How to Install MailCatcher on Windows 11

MailCatcher is a simple SMTP server that catches all emails sent in development, allowing you to see your email output web app without worrying about spam filters or sending real emails to your users. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to install MailCatcher on Windows 11 using Ruby.

Prerequisites

To install MailCatcher on Windows 11, you will need:

  • Ruby 2.3 or later

Step 1: Install Ruby

  1. Open a web browser and go to https://rubyinstaller.org/downloads/.
  2. Download the latest version of Ruby using the "Ruby+Devkit" option.
  3. Run the downloaded file and follow the installation wizard to set up Ruby.

Step 2: Install MailCatcher

  1. Open the Command Prompt by searching for it in the Start Menu, or pressing Win + R and then typing cmd.

  2. In the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter to install MailCatcher:

    gem install mailcatcher

  3. Wait for the installation to complete.

Step 3: Start MailCatcher

  1. In the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter to start MailCatcher:

    mailcatcher

  2. Wait for MailCatcher to start, which should take only a few seconds.

Step 4: Access MailCatcher

  1. Open a web browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:1080/.
  2. You should see the MailCatcher web interface where you can view your email output.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed MailCatcher on your Windows 11 machine. Now you can easily test your email output without worrying about spam filters or sending real emails.