Selector or pseudo-class · data last changed 10 Nov 2026
:hover in email clients
Works in 12 of 21. Not supported in Gmail iOS, Outlook Classic, Outlook iOS and 1 more. Partial in Gmail Android, Outlook 365, Outlook (New) and 1 more. Untested in Superhuman.
Safe to leave in: where it is not supported, the email renders the same.
caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22
What to do instead in Outlook Classic
Treat :hover purely as enhancement. The base CTA must look complete and tappable without any hover state. Inline the static appearance and use <style> blocks only for the hover overlay.
There is no drop-in fix for :hover in Outlook Classic. Design so the email still reads without it.
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:hover is not among the 24 features we have screenshotted on real installs. The ones we have →
All 21 clients, problems first
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Gmail iOS | Not supported |
| Outlook Classic | Not supported |
| Outlook iOS | Not supported |
| AOL Mail | Not supported |
| Gmail Android | Partial See caveat 1 |
| Outlook 365 | Partial See caveat 2 |
| Outlook (New) | Partial See caveat 2 |
| Outlook for Mac | Partial See caveat 2 |
| Superhuman | Untested |
Works in 12: Gmail, Outlook Android, Apple Mail and 9 more. Show all
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Gmail | Works |
| Outlook Android | Works |
| 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 |
| Proton Mail | Works |
| Fastmail | Works |
Caveats (2)
- 1. Gmail Android: Partial. Not supported with non Google accounts.
- 2. Outlook 365, Outlook (New), Outlook for Mac: Partial. Only supported on type selectors.
Caveats as recorded by caniemail (MIT), one entry per wording.
How :hover behaves
The :hover pseudo-class applies styles when the user points at an element. It only works in clients that render <style> blocks, since inline styles cannot express pseudo-classes. Outlook Classic ignores :hover entirely; most webmail clients honor it, with mobile clients being a no-op (no hover surface).
- Outlook Classic strips <style> blocks and ignores :hover.
- Gmail honors :hover when <style> blocks are preserved (which depends on sanitization rules).
- Mobile clients have no hover surface, :hover is effectively a no-op.
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