How to Configure Email Program to Plain Text

Email applications such as Outlook and Gmail enable you to compose your email messages with a variety of formats with different colors, fonts and even images. These types of messages are formatted in HTML, which is the same format used to design websites. However, some email programs cannot display email messages that are in HTML format. If a recipient receives such a message, all they will see is a whole lot of gobbledygook. To avoid this, you can configure your email client to send your messages in plain ASCII text.

Instructions

Configure Microsoft Outlook to Send Plain Text Email

1. 

   Open Outlook. Click on the "Tools" menu and then click on "Options."

2. Click on the "Mail Format" tab. In the "Message Format" section, click on the to the dropdown box that is next to the text: "Send in this Message Format."

3. 

   Select the option "Plain Text" from the drop-down menu.

Change one Email Message from HTML to Plain Text in Outlook

1. 

   Click on "Format" in the toolbar menu, from the email message that you're composing. Click on "Plain Text" from the dropdown menu.

2. Click "Yes" when you receive a warning that changing the formatting of this message from HTML to plain text will remove all the existing formatting.

3. Finish composing your email and send.

Configure Yahoo Mail to Send Plain Text Email

1. Open your Yahoo email application and log in.

2. 

   Click on the "Options" link in the upper right hand corner. Click on the "General Preferences" link (It's in the middle column labeled "Management").

3. In the "Composing Emails" section, check the "Compose messages as plain text" option.

Change a Single Email Message from HTML to Plain Text in Yahoo Mail

1. 

   Click on the "Plain Text" link in the upper right hand corner, right next to the subject box.

2. 

   Click "Yes" when you receive a warning that all formatting of this message will be lost.

3. Finish composing your email and send.

Configure Google Mail (GMail) to Send Plain Text Email

1. 

   Click on "Compose" in the left-hand menu.

2. 

   Click on the blue link right above the text entry box that reads "Plain text." This will configure Gmail to format and send your email message in plain text.

3. Finish composing your email and send.

Tips & Warnings

• Although clicking the "Plain Text" link in Gmail and Yahoo will change the text to read "Rich formatting" (Gmail) or "rich Text" (Yahoo), your email will be in plain text. If you want to switch back to HTML, you will click on this particular link .