How to Send a Message in Plain Text From Yahoo Mail

It's easy to switch formatting modes in Yahoo Mail

By
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Heinz Tschabitscher
Writer
  • University of Vienna
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
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Updated on June 1, 2021

What to Know

  • Select Compose, then compose your message. Select three-dot icon > plain text icon > OK. Select the rich text icon to switch back.
  • When your message converts to plain text, it will lose all formatting, hyperlinks, and inline images.

People have become accustomed to sending and receiving rich-text email messages, which include text formatting, inline photos, links, and scenic backgrounds. But plain text still has its uses. Yahoo Mail makes it possible for you to send either format.

How to Send a Message in Plain Text From Yahoo Mail

To compose a text-only message or convert a rich-text email to plain text in Yahoo Mail:

  1. Click the Compose button in Yahoo Mail to create a new email.

    Send Yahoo Mail plain text compose button screenshot

  2. Enter the text and other content in the body of the email, and then click the three-dot icon for more options.

    Set Yahoo Mail plain text ellipses screenshot

  3. Select Plain Text in the window that opens. The icon looks like a capital letter T with a small x next to it.

    Set Yahoo Mail plain text button screenshot

  4. Click OK to proceed.

    Set Yahoo Mail to plain text, OK button screenshot

  5. When your message converts to plain text, it will lose any formatting (such as bold and italics), hyperlinks, and inline images. You won't lose files you've attached to the email separately.

Switching Back to Rich Text

You can go back to rich-text formatting if you change your mind. Click the rich-text button at the bottom of the compose window. It looks like a capital T with a small plus sign next to it.

Set Yahoo Mail to plain text screenshot

If you add rich-text elements to an email and then switch it to plain text and back, your formatting and links won't return.

Why Use Plain Text?

Rich-text is the default format for email, but you may want to use the older version sometimes. Here are some advantages to plain-text.

  • Sophisticated email filters identify rich-text emails as "commercial" and frequently filter them out. Marketing surveys also suggest that people open rich-text emails less often than plain-text ones.
  • Some people prefer receiving plain text emails. If you know what the recipient of an email you are composing prefers, you can cater to them.
  • If you routinely send out a lot of email and bandwidth is a concern, staying with plain text emails minimizes the problem because they have lower data requirements.
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