The Risky Pretty Email
Some emails and newsletters boasting rich HTML formatting may be nice to look at, but is that worth the risks of
- as-yet unknown exploits and threats
- possibly slow display
- the privacy risk that comes with the chance of remote servers contacted as soon as you open the message
- ugly messages that are difficult to read?
If you think HTML is not worth it, Outlook can help you thoroughly and eliminate HTML formatting entirely from all the emails you read.
Read All Mail in Plain Text Only in Outlook 2007
To make Outlook render all messages in secure plain text:
- Select Tools | Trust Center... from the menu in Outlook.
- Go to the E-mail Security category.
- Make sure Read all standard mail in plain text and Read all digitally singed mail in plain text are checked under Read as Plain Text.
- Click OK.
Read All Mail in Plain Text Only in Outlook 2003
To have Outlook display all messages in secure plain text:
- Select Tools | Options... from the menu in Outlook.
- Make sure the Preferences tab is selected.
- Click E-mail Options....
- Make sure Read all standard mail in plain text and Read all digitally singed mail in plain text are checked.
- Click OK.
- Click OK again.
Of course, you can still view individual messages using the full HTML formatting.
Read All Mail in Plain Text Only in Outlook 2002
Outlook 2002 SP1 has a similar (though not as comfortably set up) security feature.
