About message formats

Regardless of the e-mail editor you use, Microsoft Outlook can send and receive messages in HTML, plain text, and Outlook Rich Text formats.

HTML (default) format

When you create a message in Outlook 2002, the default format is HTML. This format supports text formatting, numbering, bullets, alignment, horizontal lines, pictures (including backgrounds), HTML styles, stationery, signatures, and Web pages. Since most popular e-mail programs use HTML, it's the recommended format if you send most of your messages over the Internet. It's also the recommended format if you send most of your messages within a company that uses Microsoft Exchange Server.   

Plain text and Outlook Rich Text formats

Plain text format is one that all e-mail programs understand; however, it doesn't support bold, italic, colored fonts, or other text formatting. It also doesn't support pictures displayed directly in the message body (although you can include them as attachments).

Outlook Rich Text Format (RTF) is a Microsoft format that only the following e-mail programs understand: Microsoft Exchange Client versions 5.0 and 4.0, Outlook 2002, Outlook 2000, Outlook 98, and Outlook 97. You can use RTF when sending messages within a company that uses Microsoft Exchange Server; however, it's recommended that you use HTML. RTF supports text formatting, including bullets, alignment, and linked objects. Outlook automatically creates meeting and task requests and messages with voting buttons in RTF format, regardless of the default format you have set.   

Changing message formats

In most cases, you don't need to change the message format. When you send an HTML message to others whose mail program doesn't understand HTML, their mail program automatically displays a plain text version in the message body. When you send an RTF formatted message over the Internet, Outlook converts it to HTML by default. If the Internet-bound message is a task or meeting request, Outlook automatically converts it to iCal format, a common format for Internet calendar items, so that other e-mail programs can understand it. When you reply to a message, Outlook automatically uses the format the message was created in (except in the case of an RTF message sent over the Internet, as noted previously).

In some cases, you may prefer to use a different format for a specific message. For example, someone may send you a plain text message, but you want to forward or reply to it using HTML format and the features it supports. Or, you may always want to use a certain format for a specific contact, for example, if you frequently send to a contact mail that contains linked objects, which only Outlook Rich Text format supports. Therefore, Outlook offers you the flexibility you need for these situations.