Easy step by step tutorial: how to send a HTML email with Gmail

Yes you can send a HTML email with Gmail! No, it's not quite as simple as copy and pasting its design into Gmail or this guide wouldn't need to exist. ;)

Do you always need an email marketing service like Mailchimp or Active Campaign to send a HTML designed email? You can actually use Gmail to send them as well.

You can send these HTML emails as an 1-on-1 message or use a mail merge tool for Gmail like Yet Another Mail Merge to send it to a list of customers or contacts. Emails sent directly from Gmail are much more likely to reach primary inboxes than ones sent from an email marketing platform so if you would like to send a group of people a nice design instead of plain text, follow along the step by step guide below.

Step 1:  Copy the HTML code of the email you want to send with Gmail

Step 2:  In Gmail, click + Compose to create a new email and type 'Text' in the body

Step 3:  Highlight 'Text', right click and click on 'Inspect' in the dropdown menu

Step 4:  In the Inspect console that pops up, right click on the highlighted blue section and select 'Edit as HTML' in the dropdown menu

Step 5:  In the textarea that appears, highlight 'Text'

Step 6:  Paste your email HTML code to replace 'Text'

Step 7:  Click anywhere outside of the textarea to apply your HTML code

Step 8:  Click 'x' at the top right corner to close the Inspect console. Now you'll see your HTML email in in the compose window

Step 9:  If needed, you can directly edit any of the text in the email. Add your subject line and recipient email address and it's ready to send!

Step 10:  Here's how the HTML email will look for your recipient. It looks the same as if you sent it from an email marketing platform.

Last updated: January 5th, 2020