How To Find A Responsive Email Template That Works In Outlook

With millions of users around the world, Outlook is a popular email platform that has a lot of benefits for marketers. It can be hard, however, to find a responsive email template that works in Outlook. Outlook is software created by Microsoft that lets you send, receive, and manage emails, among other features. Many users actually prefer Outlook over Gmail, appreciating Outlook's offline email option, organizational features, and calendar integration. In 2018, Outlook was reported to have over 400 million active users, so it's important for email marketers to ensure their emails show up correctly there.

Desktop versions of Outlook for Windows are infamous for severe limitations when it comes to rendering HTML messages, and marketers often struggle to find a responsive email template that works well. Some email editors use a technique called "Conditional Comments" to minimize issues with Outlook, allowing complex multi-column layouts to render correctly, along with VML, a Microsoft proprietary XML-based language, to make Outlook compatible with some advanced features like rounded-border buttons. To make sure your emails will render correctly in Outlook, there are a few extra, simple steps to take.

Row Background Image

The Situation

In the editor, you see the background image of an email. When you send that email to Outlook, however, you'll see the background color of the email instead.

The Solution

You can solve this issue by either choosing a background color that matches your row image, or by not using a row image at all.

Custom Web Fonts

The Situation

Using custom fonts in your email can be a fun way to help your message stand out — but only if it works. Outlook won't display a custom font unless that font is physically installed on the recipient's computer, and in most cases the chances are pretty slim that someone will have a specific font.

The Solution

Use a list of fallback fonts — normal fonts that can stand in for custom fonts — that will make sure Outlook displays the closest font to the one you defined. As you design your email, make sure the design looks good even with the relevant fallback fonts. For example, if you want to use the Open Sans font, the stack might be Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, and Sans-Serif. If Open Sans is installed on the recipient's system, Outlook will use it; if not, Outlook will scan the font stack and use whichever font the system can read.

Animated GIFs

The Situation

Using GIFs in Outlook doesn't work as expected — users will see only the first frame.

The Solution

Choose your first frame carefully so people will still get the gist of the GIF. Don't crop, expand, or stretch the GIF — instead, show it in its own size.

Wrap-Up: Responsive email template that works in Outlook

It can be difficult to create HTML emails that look good in Outlook, but with the right workarounds you can get around virtually any Outlook problem as you create your emails. Use simple HTML email templates to design gorgeous emails that can be read by any recipient, Outlook users included!