Ghost Member Signup Not Working
Quick answer
Ghost signup fails when the "Failed to send magic link email" error appears, usually a transactional mail problem, a disabled signup setting or a restricted email domain.
Most likely fix: Check signup settings
How to fix it
Try these in order — the most common fix is first.
1. Check signup settings
- Ghost Admin > Settings > Membership
- Set access to allow anyone to sign up
- Check the blocked email domains setting
Did this fix it?2. Fix transactional mail (self-hosted)
- Run ghost log and search for send-magic-link errors
- Fix the mail block in config.production.json (a connect ECONNREFUSED ::1:587 error means no SMTP server is reachable)
- Use a real SMTP provider and restart Ghost
Did this fix it?3. Check the member
- Open the member profile and see if emails are disabled
- Re-enable via Impersonate, then resubscribe
- Ask them to check spam
Did this fix it?
Symptoms
Visitors enter their email and either see an error or never receive the magic link.
Why it happens
- Transactional email (SMTP) misconfigured on self-hosted Ghost
- "Allow free member signup" disabled
- Email domain on the blocked signup list
- Link emails delayed or sent to spam
- Member email disabled after earlier bounces
This guide also covers
- ghost member signup not working
- ghost failed to send magic link email
- ghost magic link not received
- ghost signup email not arriving
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