Outlook Emails Sent with a Gmail Address Change Fonts when opened with Gmail

The issue you're experiencing with font inconsistencies when sending emails from Outlook to Gmail is not uncommon. When emails are composed in Outlook using custom fonts like Garamond, they may not render the same way in Gmail due to differences in how email clients handle fonts. Gmail often defaults to web-safe fonts like Arial or Sans Serif when it cannot recognize or properly display the specified font.

Here are some points to consider:

1. Font Support: Gmail does not support all fonts, especially custom or non-standard ones. If the font used in the email is not available in Gmail, it will substitute it with a default font, which can lead to the mixed font appearance you observed.
2. Email Formatting: When emails are forwarded, the formatting can sometimes change, especially if the email client does not fully support the original formatting. This might explain why the forwarded email from your wife displayed differently.
3. Testing Across Clients: It's a good practice to test how your emails appear in different email clients. Since you mentioned that the emails look correct in Outlook but not in Gmail, this reinforces the idea that the issue lies with Gmail's handling of the font.

To mitigate this issue, consider using web-safe fonts that are more likely to be supported across all email clients. Additionally, you might want to avoid using custom fonts in emails if you need to ensure consistent appearance across different platforms.

References:

• Font size may differ from the size in the original email from Outlook for Mac
• Use custom fonts in emails

Dear JohnTCI,

Thank you for posting your question to the Microsoft Q&A forum.  

I understand how frustrating the "Ransom Note" effect is. This is a known conflict where Gmail strips the header code where Outlook defines your default font, causing the text to revert to Arial.

Here are two solutions to ensure your emails look professional.

1. The "Georgia" Compromise (Recommended)

This is the easiest fix if you want a consistent look without extra work.

• Switch your default font to Georgia.
• Why: It is a serif font very similar to Garamond, but Gmail handles it consistently, preventing the mixed-font error.

2. The "Force Inline" Trick If you must use Garamond, you can try forcing Outlook to write the code directly onto the text strings.

• Type your email in a standard font (like Calibri) first.
• Before sending, Select All (Ctrl + A).
• Manually change the font dropdown to Garamond.
• Why: This applies the font "Inline" rather than in the Header, forcing Gmail to respect it.

A Note on "Web Safe" Fonts: To clarify, the lists you see from ChatGPT and Copilot often refer to Website Design, where the developer controls the whole page.

• In Email Design, you are sending code into a "hostile environment" (Gmail) that actively rewrites your code.
• Garamond is indeed "Web Safe" (installed on most PCs), but it is fragile in email code and often breaks during this stripping process.

I hope this explains the distinction between web and email standards. Please let us know if the manual selection trick solves the formatting break for you.

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