How to regain access to the formatting tools Whatever the reason for setting a message to use the plain text format, when a user tries to reply or forward, or create an email when this is the default, the message will not allow formatting changes to be made unless the message format is changed to HTML. Also, because the formatting is left off, plain text emails are much smaller in size and that can be useful for people downloading them in places where internet service is slow or spotty.

The main reason to block an HTML email is because they have the potential to have malicious hyperlinks and other content that can present security risks. If a SPAM filter or user's email application blocks HTML emails, plain text emails can still be delivered. While HTML emails are more common, plain text emails still have a purpose.

By contrast, email messages using HTML format allow hyperlinks and all of the items in the list above and are likely the message format you are most familiar with. Plain text means exactly that - no frills, no hyperlinks, in essence it is text without any formatting. When the message format is set to 'plain text', the message formatting tools are not available. The email message style selected affects what formatting tools are available for that message. There are three different types of email formats: The format of the email is what causes the inability to use the formatting tools. It is worth noting that the inability to format messages can happen both in new emails as well as replies/forwards. However, when these tools are not available to us, it quickly becomes noticeable. Most of the time you probably do not even think about all of the formatting options available to you when working with messages in Outlook. How to Format Emails in Outlook When the Options are Greyed Out This post discusses why formatting options are sometimes greyed out in Outlook and how to get these tools back in an email. This applies to text copied into the email and text typed directly into the message. With these options greyed out, none of those changes can be made to the content of the email. Unfortunately, sometimes when working with email messages using Outlook, those formatting options are greyed out. These formatting tools allow you to accentuate certain text and can be extremely helpful when making specific points or trying to get follow up on certain items. When writing emails there are lots of reasons why you might want to underline, bold, italicize, create lists, or any of a variety of other modifications available.

Outlook plain text email