What Is Causing This Error?
The ‘Could not open socket’ error often occurs when your site cannot establish a connection with the SMTP server.
It can occur due to firewall restrictions, DNS resolution issues, or an unreachable web server. When this happens, emails from your site won’t get delivered.
Resolving the Error – Solution
To fix this error, you’ll need to check your server’s firewall protection settings and ensure it’s not blocking requests from the SMTP server. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with your web hosting providers if you’re unsure of locating this setting.
If your server is temporarily unreachable, it could lead to the ‘Could not open socket’ error. For this, you just need to wait and retry after a while. Chances are that your hosting providers are already aware of the downtime.
Another way to fix this error is by reviewing your DNS settings. Most email service providers require users to add some DNS records to improve email deliverability. If these records are incorrectly added, it could prevent your website from sending emails.
Note: DNS records can take up to 48 hours to propagate. So the error may be caused by DNS records not being fully propagated.
That’s it! Now you know how to fix the ‘Could not open socket’ error.
If you’d like to learn how to troubleshoot other common errors, check out the following tutorials: