CSS property · 11 real installs 14 Oct 2026 · data last changed 10 Nov 2026

text-shadow in email clients

Works in 12 of 21. Not supported in Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS and 6 more.

Your reader in Outlook Classic sees the email without text-shadow, even if it looks right where you tested it.

caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22

The fix for Outlook Classic

Use font-weight or border-bottom as alternatives to text-shadow

after

6 lines

.glow {
  /* text-shadow is not supported in Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo.
     Use font-weight or letter-spacing for emphasis instead. */
  font-weight: bold;
  letter-spacing: 0.5px;
}

Show the original

before

3 lines

.glow {
  text-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
}

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text-shadow on 11 real installs

One Emailens probe, screenshotted on each install on 14 October 2026, next to our live preview of the same client. Where text-shadow is supported you should see: text with a red shadow.

The Emailens probe for text-shadow on a real Outlook 2019 (Windows) — Outlook Classic

The Emailens probe for text-shadow on a real Outlook 2016 (Windows) — Outlook Classic

The Emailens probe for text-shadow on a real Yahoo Mail — Yahoo Mail

The same probe in the Emailens live preview of Yahoo Mail — Yahoo Mail

The Emailens probe for text-shadow on a real Outlook.com — Outlook 365

The same probe in the Emailens live preview of Outlook 365 — Outlook 365

The Emailens probe for text-shadow on a real Apple Mail (macOS) — Apple Mail

The same probe in the Emailens live preview of Apple Mail — Apple Mail

The Emailens probe for text-shadow on a real Apple Mail (iPhone 13) — Apple Mail iOS

The same probe in the Emailens live preview of Apple Mail iOS — Apple Mail iOS

Also captured, not counted as evidence (4)

Outlook for Microsoft 365 · not mapped to an engine client yet Real screenshot
Outlook 2019 for Mac (legacy app) · not counted as Outlook for Mac Real screenshot
This is the legacy Outlook for Mac app. The new Outlook for Mac, which the table describes, drops gradients, grid sizing functions, var() and more.
Gmail (web) · not counted as Gmail Real screenshot
This Gmail install does not apply Gmail's sanitiser, so it shows more than real Gmail does.
Windows Mail · not mapped to an engine client yet Real screenshot

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All 21 clients, problems first

Client	Support
Gmail	Not supported
Gmail Android	Not supported
Gmail iOS	Not supported
Outlook (New)	Not supported
Outlook Classic	Not supported
Outlook iOS	Not supported
Outlook for Mac	Not supported
Yahoo Mail	Not supported ^{See caveat 3}
Yahoo Mail Android	Not supported ^{See caveat 4}

Works in 12: Outlook 365, Outlook Android, Apple Mail and 9 more. Show all

Client	Support
Outlook 365	Works ^{See caveat 1}
Outlook Android	Works ^{See caveat 2}
Apple Mail	Works
Apple Mail iOS	Works
Yahoo Mail iOS	Works
Samsung Mail	Works
Thunderbird	Works
HEY Mail	Works
Proton Mail	Works
AOL Mail	Works
Fastmail	Works
Superhuman	Works

Caveats (4)

1. Outlook 365: Observed 2026-10-14 (Emailens real-device probe, Outlook.com (Chrome)): A red text-shadow rendered behind bold text.
2. Outlook Android: Observed 2026-11-08 (Emailens probe sheets 20-22, the Outlook Android app, our own seed inbox): A green text-shadow drew behind the text.
3. Yahoo Mail: Observed 2026-11-08 (Emailens probe sheets 20-22, Yahoo Mail web (Chrome), our own seed inbox): A green text-shadow did not draw; the text rendered plain.
4. Yahoo Mail Android: Observed 2026-11-08 (Emailens probe sheets 20-22, the Yahoo Mail Android app, our own seed inbox): A green text-shadow did not draw; the text rendered plain.

Caveats as recorded by caniemail (MIT), one entry per wording.

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