Send email with CC and BCC using SMTP in ASPNet

In this article I will explain with an example, how to send email with Cc and Bcc using SMTP in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.

HTML Markup

The HTML Markup consists of:

TextBox – For capturing the values of Recipient Email address, Subject, Body, Gmail account email address, Gmail account password.

FileUpload – For attaching file to the email.

Button – For sending email.

The Button has been assigned with an OnClick event handler.

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Subject:</td>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>File Attachment:</td>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Gmail Email:</td>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>Gmail Password:</td>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

<tr>

</tr>

</table>

Mail Server Settings in Web.Config file

The following Mail Server settings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.

<system.net>

<network

host="smtp.gmail.com"

port="587"

enableSsl="true"

defaultCredentials="true" />

</smtp>

</mailSettings>

</system.net>

AppSettings in the Web.Config file

The following appSettings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.

</appSettings>

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.

using System.IO;

using System.Net;

using System.Net.Mail;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Net.Configuration;

VB.Net

Imports System.IO

Imports System.Net

Imports System.Net.Mail

Imports System.Configuration

Imports System.Net.Configuration

Sending email with CC and BCC using Gmail SMTP Account

MailMessage Class Properties

Following are the required properties of the MailMessage class.

From – Sender’s email address

To – Recipient(s) Email Address

CC – Carbon Copies (if any)

BCC – Blind Carbon Copies (if any)

Subject – Subject of the Email

Body – Body of the Email

IsBodyHtml – Specify whether body contains text or HTML mark up.

Attachments – Attachments (if any)

ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.

SMTP Class Properties

Following are the properties of the SMTP class.

Host – SMTP Server URL (Gmail: smtp.gmail.com)

EnableSsl – Specify whether your host accepts SSL Connections (Gmail: True)

UseDefaultCredentials – Set to True in order to allow authentication based on the Credentials of the Account used to send emails

Credentials – Valid login credentials for the SMTP server (Gmail: email address and password)

Port – Port Number of the SMTP server (Gmail: 587)

When Send button is clicked, the Recipient email address (to), the Sender email address (from), Subject and Body values are fetched from their respective fields and the Cc Address and Bcc Address are fetched from the appSettings section of the Web.Config file and are set into an object of the MailMessage class.

If the FileUpload control has attachment then, the attachment is added to the Attachments list of the MailMessage Object.

Then, object of the SmtpClient class is created and the settings of the Mail Server such has Host, Port, DefaultCredentials and EnableSsl are fetched from the mailSettings section of the Web.Config file and are set in respective properties of the SmtpClient class object.

protected void SendEmail(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

//Read SMTP section from Web.Config.

SmtpSection smtpSection = (SmtpSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp");

using (MailMessage mm = new MailMessage(txtEmail.Text, txtTo.Text))

{

mm.Subject = txtSubject.Text;

mm.Body = txtBody.Text;

mm.CC.Add(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["CcAddress"]);

mm.Bcc.Add(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["BccAddress"]);

if (fuAttachment.HasFile)

{

string fileName = Path.GetFileName(fuAttachment.PostedFile.FileName);

mm.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(fuAttachment.PostedFile.InputStream, fileName));

}

mm.IsBodyHtml = false;

using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())

{

smtp.Host = smtpSection.Network.Host;

smtp.EnableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl;

NetworkCredential networkCred = new NetworkCredential(txtEmail.Text, txtPassword.Text);

smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials;

smtp.Credentials = networkCred;

smtp.Port = smtpSection.Network.Port;

smtp.Send(mm);

ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(this.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Email sent.');", true);

}

VB.Net

Protected Sub SendEmail(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles btnSend.Click

'Read SMTP section from Web.Config.

Dim smtpSection As SmtpSection = CType(ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp"), SmtpSection)

Using mm As MailMessage = New MailMessage(txtEmail.Text, txtTo.Text)

mm.Subject = txtSubject.Text

mm.Body = txtBody.Text

mm.CC.Add(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("CcAddress"))

mm.Bcc.Add(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("BccAddress"))

If fuAttachment.HasFile Then

Dim fileName As String = Path.GetFileName(fuAttachment.PostedFile.FileName)

mm.Attachments.Add(New Attachment(fuAttachment.PostedFile.InputStream, fileName))

End If

mm.IsBodyHtml = False

Using smtp As SmtpClient = New SmtpClient()

smtp.Host = smtpSection.Network.Host

smtp.EnableSsl = smtpSection.Network.EnableSsl

Dim networkCred As NetworkCredential = New NetworkCredential(txtEmail.Text, txtPassword.Text)

smtp.UseDefaultCredentials = smtpSection.Network.DefaultCredentials

smtp.Credentials = networkCred

smtp.Port = smtpSection.Network.Port

smtp.Send(mm)

ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Me.GetType(), "alert", "alert('Email sent.');", True)

End Using

End Sub

Possible Errors

The following error occurs when you try to send email using Gmail credentials in your application.

The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Net.Mail.SmtpException: The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated. The server response was: 5.5.1 Authentication Required. Learn more at

Solution

GMAIL Error: The SMTP server requires a secure connection or the client was not authenticated

Screenshots

Email Form