To stop WordPress emailing you every time someone registers, add one line of code: add_filter( 'wp_send_new_user_notification_to_admin', '__return_false' ); The filter has been part of WordPress since version 6.1. It turns off only the admin’s copy, so new users still get their email with the link to set a password. If you would rather not touch code, the free Manage Notification E-mails plugin does it with a checkbox.
Below is the code, the plugin method, and how to turn off the related emails WordPress sends about accounts, such as password-change notices. Everything here is checked against the WordPress 7.1 source code.
- Every new account triggers two emails: a “New User Registration” notice to the site admin, and a welcome email to the new user with a link to set their password.
- Since WordPress 6.1, one filter turns off the admin copy:
wp_send_new_user_notification_to_admin. A second filter does the same for the user copy. - Leave the user email on unless you have another way to hand out passwords. Without it, new users have to use “Lost your password?” to get in.
- The free Manage Notification E-mails plugin does the same job with a checkbox.
- Password-change and email-change notices are separate emails with their own switches. On multisite, the network admin’s notice is a setting in Network Settings.
Which emails WordPress sends when someone registers
WordPress sends new-account emails through wp_send_new_user_notifications(), which runs on two hooks: register_new_user when someone signs up through your registration form, and edit_user_created_user when you add a user under Users, Add New User. It can send two messages:
- To the site admin: a “New User Registration” email with the new username and email address. It goes to the address under Settings, General, Administration Email Address.
- To the new user: a welcome email with their username and a link to set their password. WordPress stopped emailing plain-text passwords years ago, so this link is how most new users get in.
When you add a user yourself, the “Send the new user an email about their account” checkbox only controls the user’s copy. The admin copy goes out either way unless you turn it off with the filter below.
Disable the admin email with one line of code
Add this to your child theme’s functions.php file or with a plugin like Code Snippets:
// Stop the "New User Registration" email to the site admin.
add_filter( 'wp_send_new_user_notification_to_admin', '__return_false' );WordPress only sends the admin email when this filter returns exactly true, so __return_false switches it off cleanly. It covers both front-end registrations and users you add in the dashboard.
You may find older code that does this by unhooking wp_send_new_user_notifications from both hooks and re-adding a custom version that only emails the user. That was the only way before WordPress 6.1. It still works, but the filter is shorter and less likely to break if core changes how that function works.
Disable the new user’s welcome email
The matching filter stops the email to the new user:
// Stop the welcome email (with the set-password link) to new users.
add_filter( 'wp_send_new_user_notification_to_user', '__return_false' );Think twice before using this one. That email carries the link to set a password, so without it new users have to click “Lost your password?” on the login page before they can sign in. It makes sense when accounts are created by an import, a membership plugin or a checkout that sends its own welcome email.
Disable it with a plugin
The Manage Notification E-mails plugin puts WordPress’s built-in emails behind checkboxes. It is free, has 100,000+ active installs, and was last updated in July 2026.
After installing and activating it, go to Settings, then Notification e-mails, and uncheck “New user notification to site admin”. The same screen has switches for the user’s welcome email, password-change notices and automatic update emails.
Other account emails you can turn off
New registrations are not the only emails WordPress sends about accounts. Each of these has its own switch:
| Sent to | How to turn it off | |
|---|---|---|
| New User Registration | Site admin | add_filter( 'wp_send_new_user_notification_to_admin', '__return_false' ); |
| Welcome email with set-password link | New user | add_filter( 'wp_send_new_user_notification_to_user', '__return_false' ); |
| Password Changed (after a password reset) | Site admin | remove_action( 'after_password_reset', 'wp_password_change_notification' ); |
| Password Changed (profile or code update) | The user | add_filter( 'send_password_change_email', '__return_false' ); |
| Email Changed | The user’s old address | add_filter( 'send_email_change_email', '__return_false' ); |
| Automatic update results | Site admin | See our auto-update email guide |
| WooCommerce “New account” | Customer | WooCommerce, Settings, Emails (called “Account created” in the new email editor) |
The admin’s Password Changed email is already skipped when the admin resets their own password. It only arrives when another user resets theirs.
New user emails on multisite
On a multisite network, the network admin’s registration email is a setting rather than code. Go to Network Admin, Settings, and uncheck “Registration notification”, which reads “Send the network admin an email notification every time someone registers a site or user account”.
Or stop new registrations entirely
If you are getting these emails because of registrations you never wanted, turn registration off instead. Go to Settings, General in the WordPress dashboard and uncheck “Anyone can register” next to Membership. Existing users can still log in, and you can still add users yourself.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop WordPress sending the new user registration email to the admin?
Add add_filter( ‘wp_send_new_user_notification_to_admin’, ‘__return_false’ ); to your functions.php file or a code snippets plugin. It works on WordPress 6.1 and later and leaves the new user’s own email alone.
Will new users still get their password email?
Yes, as long as you only use the admin filter. The welcome email with the set-password link is controlled separately by the wp_send_new_user_notification_to_user filter.
What does wp_send_new_user_notifications do?
It is the core function that sends the new-account emails. WordPress runs it on the register_new_user and edit_user_created_user hooks, and it accepts a notify value of ‘admin’, ‘user’ or ‘both’. The default is ‘both’. It calls wp_new_user_notification(), which checks the two filters before sending each email.
Why are my WordPress registration emails not sending?
WordPress sends email through wp_mail(), which uses your server’s mail function by default, and many hosts limit or block it. Check your spam folder, then install an SMTP plugin that sends through a real email service. Also check that no plugin or snippet has turned these emails off.
Can I change the new user email instead of disabling it?
Yes. The wp_new_user_notification_email_admin and wp_new_user_notification_email filters let you change the recipient, subject, message and headers of the admin and user emails before WordPress sends them.
How do I stop the email when I add a user myself?
On the Add New User screen, uncheck “Send the new user an email about their account” to skip the user’s copy. The admin copy is still sent unless you use the wp_send_new_user_notification_to_admin filter.
Want fewer admin emails overall? You can also turn off auto-update emails and review your user roles so only the right people can add new users.
17 Responses
Thank you so much! These emails are so annoying I don’t get why WP is not adding an option to disable these 😕 Cheers!
How to prevent sending those emails to the users, too? I handle those confirmation mails with another plugin and now the user receives 2 registration notifications: the styled one from my other plugin + the unstyled default one from wp …
I am facing the same problem here. I can’t seem to stop WordPress sending a default email to a newly registered user, and what’s worse is that this email sends the user a link to my default admin login page and not my custom login page which I made using theme my login … Would really appreciate some support on this!
When adding a user there should be a checkbox that says “Send the new user an email about their account.”. Unchecking this won’t send an email to the new user.
Let me know it that helps!
Here you are disabling and I am searching for enabling. My website is not sending any email when user is registered, do you have any idea how to solve it? The mail is working fine, woocommerce is sending mail & I had also setup WP SMTP mail for it.
Hello,
I am using a cashback plugin along with woocommerce and I am using fluent SMTP plugin for sending emails and all other emails work fine but customers are not receiving any sign up or registration emails as soon as they sign up on my website, how do I enable sending emails to customers once they sign up ? Can someone help?
How can we STOP wordpress from sending the new user email to the user – this is so frustrating and almost impossible to get a snippet or help to do this.
Plugins are not working that are suggested for this purpose so a snippet like this one above, BUT for stopping the new user to user emails being auto sent out from wordpress
Hi Carol
not sure if this will help you
https://www.barattalo.it/coding/stop-sending-email-new-user-wordpress/
Hi,
Did you find some way to disable New User Emails Notification?
No option to disable comments notification in this plugin.
Thank you
add_filter( ‘wp_new_user_notification_email_admin’, ‘__return_false’ ); – way simpler
To disable if for users, you can use following snippet.
add_filter(‘wp_send_new_user_notification_to_user’, ‘lp_wp_send_new_user_notification_to_user’, 10, 2);
function lp_wp_send_new_user_notification_to_user($notify, $user){ return false; }
Thanks for the video! What is the best way to prevent spam on registration forms? I get dozens of spam registrations. I am thinking of a CAPTCHA, but there are many to choose from. Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks for sharing. This problem has troubled me for a long time. A large number of junk user registrations have taken up a lot of resources.
Hello – Am trying to disable the password reset notifications to the system admin. – Any ideas how to do that?
This was a really useful explanation of how to disable new user notification email in WordPress, especially for sites that receive frequent registrations and end up with too many admin alerts. I liked that the post covered both the plugin-based method and the code snippet option, because different users usually prefer different levels of control. The point about still allowing user emails while stopping only admin notifications is especially practical for membership or WooCommerce sites where you don't want to interrupt the user experience. Clear and helpful guide overall for anyone trying to manage WordPress email notifications more efficiently.