Short answer:
Outlook may remove line breaks in plain-text emails due to a built-in setting called “Remove extra line breaks in plain text messages”. This can cause email signatures to appear as a single block of text.
Why does this happen?
When viewing a plain-text email in Outlook, everything may look correct while composing.
However, when the email is received, Outlook may automatically remove line breaks it considers unnecessary, making the content harder to read.
Example (expected format):
This is the first line. Line #2: blah Line #3: blah blah Line #4: blah blah blah
Example (after Outlook processing):
This is the first line. Line #2: blah Line #3: blah blah Line #4: blah blah blah
This behavior is caused by Outlook itself—not by Xink or the email signature.
Other email clients, such as Gmail, typically preserve line breaks as expected.
How Outlook handles this
Outlook identifies and removes what it considers redundant line breaks in plain text emails.
When this happens, you may see a notification bar in Outlook allowing you to restore the line breaks:
Step-by-Step: Prevent Outlook from removing line breaks
- Open Outlook Options.
- Go to Mail.
- Find the setting Remove extra line breaks in plain text messages.
- Uncheck this option.
This prevents Outlook from modifying line breaks in plain text emails.
IT Pro: Use Group Policy (GPO)
For organizations, you can disable this setting using Group Policy (GPO) to ensure consistent behavior across all users.
Workaround if you cannot change settings
If you cannot control Outlook settings (e.g., recipient side), use this workaround:
- Add three or more spaces at the beginning of each line
This prevents Outlook from removing the line breaks.
What this means for email signatures
If your plain text signature loses formatting, it is caused by Outlook’s handling of line breaks—not by Xink.
To ensure consistent formatting:
- Use HTML signatures when possible
- Or apply the workaround for plain text emails
