HTML element · data last changed 10 Nov 2026
<svg> in email clients
Works in 5 of 21. Not supported in Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS and 12 more. Partial in Apple Mail.
Your reader in Outlook Classic sees the email without <svg>, even if it looks right where you tested it.
caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22
The fix for Outlook Classic
Convert inline SVG to an image for email compatibility
<img src="https://example.com/icon.png"
width="24" height="24" alt="Icon"
style="display: block; border: 0;" />Show the original
<svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
<path d="M12 2L2 7l10 5 10-5-10-5z" fill="#6d28d9"/>
</svg>The checker needs a computer screen.
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<svg> is not among the 24 features we have screenshotted on real installs. The ones we have →
All 21 clients, problems first
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Gmail | Not supported |
| Gmail Android | Not supported |
| Gmail iOS | Not supported |
| Outlook 365 | Not supported |
| Outlook (New) | Not supported |
| Outlook Classic | Not supported |
| Outlook iOS | Not supported |
| Outlook Android | Not supported |
| Outlook for Mac | Not supported |
| Yahoo Mail | Not supported |
| Yahoo Mail Android | Not supported |
| Yahoo Mail iOS | Not supported |
| HEY Mail | Not supported |
| AOL Mail | Not supported |
| Fastmail | Not supported |
| Apple Mail | Partial See caveat 1 |
Works in 5: Apple Mail iOS, Samsung Mail, Thunderbird and 2 more. Show all
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Apple Mail iOS | Works |
| Samsung Mail | Works |
| Thunderbird | Works |
| Proton Mail | Works |
| Superhuman | Works |
Caveats (1)
- 1. Apple Mail: Buggy. Requires a background on the
<body>. Can be any type of background, image or a color, can be set as attribute, inline style or in<style>block
Caveats as recorded by caniemail (MIT), one entry per wording.
How <svg> behaves
Inline <svg> does not survive most inboxes: Gmail, every Outlook, Yahoo Mail, AOL, HEY and Fastmail leave it out, so an icon or logo drawn in markup is simply missing for most readers. The same artwork referenced from an <img> tag is a separate case with far wider support, which is why the two should never be judged together.
- Inline <svg> works in Apple Mail iOS, Samsung Mail, Thunderbird, Proton Mail and Superhuman. Apple Mail is buggy: it needs a background on the <body>, set as an attribute, an inline style or in a <style> block.
- Gmail removes the tag and its child nodes while sanitizing the message, so no CSS can bring it back. There is no alt text to fall back on either: the space is just empty.
- An .svg file in <img src> is listed as working in the Outlook, Yahoo Mail and Apple Mail clients. Gmail displays it too, but rasterizes it to PNG first, so it is no longer a vector by the time the reader sees it. Superhuman is untested.
Export the artwork to PNG at twice its display size and use a plain <img> with width and height attributes, display: block and a real alt. Check the file on a dark background as well: a dark logo on a transparent PNG can vanish in dark mode, so give it a light outline or a solid backing shape.
Questions
Can I use SVG in email?
Not as inline <svg>, which most clients drop. As an image file in an <img> tag it has much wider support, but a 2x PNG is the choice that behaves the same everywhere.
Does Gmail support SVG?
Gmail removes inline <svg>. An .svg file in an <img> tag does display, rasterized to PNG.
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