Each email client has default settings that determine which images will display or be blocked when an HTML email message is rendered. Many email clients also give the recipients the ability to adjust their own settings. If an email sender has been added to a recipient's "safe sender" list the images are more likely to display.

When blocked, each email client also has a unique way of blocking images - some display a box with a red "X" while others simply gray out the area.

When you neglect to take these settings into account you run the risk of your email marketing being reported as spam, recipients unsubscribing from your email list because they don't recognize your message, and poor email deliverability since fewer messages are actually making it to the inbox.

You can overcome some of these obstacles by encouraging email subscribers to add your email address to their safe senders list. Another tactic is to use "ALT tags" so that, rather than blocking your images, the email client displays the alternate text that describes the image contents. Or, if you're concerned that your important email messages aren't reaching your customers' inboxes at all due to blocked images, you may want to consider sending text-only follow-up email.  (Read: Email Design Tactics for Blocked Images: 3 Options)  

The most common email clients and how they handle image blocking are listed below. Use this chart to understand at a glance how to accommodate your recipients’ email settings:

For more tips on how to design email marketing for blocked images read:

• No-Image Email Design Experiment

• Designing HTML Email From the Top

• Preview Pane Design: 7 Real-World Examples

• Email Design No-Nos Your Designer May Not Know

• How to Design for Blocked Images

• Designing Emails For the Preview Pane and Disabled Images  

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