How to Send Same Email to Multiple Recipients Using PHPMailer?

How to send same email to multiple recipients using PHPMailer? Sending emails is a critical part of many web applications. Whether it’s sending newsletters, confirmations, or promotional emails, you often need to send the same email to multiple recipients. PHPMailer, one of the popular PHP libraries for email, makes this task simple & efficient. In this guide, we’ll show you step-by-step how to send the same email to multiple recipients using PHPMailer.

Why Use PHPMailer?

While PHP has a built-in mail() function, it lacks the advanced features and reliability required for modern email handling. PHPMailer provides:

1. Ease of use: A straightforward API for sending emails.
2. Advanced Features: Support for SMTP, authentication, HTML emails, attachments, and more.
3. Error Handling: Better debugging and error handling capabilities.
4. Security: Protection against header injection attacks and support for secure connections (TLS/SSL).

Prerequisites

Before we start, ensure you have the following:

1. PHPMailer installed: You can install it via Composer:
   composer require phpmailer/phpmailer
2. SMTP credentials: An SMTP server (e.g., Gmail, SendGrid, or a hosting provider’s SMTP server) with a username and password.
3. A basic understanding of PHP: Familiarity with PHP syntax and object-oriented programming will be helpful.

How to Send Same Email to Multiple Recipients Using PHPMailer? Step-by-Step Guide

1. Import the PHPMailer Classes

First, include the required PHPMailer classes in your script. If you’re using Composer, this is handled automatically:

use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

2. Initialize PHPMailer

Create a new instance of PHPMailer and configure the SMTP settings:

$mail = new PHPMailer(true);
try {
// SMTP configuration
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com'; // Replace with your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol server
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = '[email protected]'; // Your SMTP username
$mail->Password = 'your_password'; // Your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol password
$mail->SMTPSecure = PHPMailer::ENCRYPTION_STARTTLS;
$mail->Port = 587; // Typically 587 for TLS, 465 for SSL

// Sender info
$mail->setFrom('[email protected]', 'Your Name');

} catch (Exception $e) {
echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
}

3. Add Recipients

PHPMailer permits you to add multiple recipients using the addAddress() method. Here’s how you can add multiple recipients dynamically:

$recipients = [
'[email protected]',
'[email protected]',
'[email protected]'

];

foreach ($recipients as $email) {
$mail->addAddress($email);
}

Alternatively, if you want to send emails individually to avoid exposing other recipients’ email addresses, you can use a loop and send the email to one recipient at a time. This is often referred to as “BCC” or “Mail Merge” style.

4. Compose the Email

Set the email subject, body, and any optional attachments:

$mail->isHTML(true); // Enable HTML if needed
$mail->Subject = 'Your Subject Here';
$mail->Body = '<h1>Welcom</h1><p>This is an example email sent to multiple recipients.';
$mail->AltBody = 'This is the plain text version of the email content.'; // Plain-text fallback 

5. Send the Email

Send the email and handle errors if any occur:

try {
$mail->send();
echo 'Emails have been sent successfully!';
} catch (Exception $e) {
echo "Message could not be sent. Mailer Error: {$mail->ErrorInfo}";
}

Example: Sending Individual Emails in a Loop

To avoid exposing recipients’ email addresses to one another, send emails individually:

$recipients = [
'[email protected]',
'[email protected]',
'[email protected]'
];

foreach ($recipients as $email) {
try {
$mail->clearAddresses(); // Clear previous recipient
$mail->addAddress($email);
$mail->send();
echo "Email sent to {$email}\n";
} catch (Exception $e) {
echo "Message could not be sent to {$email}. Mailer Error: {$mail->ErrorInfo}\n";
  }
}

Tips for Success

• Test Locally: Use a tool like Mailtrap to test emails in a safe environment before going live.
• Rate Limits: Be mindful of your SMTP provider’s rate limits to avoid being blocked.
• BCC Field: Use addBCC() for sending the same email to multiple recipients without exposing addresses.
• Error Logging: Implement detailed error logging for debugging issues.

Conclusion

How to send same email to multiple recipients using PHPMailer? Sending the same email to multiple recipients using PHPMailer is straightforward and flexible. By following this guide, you can create robust email-sending scripts tailored to your application’s needs. Whether you choose to send emails in bulk or individually, PHPMailer provides the tools to ensure your emails are sent securely and efficiently.