Create a Plain-Text Email

Plain-text emails don't contain any images, rich-text formatting, or embedded hyperlinks, and are useful when you want to send a simple email featuring only your essential content.

We automatically create and send a plain-text version of your HTML email to recipients who prefer to receive them. But you can also create a plain-text-only email to send to specific groups, tags, segments, or to your entire audience.

In this article, you'll learn how to create a plain-text email.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

• We recommend that you use Mailchimp's email builder to create your email content, instead of Microsoft Word or other rich text editors. These editors add extra code when you copy and paste the content into Mailchimp, which can cause formatting issues when the email is displayed in someone's inbox.
• Plain-text emails are harder to read than HTML email, so use dividing lines and line breaks to make it easier for your recipients to read.

About plain-text tracking

To track clicks in plain-text emails, we'll replace your links with trackings URLs that redirect your recipients to a page we can monitor before we send them to the site.

Use Click Tracking in Emails

Create a plain-text email

To create a plain-text email, follow these steps.

1. Click the Create icon.
2. Click Email, then click Plain text.
3. Enter a name for your email, then click Begin.
4. On the Recipients step, use the drop-down to choose the audience you want to send to.
5. Click the radio button to send to your Entire audience, a Segment or tag, or a Group or new segment.
6. Click Next.
7. On the Setup step, enter your Campaign name, Email subject, Preview text, From name, and From email address. Choose your tracking tools, connect social media, and auto-convert your embedded videos.
8. Click Next.
9. On the Plain-Text step, remove the default text and enter your content in the area above the dotted line.
   
10. Copy and paste the source URLs from the content studio for any images or files you want to link to in your email.
11. Click the Preview and Test drop-down to Enter preview mode or Send a test email.
12. When you're satisfied with your content, click Next.
13. Review the checklist on the Confirm step. Click Resolve to fix any errors or click Edit to return to a step and make changes.
14. Click Send to send your email immediately. If you have a paid plan, click Schedule to select a delivery date and time.

Plain-text footer requirements

When you create a plain-text email in Mailchimp, we automatically include a default plain-text footer for you. Plain-text emails are subject to the same legal requirements as HTML emails, so we include our unsubscribe merge tag and the physical address associated with your audience. You can add or remove certain merge tags and other text, as long as you include the required footer content.

The Unsubscribe Merge Tag
Required Footer Content