Plain-Text Emails: Why You Still Need Them in 2026

What multipart/alternative actually is

A well-formed email carries both a text/html part and a text/plain part. The client picks which to show: rich clients render the HTML, while text-only contexts fall back to the plain part. The two are meant to say the same thing: the plain version is a real fallback, not an afterthought.

Why it still matters

• Deliverability. Spam filters are suspicious of emails that ship HTML with no plain-text alternative, or with an auto-generated one that doesn't match the HTML. A clean, matching text part is a small positive signal, and its absence is a negative one.
• Accessibility and reach. Some people read in text-only clients, on smartwatches, or with assistive setups that prefer the plain part. Terminal-based and privacy-focused clients often show it by default.
• Resilience. When an HTML email renders badly (images blocked, styles stripped) a readable text part is the safety net that still gets your message across.

What a bad plain-text part looks like

Most email platforms auto-generate the text part, and the result is often rough:

• Hidden preheader text dumped at the very top, out of context.
• Bare URLs with no context, or link text with the destination stripped out entirely.
• Collapsed structure: headings, lists and sections run together.
• Leftover markup fragments or navigation the reader doesn't need.

None of that is fatal, but it reads as careless, and careless is not the impression a good email wants to make.

How to write a good one

1. Keep the links legible. Show the destination: our pricing (https://acme.com/pricing) beats a naked URL or a "click here" with nowhere to click.
2. Preserve structure with plain text. Blank lines between sections, simple dashes for lists, and a clear sign-off do the work that HTML formatting did.
3. Drop what doesn't translate. Hidden preheaders, tracking pixels and decorative navigation have no place in the text part.
4. Keep it in sync. The plain and HTML versions should carry the same message and the same call to action.

Generate it, then tidy it

You don't have to write the text part from scratch. Paste your HTML into the plain-text generator to get a clean starting point (links kept inline, markup stripped) then give it a quick read and trim anything that doesn't belong. While you're preparing to send, it's also worth adding campaign tags with the UTM link builder and confirming your authentication with the SPF, DKIM & DMARC guide.