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<link> in Gmail

Not supported <link> is not supported in Gmail.

Works in 3 of 21 · not supported in 18

Which clients
Works
Outlook Classic, Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS
Not supported
Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS, Outlook 365, Outlook (New), Outlook iOS, Outlook Android, Outlook for Mac, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail Android, Yahoo Mail iOS, Samsung Mail, Thunderbird, HEY Mail, Proton Mail, AOL Mail, Fastmail, Superhuman

Your reader in Gmail sees the email without <link>, even if it looks right where you tested it.

The fix for Gmail

Inline all CSS instead of using external stylesheets

after 
<div style="max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto;">
  <div style="background-color: #6d28d9; padding: 32px;"></div>
</div>
Show the original
before 
<head>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css" />
</head>

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What Gmail does with <link>

@emailens/engine 0.18.22 on the original code

Gmail does not support external stylesheets.

Your next question

Every feature in Gmail · <link> in every client

Questions

How many email clients support <link>?
It works in 3 of 21, not supported in 18.
What do I use instead of <link> in Gmail?
Inline all CSS instead of using external stylesheets.
Does <link> work in Gmail iOS?
<link> is not supported in Gmail iOS. Closest to Gmail: Gmail iOS, which agrees on 251 of the 300 features both are tested on.

To see what else in your email Gmail does not support, paste the whole email.

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caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22 · tested upstream 21 Dec 2023 · data last changed 10 Nov 2026 · Outlook (New) cells are the engine's mapping