My campaign won't send

If you cannot get past the final send step, or if the send button stays greyed out, work through the checks below in order. Most issues come from a validation error somewhere in the campaign setup, not a system problem.

Step 1: Check the basics

Before anything else, confirm all of the following are in place:

• A message has been selected and saved.
• At least one target group or segment has been selected.
• A sender name and sender address have been filled in.
• The sender address has been validated under Settings > Sender validation.
• A subject line has been entered.
• A sending time has been set (or you are sending immediately).

If any of these are missing or incomplete, the campaign cannot be sent and the final step will show an error or a disabled send button.

Step 2: Look for hidden validation errors

Sometimes a field fails validation without showing a visible red warning. This is most common in the subject line and sender fields.

Subject line issues

Flexmail validates the subject line before sending. The following can silently block a campaign:

• Non-standard characters: some Unicode characters look like normal letters but are not standard ASCII and will fail validation. This includes certain stylised characters copied from design tools or Word documents. If your subject line was pasted from another application, try retyping it manually.
• Subject lines that are too long: the maximum length is 200 characters. A subject line that appears fine on screen may exceed this limit.
• Only whitespace: a subject line that consists only of spaces will appear filled in but will be treated as empty.

Other field issues

Scroll through every step of the campaign setup wizard and look carefully at each field. Validation errors sometimes appear on earlier steps that you have already passed. The send button will remain disabled if any step has an unresolved error, even if you are not on that step.

Step 3: Campaign is stuck on "Initialising"

After clicking send, campaigns go through an initialising phase where Flexmail distributes the send across its sending infrastructure. This is normal behaviour, not an error.

Initialising takes longer during high-traffic sending windows, particularly Tuesday mornings when many users schedule their weekly campaigns at the same time. The campaign is queued and will send automatically.

Step 4: Try a different browser

Some send failures are caused by browser state rather than actual campaign errors. If the send button is unresponsive or the wizard behaves unexpectedly:

• Clear your browser cache and cookies, then reload the page.
• Try a different browser (for example, switch from Chrome to Firefox or Edge).
• Disable browser extensions one by one, particularly ad blockers or privacy extensions, which can interfere with form submissions.
• Try an incognito or private browsing window.

Common mistakes to avoid

Scheduling a campaign in the past

If you set a scheduled send time that has already passed, the campaign cannot be sent. Update the scheduled time to a future date and time.

Using an unvalidated sender address

A sender address that has not been validated under Settings > Sender validation will block the send. Validate the address first, then return to the campaign.

Trying to send to a segment with zero contacts

If the selected segment or target group currently has no confirmed contacts, the campaign cannot be sent. Check your segment conditions and contact list before sending.

Next steps

• See "Why send a test campaign" for how to catch issues before your final send.
• See "Sender validation and authentication" to verify your sender address is correctly set up.
• If none of the above resolves your issue, contact support@flexmail.be with a description of what you see on screen.