If an email appears different in Microsoft Outlook than it does in the Full Fabric email builder, this is expected behavior and is caused by Outlook's rendering engine rather than by Full Fabric. Older desktop versions of Outlook have well-known limitations when displaying HTML emails, and these limitations affect emails sent from all email platforms. While the visual appearance may vary slightly, the email content itself has not been modified during sending.
Why do emails look different in Microsoft Outlook?
If you've designed an email in Full Fabric and notice that it looks different when viewed in your Microsoft Outlook account, this is usually expected behavior and is not caused by an issue with Full Fabric.
The way an email is displayed depends on the email application used by the recipient. While modern email clients generally support the latest HTML and CSS standards, some versions of Microsoft Outlook — particularly older desktop versions— have significant limitations that can affect how emails are rendered.
Why does this happen?
Unlike most email clients, older desktop versions of Microsoft Outlook (such as Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019) use the Microsoft Word rendering engine to display HTML emails instead of a modern web browser engine.
Because Microsoft Word was never designed to render web pages, it does not support many of the HTML and CSS features commonly used to create modern email layouts such as Full Fabric's email builder. As a result, emails may appear differently in Outlook than they do in Gmail, for example.
This behavior is a limitation of Outlook itself and affects emails sent from virtually every email communications platform, not just Full Fabric.
Common differences you may notice
Depending on the version of Outlook being used, you may see differences such as:
Images appearing slightly misaligned.
Larger or smaller spacing between sections.
Different font rendering.
Buttons displaying differently.
Rounded corners on buttons or images appearing square.
Background images not displaying correctly.
Columns stacking or aligning differently.
Slight differences in padding or margins.
These variations are normal and are caused by Outlook's limited support for modern email design.
Why does the email look correct in Full Fabric?
The Email Builder displays a modern preview of your email using current web technologies.
When the email is sent, however, each recipient's email client is responsible for rendering the email. Since every email application supports HTML and CSS differently, the final appearance may vary slightly depending on where it is opened.
This means that:
The design shown in Full Fabric is a preview.
The final rendering is determined by the recipient's email client.
Different recipients may see the same email displayed slightly differently.
Why is this more common during email testing?
This question often arises when staff members send test emails to themselves while designing an email template.
For example:
The email looks correct in the Full Fabric Email Builder.
A test email is sent.
The email is opened in an older version of Microsoft Outlook.
The layout appears different, leading to the assumption that something changed during sending.
In reality, the email content has not been altered. Outlook is simply rendering the HTML differently than the Email Builder preview.
Does this affect recipients?
Only recipients using older desktop versions of Microsoft Outlook are likely to experience these rendering differences.
Recipients using modern email clients—such as Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook on the web, Outlook for Mac, or mobile email apps—will generally see a Full Fabric email correctly.
Because every recipient may use a different email client, it is impossible for any email platform to guarantee that an email will appear exactly the same everywhere.
Can this be prevented?
Unfortunately, there is no way to force older versions of Microsoft Outlook to display modern HTML emails exactly as designed.