit, add a hidden access_key field, and you are done. Every submission emails you instantly with the visitor's address set as Reply-To, and it is also saved to a searchable, taggable dashboard. The honeypot and server-side spam filter run by default, and the free plan covers 250 submissions a month with no credit card. From there you can fan out to Slack, Google Sheets, or a signed webhook.

html

<form action="https://api.formstork.com/submit" method="POST">
  <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY">
  <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Your email" required>
  <textarea name="message" placeholder="Your message" required></textarea>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Frequently asked questions

Can I receive form submissions by email without a backend server?

Yes. You do not have to run your own server or SMTP. A hosted form backend like Formstork accepts the POST from your static HTML, sends the notification email, and stores the submission, so you only write the form markup.

Why do form emails land in spam and how do I fix it?

They usually land in spam when the mail is not authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, or when you send from the visitor's address instead of a verified sender. Send from an authenticated service and put the visitor's email in Reply-To. Formstork handles the sending and signing for you.

What happens to submissions besides the email notification?

Every submission is also stored in the Formstork dashboard where you can search, tag, and export it as CSV or JSON. The free plan keeps data for 90 days, and you can forward the same submission to Slack, Discord, Telegram, Notion, Airtable, Mailchimp, Google Sheets, or a signed webhook.

Try Formstork free

250 submissions a month with a full dashboard. No credit card required.

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