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CSS Properties

object-fit

CSS property · 13 supported, 2 partial, 6 unsupported across 21 clients

13 of 21 email clients render object-fit fully (Sep 2, 2026 data); it breaks outright in Outlook (New), Outlook Classic, Yahoo Mail and 3 more.

  • 5/7 webmail, 4/6 desktop, 4/8 mobile clients support object-fit fully.
  • Unsupported in Outlook (New), Outlook Classic, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail Android and 2 more.
  • Partial in Gmail Android, Gmail iOS, behavior differs from browsers, test before relying on it.
  • Outlook Classic (Word engine, supported to at least 2029) does not fully support object-fit, and its replacement changes little here; see the deprecation diff.
  • Documented before/after fixes on this page cover 21 clients, including Gmail and Gmail Android.
  • 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 Jul 15, 2021, synced by Emailens Sep 2, 2026.

Client Support

ClientCategoryEngineSupport
GmailwebmailGmail WebSupported
Gmail AndroidmobileGmail MobilePartialSee caveat 1
Gmail iOSmobileGmail MobilePartialSee caveat 1
Outlook 365webmailOutlook WebSupported
Outlook (New)desktopOutlook WebUnsupported
Outlook ClassicdesktopMicrosoft WordUnsupported
Outlook iOSmobileOutlook MobileSupported
Outlook AndroidmobileOutlook MobileSupported
Outlook for MacdesktopWebKitSupported
Apple MaildesktopWebKitSupported
Apple Mail iOSmobileWebKitSupported
Yahoo MailwebmailYahooUnsupported
Yahoo Mail AndroidmobileYahooUnsupported
Yahoo Mail iOSmobileYahooUnsupported
Samsung MailmobileSamsungSupported
ThunderbirddesktopGeckoSupported
HEY MailwebmailWebKitSupported
Proton MailwebmailProtonSupported
AOL MailwebmailAOLUnsupported
FastmailwebmailFastmailSupported
SuperhumandesktopBlinkSupported

Documented caveats (1)

  1. 1.Gmail Android, Gmail iOS: Partial. Not supported with non Google accounts.

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

Client-by-client behaviour for object-fit

Fully supports object-fit (13): Gmail, Outlook 365, Outlook iOS, Outlook Android, Outlook for Mac, Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS, Samsung Mail, Thunderbird, HEY Mail, Proton Mail, Fastmail, Superhuman.

Partial support (2): Gmail Android, Gmail iOS. Expect rendering quirks unique to each engine. Partial support typically means a subset of values, an ignored shorthand, or sanitizer-specific rewrites.

No support (6): Outlook (New), Outlook Classic, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Mail Android, Yahoo Mail iOS, AOL Mail. Plan fallbacks for these clients before relying on object-fit in production sends.

Fixes & Workarounds

Outlook (New)

Unsupported

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Outlook Classic

Unsupported

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Yahoo Mail

Unsupported

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Yahoo Mail Android

Unsupported

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Yahoo Mail iOS

Unsupported

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

AOL Mail

Unsupported

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Gmail Android

Partial

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Gmail iOS

Partial

Use width/height attributes on <img> directly.

Before (Broken)

before.html
2 lines
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px;
            object-fit: cover;" />

After (Fixed)

fixed.html
3 lines
<!-- Crop/resize image server-side to exact dimensions -->
<img src="photo-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200"
  alt="Photo" style="display: block; border: 0;" />

Use width/height attributes instead of object-fit

Production guidance for object-fit

object-fit is a CSS property. Across the email client matrix, 13 of 21 tracked clients support it fully, 2 only partially, and 6 not at all. The clients most likely to require a workaround for this feature are Outlook (New), Outlook Classic, Yahoo Mail. Each of them needs a tailored fallback. See the per-client examples above for the specific code fix Emailens recommends.

When in doubt, ship a baseline that renders without object-fit and treat it as progressive enhancement on clients where support is verified. Emailens automatically detects cross-client divergence on this feature when you preview an email, so you can see exactly which template paths break before a campaign goes out.

Related Features

Check your own HTML for object-fit

Paste your own, or run the sample below. Analyzed in this page, with no signup and nothing stored.

Zero-Friction Engine Preview

Test your object-fit layout across 21 email clients

Preview rendering, catch CSS issues, and see how object-fit displays across Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail. Free, no account needed.

Instant live preview · No signup required · 21 email engines

Last tested upstream: · Last synced by Emailens:

caniemail.com (MIT) records Jul 15, 2021 as the last time object-fit was tested in a real client, 5 years before this sync. Syncing copies that result forward, it does not re-test it. Carried in @emailens/engine data v0.12.2.