CSS property · data last changed 10 Nov 2026
background-position in email clients
Works in 20 of 21. Not supported in Outlook Classic.
Your reader in Outlook Classic sees the email without background-position, even if it looks right where you tested it.
caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22
What to do instead in Outlook Classic
When designing hero backgrounds for email, craft the image artwork so that the focal point remains visually acceptable if anchored at the top-left in Outlook. For precise centering in Outlook Classic, implement VML <v:fill> with explicit origin or position attributes inside conditional MSO blocks.
- Background images position can be used in VML with the
positionattribute. See VML documentation.
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background-position is not among the 24 features we have screenshotted on real installs. The ones we have →
All 21 clients, problems first
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Outlook Classic | Not supported See caveat 2 |
Works in 20: Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS and 17 more. Show all
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Gmail | Works See caveat 1 |
| Gmail Android | Works See caveat 1 |
| Gmail iOS | Works See caveat 1 |
| Outlook 365 | Works |
| Outlook (New) | Works |
| Outlook iOS | Works |
| Outlook Android | Works |
| Outlook for Mac | Works |
| Apple Mail | Works |
| Apple Mail iOS | Works |
| Yahoo Mail | Works See caveat 1 |
| Yahoo Mail Android | Works See caveat 1 |
| Yahoo Mail iOS | Works See caveat 1 |
| Samsung Mail | Works |
| Thunderbird | Works |
| HEY Mail | Works |
| Proton Mail | Works |
| AOL Mail | Works See caveat 1 |
| Fastmail | Works |
| Superhuman | Works |
Caveats (2)
- 1. Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail Android, Yahoo Mail iOS, AOL Mail: Partial. Does not support multiple values. The comma between two values is removed.
- 2. Outlook Classic: Background images position can be used in VML with the
positionattribute. See VML documentation.
Caveats as recorded by caniemail (MIT), one entry per wording.
How background-position behaves
background-position sets the initial starting position of a background image relative to its container (e.g., center center, top right, 50% 50%). In email, centering hero images or anchoring brand watermarks relies on background-position, but Outlook Classic's complete lack of support necessitates VML vector fills.
- Outlook Classic completely ignores background-position on standard HTML elements, always placing the background image at the top-left (0,0) coordinate.
- Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and AOL Mail support standard keyword positions and percentage offsets, but strip commas between multiple layered background positions.
- Apple Mail and mobile clients fully support complex percentage and multi-value background position declarations.
Questions
How do I center a background image in Outlook?
Standard CSS background-position: center; does not work in Outlook Classic. Use a conditional VML block with <v:fill type="frame" aspect="atleast" /> or use an image wide enough (e.g., 1800px) centered within an outer wrapping table.
Does Gmail support percentage values for background-position?
Yes, Gmail supports percentage values like 50% 50% as well as keywords like center center when inlined on table cells.
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