Home Troubleshooting I cannot tick the SMS or email option on an announcement

I cannot tick the SMS or email option on an announcement

Last updated on Aug 27, 2026

Both channels run through your own provider account, not ours. Until yours is connected and switched on, the controls stay visible but disabled with the reason beside them in red.

Email is missing or disabled

The Email (optional) block is hidden entirely unless your store has its own verified email gateway.

Go to SettingsEmail Settings and look at the Configuration Status box at the bottom:

  • Verified: No — you saved settings but never proved them. Select Send Test Email.
  • Verified: Yes, Active: No — the test passed but you never finished. Select Activate Service.

Saving alone never enables sending. The Dashboard checklist calls this out as Finish setting up your email service"Your settings are saved but not switched on yet. Send a test email to activate them."

See Send email from your own business address.

SMS is disabled

Go to SettingsSMS Settings. The banner at the top tells you which state you are in:

  • No SMS provider configured for your store yet. — set one up.
  • Inactive: Configuration exists but is not active. Activate it (after an optional test) to start using your gateway. — select Activate.
  • Active: Your SMS provider is active and used for your store's SMS. — the gateway is fine, so read the next section.

"Can send promotional SMS: No"

The Configuration Status box on the SMS settings page names the cause on the same line:

  • — activate this gateway first. Select Activate.
  • — clear the Sender Name to enable. You have set a Sender Name. Customers cannot reply STOP to a name, so a name turns promotional SMS off. Empty the Sender Name box and save. Your messages then send from a number customers can reply to.

Note that a Sender Name overrides a Sender Number, so having a dedicated number does not rescue it — the name has to go.

See Connect your own SMS provider.

The whole Announcements form is replaced by a notice

The Customer Announcements module is not enabled on your store. The screen offers a contact us link.

The SMS count looks wrong

The SMS (optional) label changes meaning with your other choices. With Push Notification also ticked, SMS goes only to customers not registered for push. With push off, it goes to every targeted customer who has a mobile — so the estimate beside it jumps.