HTML Elements

<audio>

HTML element · 4 supported, 0 partial, 17 unsupported across 21 clients

As of Sep 2, 2026, <audio> fails or degrades in 17 of 21 email clients, treat it as progressive enhancement, never structure.

0/7 webmail, 2/6 desktop, 2/8 mobile clients support <audio> fully.
Unsupported in Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS, Outlook 365 and 13 more.
Outlook Classic (Word engine, supported to at least 2029) does not fully support <audio>, and its replacement changes little here; see the deprecation diff.
Across all clients, only 6 of 298 tracked HTML/CSS features render identically everywhere.

Source: caniemail.com (MIT), via the Emailens engine. Last tested upstream Apr 21, 2020, synced by Emailens Sep 2, 2026.

The <audio> element embeds audio content. Email client support is essentially nonexistent , every major client strips <audio> tags or ignores the embedded player. The standard email pattern is to link out to a hosted audio player on the web instead.

Client Support

Client	Category	Engine	Support
Gmail	webmail	Gmail Web	Unsupported
Gmail Android	mobile	Gmail Mobile	Unsupported
Gmail iOS	mobile	Gmail Mobile	Unsupported
Outlook 365	webmail	Outlook Web	Unsupported^{See caveat 1}
Outlook (New)	desktop	Outlook Web	Unsupported
Outlook Classic	desktop	Microsoft Word	Unsupported
Outlook iOS	mobile	Outlook Mobile	Unsupported^{See caveat 1}
Outlook Android	mobile	Outlook Mobile	Unsupported^{See caveat 1}
Outlook for Mac	desktop	WebKit	Unsupported
Apple Mail	desktop	WebKit	Supported
Apple Mail iOS	mobile	WebKit	Supported
Yahoo Mail	webmail	Yahoo	Unsupported
Yahoo Mail Android	mobile	Yahoo	Unsupported
Yahoo Mail iOS	mobile	Yahoo	Unsupported
Samsung Mail	mobile	Samsung	Supported
Thunderbird	desktop	Gecko	Supported
HEY Mail	webmail	WebKit	Unsupported
Proton Mail	webmail	Proton	Unsupported^{See caveat 2}
AOL Mail	webmail	AOL	Unsupported
Fastmail	webmail	Fastmail	Unsupported^{See caveat 3}
Superhuman	desktop	Blink	Unsupported

Documented caveats (3)

1.Outlook 365, Outlook iOS, Outlook Android: The <audio> element is supported, but the video can not play due to a strict Content Security Policy.
2.Proton Mail: The src attribute is transformed into proton-src.
3.Fastmail: Not supported. The <audio> element and all its content is removed.

Caveats recorded by caniemail.com (MIT) and carried verbatim, one entry per wording rather than per client.

Client-by-client behaviour for <audio>

Fully supports <audio> (4): Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS, Samsung Mail, Thunderbird.

No support (17): Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS, Outlook 365, Outlook (New), Outlook Classic, Outlook iOS, Outlook Android, Outlook for Mac, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail Android, Yahoo Mail iOS, HEY Mail, Proton Mail, AOL Mail, Fastmail, Superhuman. Plan fallbacks for these clients before relying on <audio> in production sends.

When to use <audio> in email

Linking to a podcast episode hosted on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or a custom site.
Embedding a thumbnail image with a play-button overlay that links to the hosted audio.
Notifying subscribers of new audio content with a CTA to listen on the web.

Rendering behaviour and edge cases

All major clients strip <audio> elements entirely.
AMP for Email provides limited audio support but is not yet broadly adopted.
Linked-out audio players are the only reliable cross-client pattern.

Recommended fallback strategy

Replace <audio> with a styled play-button image linking to the hosted audio. Include duration and episode title in the surrounding copy so recipients have context before clicking through.