{"id":4379,"date":"2024-04-26T11:49:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T15:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/help-my-email-is-broken-common-errors-fixes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:21:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:21:53","slug":"help-my-email-is-broken-common-errors-fixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/help-my-email-is-broken-common-errors-fixes","title":{"rendered":"Help! My Email Is Broken: Common Errors + Fixes"},"content":{"rendered":"

You put all that work into creating the perfect email\u2026 or so you thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, when you hit send, all h-e-double-hockey-sticks broke loose. Suddenly, you have a damaged email reputation, a lot of subscribers who tossed you to the spam folder, and you\u2019re left scratching your head. Where did you go wrong?<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, there are ways to identify what\u2019s broken in your emails before they ever go out in the first place. We happen to make <\/span>a pretty nifty tool<\/span><\/a> that can help you prevent sending broken emails<\/a> ever again, and so we know a thing or two about broken emails and how to avoid them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahead, we\u2019ll tackle all of the things that could go wrong in your email sends, and show you constructive ways to make sure you never again get blindsided by a broken email. Let\u2019s dive in!<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a broken email?<\/h2>\n

Marketers love email for its reliability, effectiveness, and maybe most importantly its <\/span>high return on investment (ROI)<\/span><\/a>. But when email is broken, it\u2019s not going to deliver the impression (or results) you want!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Worse, that broken email could be a big strike against you. <\/span>86% of consumers say they\u2019d leave a brand after just two poor experiences<\/span><\/a>, and you don\u2019t want your email to be one of those negative moments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, a broken email can happen for a number of reasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, email support can change suddenly with <\/span>email clients\u2019<\/span><\/a> rendering engines making it tricky for email marketers to understand what\u2019s going to work where.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What may look fine in Apple Mail can become a nightmare in Outlook or Gmail. On top of that, inbox versions, app updates, and browser changes can impact how an email looks.<\/a> What looked perfect today might be broken tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first step in designing on a deadline is preparing for the worst. Have safeguards built into your templates to cover any major problems you may encounter. <\/span><\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, three of the most common broken email issues\u2014 broken links, broken images, and poor rendering\u2014 can all be monitored and alerts activated when things don\u2019t look right, thanks to the help of <\/span>Email Guardian<\/span><\/a> from Litmus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of how you choose to monitor your emails, we\u2019ve got the guide for you to help protect your brand from broken emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this guide, we look at <\/span>common email errors<\/span><\/a> that can cause a broken email and offer <\/span>email testing<\/span><\/a> tips and how to incorporate safeguards into your <\/span>email workflow<\/span><\/a> so you\u2019re not faced with future \u201cmy email is broken\u201d dilemmas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight causes (and fixes) for broken emails<\/h2>\n

1. Unsupported HTML or CSS in email clients<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that every email client is different. But when you\u2019re working on 10,000 other things at a time, keeping up with sudden changes is the least of your worries when it comes to your email process. Even when support isn\u2019t changing, email clients interpret your code differently.<\/p>\n

The fix: Use a tool to identify unsupported HTML or CSS<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re not sure whether or not your technique is going to work in your email client, use Litmus\u2019 code analysis tool available in Litmus Builder<\/a>.<\/p>\n