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How to Manage and Troubleshoot MonsterInsights Email Summaries

16 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Monsterinsights

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Many WordPress site administrators have encountered issues with MonsterInsights' Email Summaries feature. This article consolidates the most common problems and their solutions, based on community reports and official responses.

Common Email Summary Issues

  • Summaries are enabled by default without explicit user consent.
  • Inability to disable the feature without first connecting a Google Analytics property.
  • Summaries re-enabling themselves after being turned off.
  • Inaccurate data (e.g., showing 0 visitors or 0 new posts).
  • Summaries being marked as spam due to blacklisted server IPs.
  • Receiving summaries far more frequently than the advertised monthly schedule.

How to Disable Email Summaries

The primary method to disable email summaries is within the WordPress admin area:

  1. Navigate to Insights » Settings » Advanced.
  2. Find the Email Summaries option.
  3. Toggle the switch to the "Off" position.

Important Note: Some users, particularly those on older plugin versions, reported that this option was grayed out unless a Google Analytics property was connected. The MonsterInsights team has stated that patches were released (e.g., version 8.20.1) to prevent summaries from being sent without authentication. If the option is disabled, ensure you are running the latest version of the plugin.

Troubleshooting Persistent Problems

Summaries Won't Stay Disabled

If summaries keep re-enabling, first confirm you have the latest version of MonsterInsights installed. If the problem persists on the latest version, consider these potential causes mentioned by users:

  • Auto-updates: A plugin or WordPress core update might revert settings. Check the setting after any update.
  • WP-Cron Configuration: One user theorized that disabling the default WP-Cron and using system CRON jobs via wp-cli could interfere with how the setting is stored or recognized.
  • Other Settings Reverting: Some users reported the "Usage Tracking" setting also re-enabled itself, suggesting a broader settings persistence bug in certain environments.

Emails Going to Spam or Blacklisted

Email summaries are sent directly from your WordPress site using its default mailing system (usually PHP mail). If your web host's mail IP is blacklisted, these emails will likely be flagged as spam. The solution is to configure a dedicated SMTP plugin to route all WordPress emails (including summaries) through a trusted mail service like SendGrid, Mailgun, or Gmail.

Inaccurate Data (Zero Values)

This is a known bug that the MonsterInsights team has acknowledged they are working to fix. While you wait for an official plugin update, you can cross-reference your analytics data directly in your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property, which will have the correct information.

Changing the Recipient Address (Free Version)

In the free (Lite) version of MonsterInsights, the monthly email summary is sent only to the email address of the site's original administrator user. It will not be sent to all administrators. To change the recipient, you must change the email address associated with that primary admin user account in Users » All Users.

Conclusion

While the Email Summaries feature was designed to provide helpful monthly reports, its initial rollout caused significant frustration for administrators managing multiple sites. The most reliable solution is to ensure you are running the latest version of MonsterInsights and disable the feature manually in the settings for each site. For emails being marked as spam, implementing a dedicated SMTP solution is the recommended fix.

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