Wrong profile image appearing in outgoing emails

  • Unknown's avatar
    briefcbdc57dd34 · Member ·

    Hello!
    I’m having an issue with Gravatar.

    O e-mail (email visible only to moderators and staff) está mostrando a foto do perfil de outra pessoa sempre que envio e-mails.

    I have already changed the image in Gravatar and everything is correct there.

    However, when I send an email from my domain, the old avatar from another person still appears.

    It seems that someone may have used this email or domain in the past, and the photo is stuck in some external cache.

    I would like to know:

    1. How can I force all servers to update this avatar?
    2. How can I completely remove the previously linked photo?
    3. Is there any cache or external service I need to clear manually?

    Gratidão sua! Espero que alguém possa ajudar.

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • adetolaadeniran · Staff ·

    Gravatar images are cached widely across various services and email clients, which can sometimes cause outdated avatars to appear. Unfortunately, there isn’t a direct method to force all servers or email clients globally to refresh the avatar instantly. However, here are some steps that can help:

    1. Clear your local caches: Clear the cache of your browser and email client where the avatars are showing incorrectly.

    2. Confirm the Gravatar update: Sometimes changes take up to 24-48 hours to propagate globally. Make sure enough time has passed since you updated the avatar.

    3. Check email headers for avatar caching: Some email services include avatars as linked images and cache them. Contact your email provider or check their documentation to see if there is a way to clear or refresh their avatar cache.

  • Unknown's avatar
    briefcbdc57dd34 · Member ·

    Hello! Thanks for the reply.

    I’d just like to clarify that, in my case, the issue does not seem to be related to cache.

    When it’s a cache problem, the updated photo usually appears correctly in Gravatar, but takes some time to propagate to services like Gmail or Outlook.
    However, in my situation:

    ✔ The new photo already appears correctly in my Gravatar dashboard
    ❌ But when I send emails, a different person’s photo still appears

    This indicates that the address email is still linked to an old Gravatar account—most likely from the previous owner of the domain.

    In other words, the avatar being displayed in my outgoing emails is not coming from my current account, but from the previous owner’s account, which is a classic symptom of an email address being “stuck” to another Gravatar profile. Cache does not affect this — even after 48 hours, the old avatar remains.

    The domain exoterika.com.br had another owner before me, and it is very likely that this email was used by them in their old Gravatar/WordPress.com account. Since I don’t have access to that account, the avatar remains locked and associated with it.

    I’d like to know if there is any other method to resolve this besides the recovery procedure I am already following.

    I have already submitted a request through the WordPress.com support form and I’m currently waiting for a reply.

    Thank you in advance. I hope we can resolve this definitively.

  • adetolaadeniran · Staff ·

    Can you please confirm the old avatar showing, so that we understand where it might be coming from?

  • Unknown's avatar
    briefcbdc57dd34 · Member ·

    Sure. I’m attaching a cropped screenshot of an email I sent to another one of my own addresses, and this old avatar shows up. This image clearly belongs to something from the past — it has nothing to do with the profile picture I use now.

    Ever since I created this email account, I’ve been receiving spam messages even though I never signed up for anything, and I also had to create a different @domain email just to register on Instagram — which means someone had already used this email to create an account there before.

  • sameedrafi2001 · Staff ·

    Hello @briefcbdc57dd34,

    Thanks for providing the screenshot and details. Your Gravatar is set up correctly, and it displays properly everywhere else. The old image showing in external email clients isn’t coming from your Gravatar account itself.

    What’s happening is that some email services, like Gmail or Outlook, cache profile images from previous emails. Sometimes these cached avatars persist even after you update your Gravatar, especially if the domain/email was previously used by someone else. This cache is maintained on the email provider’s side, so it’s not something WordPress.com or Gravatar can directly change.

    Here’s what you can try:

    1. Contact your email provider – Ask if they can refresh or clear the cached avatars for your address. Some providers allow this through support or settings.
    2. Allow time for propagation – Some email services update their caches periodically, so the correct Gravatar may appear after some time.
    3. Consider using a new email for outgoing messages – If you want immediate control, creating a new email address on your domain ensures that all outgoing emails show your correct Gravatar.

    Let me know if you have any questions!

  • Unknown's avatar
    madman280901 · Member ·

    This usually happens because email clients pull the sender image from cached sources like Gravatar, Google account photos, or previous inbox associations. Check that the sending email address is linked to the correct profile image (Gravatar/Google Workspace), update it there, and allow some time for cache refresh. Also make sure the “From” address and display name are consistent across your email tool.

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