We send all HTML emails as a multi-part message, meaning a text-only version is sent along with the HTML version. Although most email clients can deal with HTML messages these days, there are still some platforms and devices that can't display HTML. There are also people who elect to block HTML emails, so sending both helps your message get delivered.
To save you time, we automatically generate a plain text version of your HTML emails by stripping out the text from the HTML and making some intelligent guesses about how it should be structured.
It's good to get into the habit of previewing the plain text version because you can make smarter decisions about how it should look. For example, you might need to:
- Rewrite some copy to compensate for missing images.
- Tidy up formatting so copy is easier to read. For example, numbered and bullet point lists get condensed into a single paragraph.
- Restructure sentences containing hyperlinked text.
Check the plain text version
How to check and edit the plain text version of your email changes depending on which email method you're using.
If you make more changes to the HTML email before sending, remember that you'll need to come back to edit the plain text version again, too.
Campaigns
If you are sending a regular campaign, or an A/B test campaign, you can preview and edit the plain text version from the campaign checklist by clicking Manage plain text version right under the image of your campaign. On the next screen, if you need to make changes, click the Custom tab, make your edits, then click Save.
Journeys
The plain text version of a journey email can only be edited if you have imported the email from your computer or the web. You will be given the opportunity to edit it after you import your email. To make further changes, select the email in the journey designer, then in the left sidebar click Re-import HTML. Import your HTML again to see the plain text editor.
Test the plain text version
It's important to test HTML emails before sending, but it's equally worthwhile getting the plain text version right, too. Below are a few ways to see what the plain text version of your email looks like, by testing it in various email clients.
Outlook.com
One option is Microsoft's free email service, Outlook.com. Set up an account if you don't have one already, then send a test email to yourself. Open the email, click the overflow menu (3 dots) at the top right, then select View > View message source.
In your web browser, run a Find (usually Command + F on macOS, or Ctrl + F on Windows) then search for the term content-type: text/plain to locate the plain text version.
Thunderbird
Thunderbird is a cross platform, free email client that makes it easy to view the plain text version of multi-part emails. It's a desktop application that you will need to download to use, but it can be used for testing only.
To test the plain text version of your HTML email, open Thunderbird then select the test email from your inbox. Then click View > Message Body As > Plain Text.