When you begin creating your email content, it is very important that you design with images turned off. Many email clients will disable images and links until the subscriber downloads or “enables” these features. The subscriber can enable these features either by email, sender, or for all emails. I have put together a list of popular email and webmail clients on how to enable images for each. Let me know what you think and leave a comment if you have any strategies to get your subscribers to enable your images by default.
Microsoft Outlook 2003
To display images for individual emails - Right-click on one of the missing images and select “Download Pictures” or click the Microsoft InfoBar at the top of the message and click “Download Pictures”.
Microsoft Outlook 2007
To display images for individual emails – Click the Microsoft InfoBar at the top of the message and click “Download Pictures”.
To allow picture downloads for all emails from as email address or domain – In an open message that was sent from the email address, right-click one of the blocked items. On the menu, click “Add Sender to Safe Senders List” or “Add the Domain @domain to Safe Senders List”.
Microsoft Outlook 2010
To display images for individual emails – Click the Microsoft InfoBar at the top of the message and click “Download Pictures”.
To allow picture downloads for all emails from as email address or domain – In an open message that was sent from the email address, right-click one of the blocked items. On the menu, click “Add Sender to Safe Senders List” or “Add the Domain @domain to Safe Senders List”.
Hotmail/Windows Live
To display images for individual emails – Open the desired message. Click “Show content” in the yellow security bar right at the top of the message.
Yahoo
To display images for individual emails - Click the “Show Images” button at the top of the email message.
To display images for all senders – Click the Options link and then Mail Options button. The Mail Options screen will open and then click on the General on the left navigation bar. Under the Spam Protection section, choose “Always, except in Spam folder” or “Only from my contacts”. Click the “Save Changes” when finished.
Comcast
To allow picture downloads for all emails from as email address or domain – Click the Preferences at the top and then select Email on the left navigation bar. Under Display, check the box “Download images automatically in HTML Email”.
AOL Webmail
To display images for individual emails – Click “Show images” button at the top of the email.
To display images for individual senders - Click “Don’t block this sender” at the top of the email.
Gmail
To display images for individual emails and senders – Click “Display images below” in the box above your message. Or, if you’d like to always view images from a particular sender, click “Always display images from email@domain.com” instead.
Thunderbird
To display images for individual emails – Click the “Show Remote Content” in the alert bar at the top of the email message.
Lotus Notes
To display images for individual emails and senders – Click File followed by Preferences. Select the plus sign beside Mail and click Internet. Uncheck the box next to “To ensure privacy, do not show remote images without my permission”. This will change it to automatically display the remote images for any email you receive.
iPhone/iPad
To display images for all emails - Go into the My Settings icon app. Under Settings on the left, select Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Under Mail on the right, go to “Load Remote Images” and slide the bar to display ON.
Until next time, stay relevant, stay engaged, and get delivered!
Chris Arrendale is Sr. Director, ISP Relations and Deliverability for Real Magnet.
