How to Identify and Fix Email Rendering Issues Across Different Devices

Mar 18, 2025

Ever sent an email that looked fabulous on your screen... only to hear from your boss that it looks like a broken puzzle on his phone?

Yep, we’ve all been there. That my-fancy-email-gone-wrong situation is what we call email rendering issues and they’re the digital equivalent of showing up to a black-tie event wearing flip-flops.

In this blog, we’re diving headfirst into how to identify and fix email rendering issues across different devices.

Expect some real-life examples, a sprinkle of humor, and battle-tested tips to make your mobile-friendly emails and responsive design shine like a cat meme in a crowded inbox. Ready? Let’s roll.

Email Rendering issues

Have you ever received an email where images are missing, fonts are all over the place, or the layout looks like it lost a fight with gravity congrats, you’ve witnessed email rendering issues in their natural habitat.

Fun Fact: 42% of users remove emails that don't look well on their device. That is equivalent to four out of ten people ignoring your emails.

Email rendering issues happen because email clients (like Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail) and devices (desktops, tablets, smartphones) interpret HTML and CSS differently.

Mobile-Friendly Emails Are Not Optional—They're Essential

Do you check your emails on your phone? Exactly. So does 81% of the world’s population. If your emails aren’t mobile-friendly emails, you’re leaving engagement, clicks, and sales on the table.

Example: Remember when Airbnb’s promo email looked amazing on desktop but was a disaster on mobile? The text was tiny, buttons were too close together, and images didn’t scale. Yep, someone forgot the mobile-friendly emails memo.

You need mobile-friendly emails designed with responsive design to ensure they look gorgeous everywhere—from an iPhone 15 Pro to a dusty old Android. No judgment.

Responsive Design

Like a well-tailored suit, responsive design fits wherever you wear it. It is the reason why emails that are optimized for mobile devices smoothly adjust to various screen sizes and resolutions.

As Karen from Marketing once said, “If your email isn’t using responsive design, it’s basically living in 2010.”

And she’s right. Without responsive design, your emails might look fantastic on a desktop but morph into something Picasso might’ve painted on mobile.

👉 Pro Tip: Use media queries to adjust font sizes, button spacing, and image scaling in your responsive design. That way, email rendering issues stay where they belong—in your nightmares, not your analytics.

How to Spot Email Rendering Issues Before Your Audience Does

You wouldn’t launch a product without testing it first, right? (Right?) So why send an email without checking it on different platforms?

Here’s how the pros catch email rendering issues:

Litmus and Email on Acid are your best friends. They show how your emails look on 90+ clients.

Test your mobile-friendly emails on real devices—both iOS and Android.

Don’t ignore dark mode! Plenty of email rendering issues pop up when your beautifully light-themed email turns goth.

True Story: Spotify once sent a gorgeous promotional email. Looked perfect on the desktop. But on dark mode mobile? White boxes everywhere! Their responsive design missed that detail, and boy, did Twitter notice.

Fixing Email Rendering Issues:

Okay, so you’ve found email rendering issues. Now what?

Here’s a simple checklist:

✅ Stick to inline CSS (not external stylesheets)

✅ Use tables for layout (yes, its old school, but email clients love it)

✅ Optimize images for responsive design (think flexible widths)

✅ Make mobile-friendly emails by using larger fonts and tappable buttons

✅ Avoid custom fonts unless you like surprises

✅ Always preview before sending!

Remember, email rendering issues are sneaky. But with responsive design and mobile-friendly emails, you can outsmart them.

Conclusion

A fantastic campaign can be ruined by problems with email rendering, but it doesn't have to. Your message will look great on any device if your emails have a strong responsive design and are genuinely mobile-friendly. Design wisely, test frequently, and get rid of rendering hassles.