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USE CASE Target

Outlook Email Broken Layout Fix: Resolve CSS Grid Broken Columns for Editorial & Content Newsletters

Editorial newsletters rely on content layout readability and structural text spacing. If fonts default to Times New Roman or layout borders break, subscriber engagement metrics suffer. Below is the targeted integration guide to fix CSS Grid Broken Columns inside Outlook 2021 templates when using Mailchimp.

Technical Breakdown

Outlook 2021 uses the Microsoft Word (MSO) which lacks support for standard rendering rules. This causes CSS Grid Broken Columns elements to break or collapse when rendering templates.

Mailchimp Behaviors

Mailchimp's classic template compiler injects custom inline attributes (like 'mc:edit') and automatic CSS reset sheets before delivery. If your fallback code includes head styling wrappers, Mailchimp's post-processing parser will strip media query priorities, breaking display rules in clients like iOS Mail and Gmail. The fallback table structures must have absolute styles inlined directly. Keep your editorial body clean. Strip redundant CSS class definitions using Vaporize to ensure the newsletter stays under Gmail's 102KB clipping ceiling.

Remediation Code Block

Always compile grid layouts using standard percentage-width or pixel-width nested tables aligned with the align='left' attribute. This acts as a responsive grid block that floats and adapts naturally to any viewport size. In your Mailchimp campaign manager, make sure you configure your links to run via *|UNSUB|*.

<table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
  <tr>
    <td width="48%" align="left" valign="top" style="padding-bottom:10px;">Col 1</td>
    <td width="4%"></td>
    <td width="48%" align="left" valign="top" style="padding-bottom:10px;">Col 2</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Live Code Sandbox Test

Interactive Mailchimp Custom Sandbox

Target Environment: Outlook 2021

How to Deploy inside Mailchimp

1

Copy the fixed VML or table wrapper code block from the remediation box above.

2

Locate your campaign block inside Mailchimp. Drag a 'Code' block into your canvas workspace. Toggle the editor view to Source, paste the optimized code, and click Save.

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