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How to Set Up Plain Text E-mail?

Table of Contents

  1. Prefix
  2. Outlook Express 5/6
  3. Outlook Express 4
  4. Mozilla/Netscape 6
  5. Netscape 4.5 and above
  6. Netscape 4
  7. Netscape 3 or earlier
  8. Eudora
  9. Becky!

Prefix

What is a plain text mail?

If you were using e-mail programs like Outlook Express, Outlook, Netscape Mail or Eudora, you might not know what is a plain text mail.

A plain text mail is the opposite of an HTML mail. When you write a new e-mail, you may change the font size or color, add an underscore, or center the whole sentence. When this mail is sent, many HTML tags are inserted into your content. It is then sent as an HTML mail. HTML is the internet standard document format. If the receiver’s e-mail program can read HTML mail, too, she/he can then read this mail, with your specified font size, color… etc.

On the other hand, a plain text mail is the simplest form of mail. It has no formatting, no font size nor color. What you type is exactly what is sent through the internet. No additional formatting tags will be added. Thus, it can always be read no matter which e-mail program the receiver might have.

Why should we use plain text mails?

We use plain text mails for the following reasons:

  1. Many common simple e-mail clients, like pine or elm under linux/UNIX, cannot read HTML mails. The HTML tags will come together with the content and the mail will become a clutter.
  2. It will have to strip the HTML tags first in order to do the full text search on a batch of mails. This will largely increase the programming difficulty, especially in mailing list archive searching.
  3. With a lot of HTML tags the e-mail’s size will be enlarged enormously. This will become serious burden for a slow dial-up reveiver or a ISDN fixed networking company. The bandwidth is wasted, and the time to check mail is slowed down a lot. For large-sized mailing lists, it will cause enormously burden to the global internet.

Safe delivering is far more important than formatting for a mail. We should try our best to deliver our infomation safely to our receiver’s hands, while minimizing the burden to the others. Please use plain text mails instead of HTML mails, to create a better e-mail communication environment together.

Outlook Express 5 and 6

Start your Outlook Express. From the Tools on the top toolbar, choose Options.... In the popped-up Options window, click the Send at the top to move to the Send page. Choose Plain Text in the Mail Sending Format at the bottom. That’s all.

You could click the Plain Text Settings beside it. It will pop up a Plain Text Settings window. Choose MIME in Message format, choose None at the Encode text using: options, and check the Allow 8-bit characters in headers. Click OK, OK.

Mozilla and Netscape 6

Start your Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups or Netscape Mail & Newsgroups. From the Edit on the top toolbar, choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings.... In the popped-up window titled Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings, choose the account you are going to set up. Then check the Compose messages in HTML format at the lower-right. If you don’t see this option, just drag the lower-right edge of the window until you can see it. Then, click OK. That’s all.

Netscape 4.5 and above

Start your Netscape Messenger. From the Edit on the top toolbar, choose Preferences.... In the popped-up window titled Preferences, choose the Formatting below the Mail & Newsgroups in the Category at the left. If you don’t see the Formatting and there’s a cross sign + precede the Mail & Newsgroups, click on the cross sign + to display it. Choose the Use the plain text editor to compose messages in the Message formatting at the right. Click OK. That’s all.

Netscape 4

Start your Netscape Messenger Mailbox. From the Edit on the top toolbar, choose Preferences.... In the popped-up window titled Preferences, choose the Messages below the Mail & Groups in the Category at the left. If you don’t see the Messages and there’s a cross sign + precede the Mail & Groups, click on the cross sign + to display it. Uncheck the By default, send HTML messages in the Messages properties at the right. Click OK. That’s all.

Netscape 3 or earlier

Netscape 3 or earlier does not send HTML mails by default.

Eudora

Start your Eudora. From the Tools on the top toolbar, choose Options.... In the popped-up Options window, click the Styled Text on the Category at the left. Then, uncheck the Show formatting toolbar option. Also choose Send plain text only at the When sending mail with styled text (HTML): below. Click OK. That’s all.

Becky!

Becky does not send HTML mails by default.

by imacat, first written 2001-12-22, last updated 2006-04-06