by Devon Pettis
on January 16, 2026

You’ll only need to define the width, Outlook will resize the height accordingly to maintain the proper image proportions. This may have a more drastic effect on how your email renders, so if you’re going to try this out it’s important to thoroughly test your email on all versions of Outlook. While many email developers may be salivating at the thought of a new and consistent version of Outlook, that version has only been released in Beta thus far. Further to that, it will take some time for companies to implement the new version. We expect the rollout to be a long and slow process so for now we’ll have to continue fighting the good fight against the older versions of Outlook. If you’ve spent any time in the email world you’re probably aware of Outlook’s reputation.
Step 12 - Create a Windows user profile (advanced users)
We love reading your suggestions on new features and feedback about how you use our products!Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.If you just need a very quick fix and your design allows for it, you can match the background color on your problem section to the containing section/table.If the network is performing slowly, Outlook must wait for read and write operations to the AppData directory to finish.If you’re encountering issues like this with your layout on Outlook worry not!If that isn’t possible you can always employ this technique to show a GIF in most email clients, but hide it and show a static fallback image in Outlook.
If the problem doesn't occur after you restart Outlook, one of the add-ins is likely the cause of the problem. Restore the add-ins one at a time until the problem does occur to determine which add-in is causing the problem. Open Outlook in Safe Mode (hold Ctrl while launching) and disable unnecessary add-ins. Make sure Outlook is updated to the latest version to benefit from bug fixes and performance improvements. Ensure all IMAP/POP3 and SMTP settings are up to date as per your provider’s documentation. Ensure that your device has a stable and active internet connection.
Unable to Open Outlook Email Attachments
What is the most common Outlook error?
This verification is done by connecting to the RPC server and investigating the certificate’s validity. Other than this, users can consider disabling third-party add-ins that could have been causing conflicts. To manage your mailbox by reducing the size of the Outlook data file, see Reduce the size of Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost). Clear the cache or recreate the Outlook profile if performance is degraded or errors persist. We are aware that some users may not be able to receive email from Gmail accounts.
General Troubleshooting Steps

VML will allow you to get those beautiful background images working on Outlook but will add a layer of complexity to your email coding process. These common errors aside, if you are facing email deliverability errors in outlook, we can help! By implementing PowerDMARC’s domain security solutions, users can effectively reduce the risks related to email-related errors. Additionally, utilize the inbuilt scanPST.exe repair tool to repair the corrupt files attached to the email.
Additional resources
While these Microsoft accounts work in other Microsoft products (e.g. OneDrive, Windows, Xbox), they are non-functional when visiting Outlook.com. Outlook.com (the web version of Outlook) and Outlook apps require a 1st party alias (Outlook/Hotmail/Live/MSN) to send and receive email, use calendar, etc. MSO conditional statements are a fantastic tool allowing us to target Outlook desktop versions specifically, even allowing us to target specific versions. This allows us to create workarounds for Outlook that would otherwise have us pulling
Microsoft 365 password reset help our hair out. If you want your background images to work on Outlook 2016 and other older desktop versions you’ll need to dive into the world of Vector Markup Language (VML).