You may already know this, but just in case I thought I would send it on. With more and more using non-Windows devices (like Tablets and Apple Computers), you will want to send your MS Outlook emails in a way that they can read them.  This is especially important when including attachments.

What causes the Problem?

The root of the problem is that Microsoft has its own way of formatting documents and including attachments that works great when both the sender and receiver are using Outlook for their email program.  This proprietary format is called “Rich Text” (RTF).  When you are using Outlook and send an email using RTF, all of the formatting (bold/font/etc.) will not be visible to users that are using something other than Outlook to read it, the message will just come across as plain text.  The bigger problem is that any attachments you add to the file will show up as a “winmail.dat” blob that they cannot open and see on their computer.

What is the solution?

The solution to this problem is to format and send your messages using “HTML Formatting” which can be read and understood by any modern computer.

How do I do this?

The easiest solution is to change your Outlook preferences so that it always creates messages and responses using HTML instead of RTF.

This is a 5 step process for users with Outlook 2010:

1)     Click the File Tab at the top left of the main Outlook 2010 window:

2)     Then click on “Options”

3)     In the “Outlook Options” dialog box that comes up, select “Mail”

4)     Then in that Mail options tab, select “HTML” for your preferred option for composing messages

5)     Then click the “OK” button on the Outlook Options dialog box to save your new preferences and you are good to go!

The process works for Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2011 for the Mac and is similar for other versions of Outlook, you just need to get to the Outlook preference pane and make sure that messages are composed using HTML.