Outlook's behavior with the reply format is to reply in the format of the original message. If someone sends you plain text message, the reply will always be plain text, because Outlook (rightfully so) assumes the sender prefers mail in that format or can only accept mail in that format. This is good netiquette.
You can always make Outlook send plain text emails to specific contacts. Outlook gives you this feature where you can automate plain text emails to contacts in your address book. Now you can setup such plaintext emails and automatically log them to send to your contacts. I will take you through the steps to send plain text emails to certain Outlook addresses automatically.
There are a number of times when you have to send your emails in plain text. This may be because the recipient wants the email in plain text format. Many times there are devices that can’t read the emails which are sent in rich text format. There are many reasons to keep a track of the text format of your email content.
Here is how you can automate your emails in plain text to certain emails with Outlook.
Send Plain Text Emails to Specific Addresses
Many times there are people who insist on sending them emails written in plain text. Here is how you can make sure you do it right, always.
1 – Go to your address book and select contacts you wish to send plain text e-mails.
2 – Go to Home ribbon and select Card/Business card.
3 – Double click on the desired Contact.
4 – Go to internet format and select ‘Send plain text only’ option.
5 – Double click the email address from a general tab of your Contact.
6 – Click OK
This will automate the plain text emails when your send any email to the specific contact. You can always view the email properties from the properties window while sending any email. An email properties dialogue box appears when you click on the email address.
Always Show Email Properties Dialog
To make this property always active, make some settings on Outlook. Here is how you can do it:
1 – Close Outlook window.
2 – Go to Run (CTRL+R) and type in “regedit” and enter
3 – Click yes for administrator privileges.
4 – Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software//Microsoft /Office/16.0/common/contact card. – For Outlook 2016.
If you are using Outlook 2013 – Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/office/15.0/common/contact card
If you are unable to locate the registry key, go to the above-mentioned location and perform the following steps:
1 – Select Edit/New/Key from the menu in registry editor
2 – Type Contactcard.
3 – Enter.
5 – Select Edit/New/ DWORD from the menu.
6 – Type “turnonlegacygaldialog” in the column for date and enter.
7 – You will be able to see turnonlegacydialog icon, double click on it.
8 – In Value, enter 1
9 – Click Ok
10 – Close registry editor.
This will make the email property visible when you double click on specific contact. Selecting and double clicking on any contact will display the email property dialog.
While accessing the registry, you have to be cautious not to make unnecessary changes. A small mistake in the registry may lead to corruption of data files on your Outlook. It takes a lot of effort in repairing data files of outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, etc. So whenever you are creating registry files, try to maintain caution.
Following these steps properly can make your outlook work according to your plans. You can make the plain text emails default for selected contacts. You can also use the email properties dialog to see if the address has any specific settings or defaults. This can make your work easier and more convenient for the recipients.
You have two options if you want to use plain text formatting for all messages you send, including Replies and Forwards: read all mail using plain text or convert the message to plain text format before hitting reply.
Unlike other utilities and macros, such as the Convert to Plain Text macro, the message is not actually converted to plain text, it's just not rendered as HTML. If you want to read it in HTML format, click in the Infobar to restore the HTML format.
When Read-as-plain text is enabled in Outlook, the Infobar will say if the message was converted to plain text. You can easily switch individual messages to HTML by clicking in the Infobar and displaying the message as HTML.
Enable Read as Plain Text in Outlook 2010 and newer
To enable Read all standard mail in plain text setting in Outlook 2010 and newer versions, open File, Options, Trust Center dialog box. Select E-mail Security.
Enable Read as Plain Text in Outlook 2007
To enable Read all standard mail in plain text settings in Outlook 2007, go to Tools, Trust Center, Email Security. In Outlook 2003, look for the option in Tools, Options, Email Options.
Change format to plain text
If you prefer to change the messages to plain text when you reply, open the message, go into Edit Message mode then switch to plain text format before hitting Reply.
Run a Script Rule
Outlook Plain Text To Html
Note: converting a message to plain text will destroy the HTML part. you will not be able to convert it back to HTML later. Reading all messages in plain text will allow you to switch messages back to HTML.
Outlook On A Mac
To use, press Alt+F11 to open the VBA editor. Expand Project1 to locate ThisOutlookSession and paste the following code into the right side of the screen. Save and close the VB Editor.
![Outlook For Mac Plain Text Email Outlook For Mac Plain Text Email](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126888713/347615357.png)
Add Outlook Account On Mac
Create a rule in Outlook with conditions that apply to the affected messages and select the Run a Script as the action. Select the script and complete the rule.