How to View a Message in HTML With Express and Live Mail

Learn how to quickly view any email message in HTML

What to Know

  • Open the plain text message that you want to view in HTML, then go to View and select Message in HTML.
  • This doesn't convert the email to HTML. You're requesting the original without stripping away the formatting.
  • Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+H to toggle to HTML mode.

This article explains how to view your Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, or Outlook Express emails in HTML, even if you chose to always display the mail in plain text.

Windows Live Mail and Outlook Express were discontinued by Microsoft. This article is retained here for archival purposes.

How to View Email in HTML

Here's how to read a message with HTML formatting in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, or Outlook Express:

  1. Open the plain text message that you want to view in HTML.

  2. Go to the View menu.

  3. Choose the Message in HTML option to see the HTML version of the email.

This method doesn't convert the email to HTML, as you might find with a file converter program. Instead, you're requesting the original email without stripping away the formatting.

Keyboard Shortcut to Switch to HTML Emails

If you swap a message to HTML frequently, it's quicker to use a keyboard shortcut instead of opening the View menu, as described above.

The other option for viewing the message in HTML is to use the Alt+Shift+H keyboard shortcut. Press and hold the Alt key and the Shift key together, and then press the H key once to toggle to HTML mode.

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