Symbols replacing spaces and special characters in Outlook only | Community
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cassiec29238197
cassiec29238197
Level 2
August 15, 2024
Question

Symbols replacing spaces and special characters in Outlook only

  • August 15, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1217 views

When I build out an email in Campaign v8 and send it out, everything looks great in every mail client EXCEPT Outlook 2019. Outlook is replacing spaces and special characters with a ? symbol (screenshot attached). We just upgraded to v8 from ACS and never had this issue until we migrated. We have reached out to our Internal IT team to see if it was a security setting in Outlook making these changes and they blame it on the HTML, we reached out to Adobe and they said it was our internal security settings so we are basically running around in circles with no answers at all. Has anyone else dealt with this and if so, how did you fix it? We are using Outlook 2019 and when we view our emails in Email on Acid, we can't replicate this issue--it only happens when we send out the email (not a proof) to our Outlook accounts. 

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2 replies

Manoj_Kumar
Community Advisor
Manoj_KumarCommunity Advisor
Community Advisor
August 16, 2024

Hello @cassiec29238197  How are you adding these special characters in email? Are you copying them from somewhere to using HTML equivalent?

Manoj  | https://themartech.pro
cassiec29238197
cassiec29238197Author
Level 2
August 20, 2024

I am pasting them as plain text but I have also tried adding the HTML equivalent (ex, we have tried "&" as well as "&" and "&" but when I receive the email in Outlook, it looks like this � symbol. 

MeitMedia
MeitMedia
Level 4
August 26, 2024

Hi @cassiec29238197 

 

Here's are some suggestion from my side that you can refer to troubleshoot your issue:
  • Ensure your email is using UTF-8 encoding. In the email's HTML, include: <meta charset="UTF-8">
  • Check if the content-type header in the email includes the correct charset: Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
  • You've tried both plain text and HTML entities. Continue using HTML entities for special characters:
    & should be &
    " should be "
    ' should be '
    < should be <
  • Use web-safe fonts or embed fonts properly. 
  • Specify fallback fonts: font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
  • Ensure CSS is properly inlined, as Outlook has limited CSS support.
  • Use Litmus or Email on Acid to test across various Outlook versions.
  • Send test emails to different Outlook accounts (personal, business) to isolate the issue.
  • Check if there are any content management or personalization blocks in your ACC V8 instance used in your email delivery that could be causing the issue.
  • Despite IT's response, check Outlook's Trust Center settings: File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings . Ensure "Don't use HTML email" is not selected.
  • Investigate if any email security gateways or spam filters are modifying the email content.
  • Create a simple test email with minimal HTML and known special characters. Gradually add complexity to isolate where the issue occurs.

Best regards,

MEIT MEDIA (https://www.meitmedia.com)

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