About Preview Text

Preview text is the part of your email that appears next to the subject line in recipients’ inboxes. In Mailchimp, you can customize this text or ask us to generate some based on the content of your email.

In this article, you’ll learn about preview text in Mailchimp.

How it works

When someone receives your email in their inbox, the first thing they’ll see is your From name, subject line, and preview text. The preview text appears next to the subject line, and gives recipients a quick glimpse at the content of your message.

For example, here’s an example of an email with a From name of "Amelia," a subject line that announces "Our fall sale is here!", and preview text that supports the fall sale with more detail: "Up to 25% off new stock through October."

inbox-previewtext-example

If you don’t set your preview text, email clients will pull in the first part of your message by default. This can include unhelpful text like a "View in browser" link or HTML code, which may not help convince people to open your email.

Best practices for preview text

Here are some best practices to help you write your preview text.

• Keep it short
  Most email clients limit the amount of preview text shown.
• Start with the most important details
  If you’re offering discounts or breaking news, make sure to include it at the beginning.
• Support the subject
  If you can’t fit all the important information in the subject line, now is your time to expand on it.

Add preview text

To manually add custom preview text to a regular email, click the Subject section of the email checklist. Then, enter your Subject and Preview Text in the corresponding fields and click Save.

For step-by-step instructions on how to edit preview text, check out Edit Your Email's Subject Line, Preview Text, From Name, or From Email Address.