CSS Properties

text-align

CSS property · 10 supported, 5 partial, 0 unsupported across 15 clients

text-align controls horizontal alignment of inline content within a block-level container and is supported across every modern email client. Most rendering inconsistencies come from inheritance — clients sometimes reset text-align at table boundaries, requiring explicit declarations on each cell.

Client Support

Client	Category	Engine	Support
Gmail	webmail	Gmail Web	Supported
Gmail Android	mobile	Gmail Mobile	Partial
Gmail iOS	mobile	Gmail Mobile	Partial
Outlook 365	webmail	Outlook Web	Supported
Outlook (New)	desktop	Outlook Web	Partial
Outlook Classic	desktop	Microsoft Word	Partial
Outlook iOS	mobile	Outlook Mobile	Supported
Outlook Android	mobile	Outlook Mobile	Supported
Apple Mail	desktop	WebKit	Supported
Apple Mail iOS	mobile	WebKit	Supported
Yahoo Mail	webmail	Yahoo	Partial
Samsung Mail	mobile	Samsung	Supported
Thunderbird	desktop	Gecko	Supported
HEY Mail	webmail	WebKit	Supported
Superhuman	desktop	Blink	Supported

Client-by-client behaviour for text-align

Fully supports text-align (10): Gmail, Outlook 365, Outlook iOS, Outlook Android, Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS, Samsung Mail, Thunderbird, HEY Mail, Superhuman.

Partial support (5): Gmail Android, Gmail iOS, Outlook (New), Outlook Classic, Yahoo Mail. Expect rendering quirks unique to each engine — partial support typically means a subset of values, an ignored shorthand, or sanitizer-specific rewrites.

When to use text-align in email

Centering a logo or hero copy in a wide table cell.
Right-aligning tabular financial data in receipt and invoice templates.
Justifying long-form newsletter copy (rarely recommended due to legibility issues).

Rendering behaviour and edge cases

Some clients reset text-align at the <table> boundary, so set it on the inner <td> rather than the wrapping table.
Outlook on Windows occasionally inherits a parent <td>'s align attribute over CSS text-align, which can cause unexpected re-alignment.
text-align: justify can produce uneven word spacing on small screens — avoid in mobile-first email.

Recommended fallback strategy

Combine the legacy align="center" or align="right" HTML attribute with CSS text-align for maximum compatibility. Always set text-align on the immediate parent of the inline content, not several levels up.