All e-mail programs are not alike, so you need to use a message format that your recipient's program supports. The message format you choose determines whether you can add formatted text, such as bold fonts, colored fonts, and bullets, and whether you can add pictures to the message body. However, just because you choose a message format that lets you add these features doesn't mean the recipient will be able to see them. That's because some e-mail programs don't support formatted messages or pictures. The following information will help you decide which format to use depending on the e-mail configuration you're using and the e-mail program of the person you're sending messages to.

Types of message formats

Outlook 2000 offers three message formats:

• Plain text   A message format that doesn't support text formatting, such as bold, italic, or colored fonts. It also doesn't support pictures displayed directly in the message body (although they can be included as attachments). All e-mail programs can display plain text messages accurately.
• HTML   A message format that supports text formatting, numbering, bullets, alignment, horizontal lines, pictures (including backgrounds), HTML styles, and Web pages. You can also use stationery and signatures with this format. All Web pages use HTML, as do most popular e-mail programs, including Outlook 98, Outlook Express 4.0, Eudora 4.0, and Netscape Messenger 4.0. To date, the America Online e-mail system does not.
• Rich Text Format (RTF)  A Microsoft format that supports text formatting, bullets, and alignment. You can also use signatures with Outlook Rich Text. (If you're using Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor, you must create the signature in Word.) Outlook Rich Text can be read only by Microsoft Exchange Client versions 4.0 and 5.0, Outlook 97, Outlook 98, and Outlook 2000. (Outlook Express cannot read RTF). In addition to messages, Outlook meeting requests and task requests are sent in RTF format, too.

Which message format should you use?

The message format you use depends on your e-mail configuration and who you're sending mail to.

Internet Only configuration

If you use Outlook 2000 in the Internet Only configuration, use the plain text or HTML message format. All e-mail programs support plain text. Use HTML format if you know that the recipient's e-mail program supports HTML. If it doesn't, usually the recipient will still be able to read the message. However, their version of the message won't have the text formatting you added or any pictures you included. Also, if you're using Word 2000 as your e-mail editor, even e-mail programs that understand HTML may not be able to understand some of the more complex formatting that Word can produce.

 Note   You can't use Word 97 to create or edit HTML messages.

Corporate Workgroup configuration

If you use Outlook 2000 in the Corporate or Workgroup configuration with Microsoft Exchange Server, use RTF to send internal messages, or messages you're sending over the Internet to someone who's using a Microsoft e-mail program (except Outlook Express). If you're sending to Internet recipients, you also need to enable them to receive RTF messages, as described below in the section "Enabling RTF Format for Internet Recipients." If you send messages over the Internet and you don't know what the recipient's e-mail program is or you know that it's something other than a Microsoft e-mail program, use plain text format.

You can send internal and external e-mail in HTML format, too, but consult your e-mail system administrator first to see whether it's advisable. Depending on the servers your e-mail is routed through before going to the Internet, your message could lose the formatting you added. Even if your company's servers support HTML format, the message could still lose formatting if it's routed through external servers that don't support HTML.

Changing message formats

When you create a new e-mail message by clicking New on the toolbar, Outlook uses a default format that's specified for all e-mail messages you create. When you first install Outlook in the Internet Only configuration, the default is plain text. When you first install Outlook in the Corporate or Workgroup configuration, the default is RTF. These are the recommended formats mentioned previously. (If your computer uses a different default, your e-mail administrator may have changed it.) If necessary, change the default message format.

View or change the default message format

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. If you want to change the default indicated in the Send in this message format list, click the format you want.

Sometimes you may want to leave the default setting in place but override it only for a specific message.

Specify a format for a specific message

• On the Actions menu, point to New Mail Message Using, and then click the format you want to use.

For messages that you reply to or forward, Outlook automatically preserves the formatting used for the original message.

Task requests and other items sent over the Internet

In addition to e-mail messages, you can send task requests, meeting requests, and messages with voting buttons over the Internet to other Outlook users (except Outlook Express users). However, these three items are always in RTF format, and you can't change them to another format. Therefore, to send them intact over the Internet so the recipients can respond, you need to enable RTF format for those recipients, as described below. Even if these items are embedded in a plain text or HTML message, you still need to enable RTF format for the recipients. Otherwise, the embedded items will arrive as plain text, and recipients won't be able to use them. For example, recipients couldn't respond to a meeting request and have it automatically added to their calendar.

 Note   If you send task requests, meeting requests, and messages with voting buttons to someone who uses Outlook Express, they'll receive the plain text version.

Enabling RTF format for Internet recipients

For Outlook to send RTF formatted messages, task requests, meeting requests, and messages with voting buttons intact over the Internet to other Microsoft e-mail clients, you need to enable RTF for those specific Internet recipients. Those Internet recipients who don't have RTF format enabled will automatically receive messages in plain text format (if that is the default you're using), even if you originally created the message using the RTF message format.

Enable RTF format for Internet recipients

Follow this procedure only if you're sending over the Internet to recipients on Microsoft e-mail programs other than Outlook Express.

Do one of the following:

• If the person is listed in your Contacts folder, open the contact, and then in the E-mail box, right-click the person's e-mail address. Click Properties on the shortcut menu, and then select the Always send to this recipient in Microsoft Outlook rich-text format check box.
• If the person is in your Personal Address Book (not in the Contacts folder), open the person's entry in the address book. On the SMTP-General tab, select the Always send to this recipient in Microsoft Outlook rich-text format check box.

The next time you send a message to this recipient, Outlook automatically sends it in RTF format. If the message is also addressed to other recipients who don't use Outlook, those recipients receive the plain text version.

• If the person is not listed in your Contacts folder or your Personal Address Book, in the To box in a message, type the address of a recipient, and then press TAB to resolve the address. Right-click the resolved address, and then click Properties on the context menu. Select the Always send to this recipient in Microsoft Outlook rich-text format check box.

Setting the option in this way does not carry over to future messages you send to this recipient. You must follow this procedure for each RTF message you send to this recipient. To avoid this, add the recipient to your Contacts folder or Personal Address Book, and then apply the setting from either of those locations as described above. Then the setting is applied automatically each time you send to that recipient.