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Emailens

Pseudo-element · data last changed 10 Nov 2026

::first-letter in email clients

Works in 10 of 21. Not supported in Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS and 3 more. Partial in Outlook 365, Outlook (New), Outlook iOS and 1 more. Untested in Superhuman.

Your reader in Outlook Classic sees the email without ::first-letter, even if it looks right where you tested it.

caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22

What to do instead in Outlook Classic

There is no drop-in fix for ::first-letter in Outlook Classic. Design so the email still reads without it.

The checker needs a computer screen.

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Every account includes one free real-device check in classic Outlook, Outlook for Mac and Apple Mail, after you verify your email and run one preview, while this month's free capacity lasts. How real-device checks work →

::first-letter is not among the 24 features we have screenshotted on real installs. The ones we have →

All 21 clients, problems first

ClientSupport
Gmail Not supported
Gmail Android Not supported
Gmail iOS Not supported
Outlook Classic Not supported
Outlook Android Not supported
Proton Mail Not supported
Outlook 365 Partial See caveat 1
Outlook (New) Partial See caveat 1
Outlook iOS Partial See caveat 1
Outlook for Mac Partial See caveat 2
Superhuman Untested
Works in 10: Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS, Yahoo Mail and 7 more. Show all
ClientSupport
Apple Mail Works
Apple Mail iOS Works
Yahoo Mail Works
Yahoo Mail Android Works
Yahoo Mail iOS Works
Samsung Mail Works
Thunderbird Works
HEY Mail Works
AOL Mail Works
Fastmail Works

Caveats (2)

  1. 1. Outlook 365, Outlook (New), Outlook iOS: Partial. Only supported on type selectors.
  2. 2. Outlook for Mac: Not supported with non Outlook accounts. Partial. Only supported on type selectors.

Caveats as recorded by caniemail (MIT), one entry per wording.

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caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22 · tested upstream 21 May 2020 · data last changed 10 Nov 2026 · Outlook (New) cells are the engine's mapping