In this article I will explain with an example, how to send email with Cc and Bcc using MailKit library in ASP.Net MVC.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC Hello World Tutorial with Sample Program example.
 
 

Installing MailKit package

You will need to install the MailKit package, for details on installation please refer Install MailKit from Nuget in Visual Studio.
 
 

Mail Server Settings in Web.Config file

The following Mail Server settings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.
<system.net>
 <mailSettings>
    <smtp deliveryMethod="Network">
      <network
          host="smtp.gmail.com"
          port="587" />
    </smtp>
 </mailSettings>
</system.net>
 
 

CC and BCC in AppSettings section of Web.Config file

The following AppSettings need to be saved in the Web.Config file.
<appSettings>
 <add key="Cc" value="cc@aspsnippets.com" />
 <add key="Bcc" value="bcc@aspsnippets.com" />
</appSettings>
 
 

MimeKit MimeMessage and MailKit SmtpClient class

MimeMessage class properties
Following are the required properties of the MimeMessage class.
From – Sender’s email address.
To – Recipient(s) Email Address.
CC – Carbon Copies. (If any)
BCC – Blind Carbon Copies. (If any)
Subject – Subject of the Email.
Body – Body of the Email.
Attachments – Attachments. (If any)
ReplyTo – ReplyTo Email address.
 
SmtpClient class methods
Following are the methods of the SmtpClient class.
Connect – The connection to the SMTP Server is established using the domain and the port number.
Authenticate – The username and password of the SMTP Server is authenticated.
Send – The MimeMessage object is passed to it and the email is sent.
Disconnect – Disconnects the connection with SMTP Server.
 
 

Model

The Model class consists of the following properties.
public class EmailModel
{
    public string To { get; set; }
    public string Subject { get; set; }
    public string Body { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
    public string Password { get; set; }   
}
 
 

Namespaces

You will need to import the following namespaces.
using MimeKit;
using MailKit.Net.Smtp;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Net.Configuration;
 
 

Controller

The Controller consists of following Action methods.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, simply the View is returned.
 
Action method for handling POST operation
This Action method handles the call made from the POST function from the View.
Inside this Action method, the posted values are captured through the EmailModel class object. All the fetched values are set into an object of the MailMessage class except the Body.
Note: For more details on how to use Model class object for capturing Form field values, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC: Form Submit (Post) example.
 
Setting Body of Email
For Body, an object of Builder class is created. The Body of the email is Text (Non HTML) hence it is set into the TextBody property of the Builder class object.
Setting Cc and Bcc Addresses
The Cc and Bcc addresses are fetched from the AppSettings section of the Web.Config file and are set into the object of the MimeMessage class.
Sending Email
Then, an object of the SmtpClient class is created and the values of Host and Port are fetched from the SMTP section of the Web.Config file and are passed as parameter to the Connect method.
And, the methods of the Mail Server such as Connect, Authenticate, Send and Disconnect are executed and a success message is set to a ViewBag object.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }
 
    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Index(EmailModel model)
    {
        //Read SMTP section from Web.Config.
        SmtpSection smtpSection = (SmtpSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.net/mailSettings/smtp");
        string host = smtpSection.Network.Host;
        int port = smtpSection.Network.Port;
 
        //Read AppSettings section from Web.Config.
        string cc = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Cc"];
        string bcc = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Bcc"];
 
        using (MimeMessage mm = new MimeMessage())
        {
            mm.From.Add(new MailboxAddress("Sender", from));
            mm.To.Add(new MailboxAddress("Recepient", to));
            mm.Subject = subject;
            mm.Cc.Add(new MailboxAddress("Cc", cc));
            mm.Bcc.Add(new MailboxAddress("Bcc", bcc));
            BodyBuilder builder = new BodyBuilder();
            builder.TextBody = body;
            mm.Body = builder.ToMessageBody();
            using (SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient())
            {
                smtp.Connect(host, port);
                smtp.Authenticate(from, password);
                smtp.Send(mm);
                smtp.Disconnect(true);
            }
        }
        ViewBag.Message = "Email sent.";
        return View();
    }
}
 
 

View

Inside the View, in the very first line the EmailModel class is declared as model for the View.
The View consists of an HTML Form which has been created using the Html.BeginForm method with the following parameters.
ActionName – Name of the Action. In this case the name is Index.
ControllerName – Name of the Controller. In this case the name is Home.
FormMethod – It specifies the Form Method i.e. GET or POST. In this case it will be set to POST.
The Form consists of HTML TextBox, TextArea element and a Submit Button.
Note: For more details in creating HTML TextBox, TextArea element in ASP.Net MVC, please refer following articles.
 
When the Submit Button is clicked, the Form gets submitted and the Model object is sent to the Controller.
Note: For more details in Form Submission in ASP.Net MVC, please refer ASP.Net MVC: Form Submit (Post) example.
 
Finally, the ViewBag object is checked for NULL and if it is not NULL then the value of the object is displayed using JavaScript Alert Message Box.
@model Send_Email_Mailkit_MVC.Models.EmailModel
@{
    Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
    <title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
    @using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Home", FormMethod.Post))
    {
        <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
            <tr>
                <td style="width: 80px">To:</td>
                <td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.To)</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Subject:</td>
                <td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Subject)</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td valign="top">Body:</td>
                <td>@Html.TextAreaFor(model => model.Body, new { rows = "3", cols = "20" })</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Gmail Email:</td>
                <td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Email)</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Gmail Password:</td>
                <td>@Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Password, new { type = "password" })</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td></td>
                <td><input id="btnSend" type="submit" value="Send" /></td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    }
    @if (ViewBag.Message != null)
    {
        <script type="text/javascript">
            window.onload = function () {
                alert("@ViewBag.Message");
            };
        </script>
    }
</body>
</html>
 
 

Possible Errors

The possible errors (exceptions) occurring while sending email with MailKit in .Net are covered in the following article.
Errors (Exceptions) while sending email with MailKit in .Net
 
 

Screenshots

Email Form
Send email with CC and BCC using MailKit in ASP.Net MVC
 
Received Email
Send email with CC and BCC using MailKit in ASP.Net MVC
 
 

Downloads

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