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Does CSS background-color Work in HTML Email?

Sets the background color of an element using color names, hex, rgb, or other color values.

Quick Answer

Does background-color work in HTML email?

The CSS background-color property is supported in all major email clients tested. You can use it with confidence in your HTML emails.

Which Email Clients Support CSS background-color?

CSS support for background-color across email clients

Email ClientDesktopMobile / WebNotes
Gmail✓ Yes✓ Yes—
Outlook (Windows)✓ Yes?—
Outlook (Mac / Web)✓ Yes✓ Yes—
Apple Mail✓ Yes✓ Yes—
Yahoo! Mail✓ Yes✓ Yes—
Samsung Email?✓ Yes—
Thunderbird✓ Yes?—
ProtonMail✓ Yes✓ Yes—
Fastmail✓ Yes?—

Notes

  • #1 Buggy. Only supports [color keywords from CSS Level 1](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/color_value#color_keywords).

Frequently Asked Questions

Related CSS Properties

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