How to Send HTML Emails
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This wikiHow teaches you how to send your HTML page or newsletter as an email. Since most email providers support HTML coding in their emails, doing so is usually a matter of copying and pasting your HTML page or graphic into your email composition.
Understanding HTML Emails
- Structure content by using tables.
- Store images on a live web server or use stock images.
- Use «https://» (or «http://») in your links.
- Spam filters can block images and attachments. They also tend to filter emails of substantial size, which can include you if you have large image files or numerous images.
- Many mobile users won’t see your images anyway.
- Provide a way to opt out of your email list. This can be an automatic unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email. You can also identify an email address for them to contact and ask to be removed if they no longer wish to receive your emails at any point in the future.
- Include your business’s name and physical mailing address. Readers need to know that you are a valid businesses and not a scheme or spammer.
- Ensure that the «from» and «reply-to» addresses are valid and active. Provide a way for readers to contact you if they have questions or are interested in supporting your business.
- Choose an appropriate subject line. Your subject should be a concise description of what the email contains, not invalid sales offers or false promotions.
- Look to see if links are intact and active.
- Ensure that images and fonts appear correctly.
- Check to see if your table is too wide.
- Test your email in as many email readers as possible.
- If your email is sent to the Spam folder during any of your tests, you may have to remove things such as images and links to pages which don’t use HTTPS encryption.
Copying and Pasting HTML Content
- Windows — Click File, click Save As, enter a name followed by .html (e.g., «file.html»), click the «Save as type» drop-down box, click All Files, and click Save.
- Mac — Click Format, click Make Plain Text, click OK when prompted, click File, click Save, click the downward-facing arrow to the right of the «Name» field, uncheck the «Hide Extension» box, replace the «.txt» part of the name with «.html», click Save, and click Use .html when prompted.
- You can also open your preferred web browser and then click and drag your HTML file into the browser window.
- You can also click anywhere on the page and then press either Ctrl + A or ⌘ Command + A to highlight the whole page, but this may cause you to highlight components of the page you don’t want to include.
- Gmail — Go to https://www.gmail.com/ and log in if necessary, then click COMPOSE.
- Outlook — Go to https://www.outlook.com/ and log in if necessary, then click ＋ New message.
- Apple Mail — Go to https://www.icloud.com/#mail and log in, then click
Add a recipient and a subject. Type a recipient’s email address into the «To» text box at the top of the «Compose» window, then add a subject in the text box below it.
Paste in your content. Click the main text box in the «Compose» window, then press Ctrl + V (Windows) or ⌘ Command + V (Mac). The HTML page’s content will appear in the email exactly as it was formatted on the HTML page.
Send your email. Click the Send button in the «Compose» window to do so. Your recipient(s) will receive your HTML page as an email.
Using Gmail and Chrome
- You’ll need to copy all of the body text—including the «» and «» tags—but Gmail will cover the document type and the HTML tags themselves, so you don’t need to copy those.
Google Chrome. This is the only browser in which you can successfully paste your HTML code into your Gmail email.
Open Gmail. Go to https://www.gmail.com/ in Chrome’s address bar, then enter your email address and password if prompted to log in.
Add a recipient and a subject. Type a recipient’s email address into the «To» text box at the top of the «Compose» window, then add a subject in the text box below it.
Enter placeholder text. In the main section of the «Compose» window, type in a string of asterisks, zeroes, or other similarly distinguishable text. This will help you find the necessary location in the source code.
Open an «Inspect» window. Select your placeholder text, then right-click (or Control -click on a Mac) the text and click Inspect in the resulting drop-down menu. You should see a pop-out window appear on the right side of the page.
Open the selected code for editing. Right-click (or Control -click on a Mac) the blue-highlighted code at the top of the pop-out window, then click Edit as HTML in the resulting drop-down menu.
Paste in your HTML. Press Ctrl + V (Windows) or ⌘ Command + V (Mac) to do so. You should see the HTML for your project appear in the window.
Exit the pop-out menu. Click the X in the top-right corner of the «Inspect» pop-out window to close it.
Review and send your email. In the Gmail window, look at your email’s presentation. If you’re satisfied with the way the HTML page looks in your «Compose» window, you can click Send to deliver it to your recipient(s).
Expert Q&A
Use HTML templates available through online contact management systems if you are not familiar with HTML code. These provide an easy way to send appealing messages to your email subscribers.
Offer a plain-text version of your HTML email for those who cannot view HTML or who prefer not to. This will allow you to reach a broader audience.
Do not copy and paste code from word processing software. You will probably lose HTML tags, causing your email to lose its structure; additionally, many email spam filters block emails which were copied from a word processor.
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