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Getting Started

Install the Desktop App

Direct download links (always the latest version):

All releases (portable builds included) are on the releases page.

Run it and you're done — Papercut keeps itself up to date automatically.

winget install ChangemakerStudios.Papercut-SMTP

Note

The WinGet package may lag behind the latest release. The direct installer links (see the Installer tab) are always current — and the app updates itself automatically after install either way.

Prefer no installer? Download PapercutSMTP-win-*-stable-Portable.zip from the latest release, extract, and run Papercut.exe.

The installer supports silent and unattended installation:

.\PapercutSMTP-win-x64-stable-Setup.exe --silent --log "install.log"

See the Installation Guide for all command-line parameters.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or later
  • WebView2 Runtime — preinstalled on all current Windows versions; needed for HTML email rendering

First Run

Start Papercut SMTP. That's the setup — it is now an SMTP server listening on 127.0.0.1:25, and the main window is your inbox.

Check the Logs view if you want confirmation: you'll see the SMTP server start and its listening address.

Send Your First Test Email

Point any application at localhost:25 — or try it straight from PowerShell:

Send-MailMessage -SmtpServer localhost -Port 25 `
    -From "test@local" -To "anyone@anywhere.example" `
    -Subject "Hello Papercut!" -Body "It works!"

The message appears in Papercut instantly, with a tray notification. The To address doesn't matter — nothing is ever delivered anywhere.

Next: configure your application to send through Papercut.

Change the Port or IP

Options (gear icon) lets you change:

  • IP address — default 127.0.0.1 (localhost only). Choose Any to accept email from other machines on your network.
  • Port — default 25. Common alternatives: 2525, 587.
  • Message storage location, startup behavior (run minimized / start with Windows), theme, and notifications.

Optional Next Steps