How to View Email in HTML

Here’s how to read a message with HTML formatting in Windows Live Mail, Windows Mail, or Outlook Express:

Open the plain text message that you want to view in HTML. Go to the View menu. Choose the Message in HTML option to see the HTML version of the email.

Keyboard Shortcut to Switch to HTML Emails

If you swap a message to HTML frequently, it’s quicker to use a keyboard shortcut instead of opening the View menu, as described above.

The other option for viewing the message in HTML is to use the Alt+Shift+H keyboard shortcut. Press and hold the Alt key and the Shift key together, and then press the H key once to toggle to HTML mode.