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contact_mailContact Form 7•errorerrorinfoajaxwarningvalidationdescriptioncontact-form-7•labelCommon•warningModerate

Contact Form 7: reCAPTCHA verification failed

Contact Form 7 shows a verification error when the reCAPTCHA token does not pass Google’s check.

The plugin sends the token to Google’s siteverify endpoint. Google returns a JSON response. If the response indicates failure, the plugin displays the error.

Failure occurs when keys are mismatched, when the domain is not listed in the Google console, or when the server fails to reach Google.

JavaScript issues also stop the token from being generated. Blocked scripts, outdated libraries, or conflicting plugins break the grecaptcha object.

Server restrictions such as firewalls or missing SSL support prevent the verification request from leaving the host.

Symptoms

[dashicons-warning]
Error message on front‑end
“reCAPTCHA verification failed” appears after submit
[dashicons-email]
Form does not send
No email is delivered and the page reloads with the error
[dashicons-admin-site]
Missing widget
reCAPTCHA checkbox or invisible badge does not appear

Common Causes

Mismatched API keys
Site key and secret belong to different reCAPTCHA versions
Domain not whitelisted
Domain used on the site is absent from the Google console list
Server cannot reach Google
Firewall, DNS, or SSL issues block outbound request to siteverify
JavaScript conflicts
Another script deregisters recaptcha/api.js or removes grecaptcha object
Out‑of‑date plugin version
Contact Form 7 version older than required for the selected reCAPTCHA version
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