What is the email body?

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The email body is the actual message content. Everything the recipient reads. Your subject line hooks them, your body delivers.

Technically, the body sits below the headers (the routing metadata like From, To, Subject). When you hit send, your ESP packages the body in one of three formats:

text/plain is just text. No formatting, no images, no colors. Works everywhere, including ancient email clients and accessibility tools.
text/html is formatted email. Colors, fonts, images, links, buttons. What most marketing emails use.
multipart/alternative sends both versions in one email. The recipient's client picks whichever it can display. HTML-capable clients show the HTML version. Plain-text-only clients (or users who disable HTML) get the plain text fallback.

Most ESPs send multipart by default. You write HTML, they generate a plain text version automatically. (Mailchimp, Brevo, Klaviyo all do this.) The plain text version matters more than you'd think. Screen readers prefer it. Some corporate email policies strip HTML entirely. And if your HTML breaks, the plain text version is what saves you from sending a blank email.

Here's what can go wrong: if you only send HTML and the recipient's client doesn't support it (or blocks remote images), they see nothing. If you send multipart but your ESP generates a terrible plain text version (some strip all line breaks or mangle links), your accessibility suffers. And if your HTML body is too heavy (massive images, bloated code), it triggers clipping in Gmail (anything over 102KB gets truncated with a "View entire message" link).

One more thing: the body is where spam filters read your content. ALL CAPS, excessive exclamation marks, too many links, no text with your images? All red flags. The body gets scanned. Write like a human, not a carnival barker.

If you're building emails, check your ESP's preview mode for both HTML and plain text. Make sure the plain text version is readable. If you're debugging why an email looks broken, view the raw source and confirm both body parts exist. And if your emails keep getting clipped, trim your HTML or move content to a landing page.

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Yanna-Torry (YT) Aspraki

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I read this on the Email Almanac about email body formats (plain text, HTML, multipart): "The email body is the actual message content. It can be plain text (no formatting), HTML (formatted with colors/images/links), or multipart/alternative (both versions in one email so the recipient's client picks whichever it can display). Most ESPs send multipart by default. The plain text version matters for screen readers, corporate email policies that strip HTML, and when your HTML breaks. Gmail clips anything over 102KB. Spam filters scan your body content for red flags like ALL CAPS, too many exclamation marks, or no text with images." Help me figure out what this means for MY email setup. I need: 1. Format check: Does my ESP send plain text, HTML, or multipart? How do I verify both versions exist and look correct? 2. Plain text quality: If my ESP auto-generates plain text, is it readable or does it mangle links and line breaks? 3. Size check: Are my emails getting clipped in Gmail (over 102KB)? How do I check total email size? 4. Content flags: What specific words, formatting, or link patterns in my body content trigger spam filters? --- My details (the more you share, the better the advice): - Email platform/ESP: e.g. Mailchimp, SendGrid, Postmark, HubSpot, custom SMTP - Email type: [newsletter, transactional, marketing campaigns, product updates] - Current body format: plain text only, HTML only, not sure, ESP handles it - Images in body: none, a few, image-heavy - Experience level: beginner / intermediate / advanced - What I'm troubleshooting: [emails look broken, getting clipped, accessibility concerns, spam filter issues]

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