If your campaign doesn't have a preheader, email clients fill the preview with the first text they find in your email instead. This could be a view in browser link, navigation text, or an image URL.

Create a preheader

There are three ways to add a preheader to an email campaign. Choose the one that matches how much control you need.

Preheader text field

This is the quickest option and works well for most campaigns.

Enter your preheader in the Preheader text field on the Campaign details page, in Step 1 of campaign creation: Create. The field takes plain text, and you can add contact data fields and emojis using the buttons next to it. The preheader doesn't appear in the body of your email.

Invisible preheader in the campaign code

Use this when you want more control over your inbox preview text. For example, when:

your templates include hidden preheader code, so every campaign built from them already has a preheader
you want to test different preheaders in a split test
you create campaigns using the API, which has no parameter for the Preheader text field

Learn more in the Invisible preheaders added to campaign source code section.

Visible preheader in a text block

Add a text block at the very top of your campaign and enter your preheader text. The text appears in the inbox preview and at the top of your email. Use this option if you want to include Liquid markup or dynamic content in your preheader.

Learn more in Campaign setup.

If your campaign already has a preheader

If you enter text in the Preheader text field and your campaign already contains a preheader:

Invisible preheader: the Preheader text field overrides it. To use the preheader in your template or code, leave the field empty.
Visible preheader text block: both appear in the inbox preview, one after the other. Remove the text block from your design to prevent duplication.

Invisible preheaders added to campaign source code

Add an invisible preheader to your campaign code when you want your template or campaign to set the inbox preview text, rather than the Preheader text field. Make sure the Preheader text field is empty, because any text in it overrides this preheader.

To add an invisible preheader:

In EasyEditor, drag a text block onto your campaign. Make sure the text block is at the top of the campaign before any other content.
In the text field, highlight Type text here, then select the HTML icon.
You're then taken to the Edit HTML side panel. Here you need to highlight and delete <p>Type text here</p>. In the deleted text's place, copy and paste the code provided below.

Near the end of the code, you will see This is preheader text. where you must input what you want your preheader to be:

<span style="display:none !important; mso-hide:all; font-size:3px; color:#ffffff; line-height:1px; max-height:0px; max-width:0px; opacity:0; overflow:hidden;"> This is preheader text. </span>

Select Save.

At this stage, we recommend that you test your campaign just to make sure the preheader is appearing as it should. If the code has been integrated properly, you'll see the preheader, but it won't be visible within the campaign.

Use different preheaders in a split test

The Preheader text field applies to every version in a split test. To test different preheaders, set up a split test on your campaign content, then add an invisible preheader to the top of each version using the steps above. Leave the Preheader text field empty, so it doesn't override them.

Learn more in Split test an email campaign.

Check your preheader

Send a test of your campaign to see how the preheader appears in an inbox. Test sends show the preheader more reliably than the campaign preview.

Your preheader should appear after the subject line in the inbox preview. If you used the Preheader text field or an invisible preheader, it shouldn't appear anywhere in the body of the email.

If you can't see the preheader in a test sent to a work email address, your organisation's email security may be adding a banner to the top of the email, which pushes the preheader out of the preview. Try sending the test to a personal email address.

Learn more in Test your campaign.

Troubleshoot invisible preheaders

Some mobile email apps ignore the invisible preheader code above. If your preheader doesn't display correctly on mobile, try one of the options below. These apply to invisible preheaders you add yourself, not to the Preheader text field.

To add any of these options, go to Utilities > Edit Source.

Option 1: Paste the code below straight after the opening <body> tag of the campaign:

<body style="margin: 0; padding: 0;"> <div style="display: none; font-size: 0px; line-height: 0px; max-height: 0px; max-width: 0px; width: 0px; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden;"> This preheader will display in the inbox before any other elements in the email and will be invisible when viewing the actual email. </div>

Option 2: Create a style and then paste the div code inside the body of the campaign. To start, add the style below just before the closing </head> tag of the campaign:
```
<style> .divPreheader {display: none !important; mso-hide:all; visibility:hidden; mso-hide:all; font-size:1px; color:#ffffff; line-height:1px; max-height:0px; max-width:0px; opacity:0; overflow:hidden; } </style>
```
Then add the below div class after the opening <body> tag.

In the following snippet, replace the [insert HTML characters here] with the following characters:
 ͏⠀&zwnj; ͏⠀&zwnj; ͏⠀&zwnj; ͏⠀&zwnj;

Repeat these characters as many times as needed to create enough space after your preheader text.
```
<div class="divPreheader" style="display: none !important; mso-hide:all; visibility:hidden;"> This preheader will display in the inbox before any other elements in the email and will be invisible when viewing the actual email.[insert HTML characters here]</div>
```
Option 3: In the campaign source code, find the table for the text block that holds your preheader. Add both ee-hide-on-desktop and ee-show-on-desktop to its class attribute. The code in the Troubleshooting for Outlook section shows an example of a text block with both classes. This option has a downside: if the campaign is forwarded, or opened in an app that doesn't support our hide on desktop or mobile code, the preheader may show. It should work in most cases.

Troubleshooting for Outlook

This applies to preheaders you add yourself in a text block, not to the Preheader text field.

If you're sending your campaign to many Outlook users, it's worth adding a few non-breaking spaces to the text box to ensure it doesn't start pulling through the next line of text, such as a view in browser link. An example of the code can be found below.

In the following snippet, replace the [insert HTML characters here] with the following characters:
 ͏⠀&zwnj; ͏⠀&zwnj; ͏⠀&zwnj; ͏⠀&zwnj;

Repeat these characters as many times as needed to create enough space after your preheader text.

<div class="ee_dropzone"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="col-font-reset ee_element ee_textelement ee-hide-on-desktop ee-show-on-desktop" width="100%" ee-type="element" data-title="Text" style="table-layout: auto;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" align="left" class="element-pad element-bord root-element-pad"><div class="ee_editable"><p style="line-height: 18px; text-align: left; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(179, 179, 179);">Editable hidden inbox preview text</p></div><div style="display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">[insert HTML characters here]</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

Preheaders in plain text versions and reports

Your preheader is automatically added as the first line of the plain text version of your campaign. You can't remove it from the plain text version.
Campaign reports don't show the preheader text of a sent campaign.

Email campaign preheaders