Email Clipping in Gmail Explained
Gmail has a size limit of 102KB for each email message. Once that limit is reached, the remaining content is clipped and becomes hidden behind a link to view the entire message.
Every element making up the email, from the HTML to the written text and images, has an impact on file size. Each letter or character you type takes up approximately 1-2 bytes. This starts to add up quickly with longer email messages.
For example, text copied and pasted brought over from outside sources bloats the message with additional formatting, greatly adding to the file size.
Unfortunately, this is not something that Drip can control but there are a few things that you can do to avoid email clipping in Gmail.
The best way to avoid email clipping in Gmail is to check your file size to ensure that your email content does not exceed the size limit. To be sure of this, send a test email to your own Gmail email address and download the message to inspect its file size.
Another element that may cause your emails to clip would be the use of a copyright symbol © or registered symbol ®. Using these symbols results in changes to the metadata of an email that causes Gmail to clip the message. As we cannot override any rendering done on Gmail's end, those symbols will need to be removed in order to avoid these types of clipping.
Send a Test Email
After your email is designed and ready to go, send yourself a test email. This allows you to download the message and inspect the file size.
To send yourself a test email:
- From any Single Email Campaign, Email Series, or Automation email, click Preview
- Click Send Test Email
- In the pop-up, enter the Gmail address you'd like to receive the email
- Click Send Test Email
The test email will be sent to your Gmail inbox. From there, the message can be downloaded.
Download the Email Message to Inspect File Size
Once you’ve received the test email in your Gmail inbox, download it to inspect the size of the file.
To download the email from your Gmail inbox:
- Sign in to Gmail and open the test email
- Click the three vertical dots in the upper right-hand corner of the email
- Click Download message
- Open the download folder on your computer
- Right-click on the file
- Click "Get Info" or "Properties"
A pop-up will appear where you can view the message size. If the file is smaller than 102KB, you’re in good shape. If it exceeds the size limit, Gmail will clip the message in people’s inboxes and the message will need to be edited down.
Edit the Email
Here are some tips to decrease the length of your message when you craft emails in Drip.
Provide only relevant information in your messages
If you find yourself adding multiple paragraphs on the same topic, keep only the key points in the message, and then direct people back to your website for more of an in-depth review.
For example, if you’re sending out a Sales announcement provide only the eye-catching information in the message and include a link back to your website where people can get more information.
Don’t copy and paste from outside sources
Each character is approximately 3-6 bytes in size. There is often encoding on the backend of content from a website or word processing program, so when you copy and paste from outside sources you’re likely increasing the size for those characters. The more this is done, the more likely you will reach Gmail’s 102KB display limit before the message is clipped.
To make sure there’s no formatting being brought over, paste your content into an unformatted, plain text editor such as Editpad.
Break up your message into more than one email
If your content covers multiple topics and causes your email to be too long, break it up into multiple emails. Keep your email content specific to one or two things. This will help increase the overall engagement of the people on your list and increase future opens and clicks.
Use sections in the visual email builder to organize your content. If you have more than 4 body sections with large text blocks in one email, break it up into multiple emails.
If you've followed all these steps and think your email is below 102KB, but you're still getting the email clipping alert, please reach out to us at support@drip.com.