Understanding Clipped Messages in Gmail

Sometimes Gmail might display a notice indicating that the content of an email has been clipped. Clipped emails are emails with their content shortened.

This article will address what causes Gmail to shorten certain emails.

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Article Contents

• See Clipped Content
• File Size
• Subject Lines
• Clipboard Content
• Putting It Together

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See Clipped Content

When a message is clipped, the entirety of the message is not displayed to the recipient and is instead replaced with three dots. This happens for a number of reasons related to the file size, the subject line, or the content of the email. 

Click to enlarge.

The three dots can be clicked to expand and display the entire message. Content is automatically clipped by the email client (i.e. Gmail). 

File Size

Perhaps the most straightforward reason for email clipping in Gmail is that Gmail automatically shortens messages that have a size greater than 102 kilobytes. Kilobytes—not megabytes. Emails sent through Gmail, as a result, have a premium on available capacity. 

File size issues occur due to the message size being the result of the total number of bytes in the email's code. Marketing emails, in particular, have a tendency to accumulate a large file size as more content is added. This content includes: 

As such, be aware of the following:

• Changing image size will not reduce the overall file size of the email. Consider that the quality of the image is typically not the problem, because these are loaded externally. Rather, the overall amount of images can increase the total amount of code. Control the total number of images you need for a given email prior to sending. If possible, condense many images into a larger background image that sits behind text.
  
  
• Keep the body copy as brief as possible without undermining the message. If you are able to provide your message with five words instead of fifty, then do so. A message, when directed by brevity and straightforward in nature, can get a point across as well as—if not better than—something larger.
  
  
• Messages sent via Lead Gen & CRM automatically are updated to include a tracking pixel and URL washing. This is so that Lead Gen & CRM can collect lead activity generated by each email. All of this can sometimes lead to email bloating that sends the total message size above the kilobyte threshold for Gmail to automatically clip the message.
  
  
• File size issues can also come from junk code. When using custom HTML templates or pasting content, check your HTML source code to cut down on any junk styling or code. Pasted content can bloat the overall file size of the email with unnecessary code. 
  

Subject Lines

In addition to file size, Gmail will clip and thread messages sent with identical subject lines.

If you are sending out tests of your emails to confirm they look how you like, they will most likely be sent with the same message. When the same message is sent multiple times, Gmail will thread them into a single chain for the sake of convenience. What you may not realize is that this is contributing additional bulk to the same message, potentially making the email large enough for Gmail to clip it.  

The good news is that while you might receive multiple copies of the email in testing, leads will only get it once. As such, the chances of your message getting clipped in their inboxes are not high.
 

Clipboard Content

Lead Gen & CRM allows for design freedom. This freedom is available whether using the content editor window for adding content or with the custom HTML template feature.

While these features make it easy to copy-and-paste changes to your email from external sources, there can sometimes be excess code or styling also injected into your email's HTML. When content or code is pasted from a clipboard into the Email Designer, there can be formatting issues. These issues can, in turn, lead to clipping issues.

Avoid these issues by making sure to paste all content as plain text. Solutions are available for both OS X and Windows. 

Putting It Together

There are some best practices to keep in mind in order to prevent email clipping. While each email is different, adhere to the following:

When designing with capacity in mind, remember that, for better or worse, everything counts in small amounts.

Again, each email is different. Keeping to best practices may still result in email clipping. Contact Lead Gen & CRM technical support for additional assistance with email clipping issues.