If Images are not showing up in Email Messages, the most likely reason is due to message content or sender of Email message being flagged as spam or dangerous by built-in “Spam Filtering” and “Suspicious Content Detection systems” as available in popular Email clients like Gmail & Outlook.
In addition to this, both Gmail & Outlook provide the option to prevent display of external Images in Email Messages, in order to prevent the possibility of Images being used to track your location, collect information about your computer and read browser cookies.
Another common reason for Images not appearing or loading in Email messages is due the link to the images being broken, expiring or the images being moved to another location.
Note: Display of Images in Email Messages can also be blocked by Corporate firewalls, Antivirus software and the browser settings on your computer.
Images Not Showing in Email Messages
If you are like most users, it is likely that you are not bothered by Images being blocked by Spam Filtering and Suspicious Content Detection systems of the Email clients and you are actually looking for a solution to the issue of Images being blocked in email messages from genuine senders.
Luckily, this problem in most cases can be easily fixed by enabling the option to “Display external images” or by disabling “Block pictures” or “Don’t download pictures” option.
Note: Microsoft Outlook provides the option to add Contacts and domains to Safe Senders List, which is a better and more secure way to show Images in Email Messages.
1. Enable Display of Images in Gmail
If Images are not showing in Gmail, you should be able to fix the problem by selecting “Always Show External Images” option in your Gmail Account.
1. Login to your Gmail Account on a Windows computer or Mac.
2. Once you are logged-in, select the Gear icon located at top-right corner and click on See All Settings in the drop-down menu.
3. On the Settings screen, switch to General tab > scroll down to “Images” section and enable Always display external images option.
4. Make sure that you scroll down to bottom of the page and click on the Save button, in order to save this setting for images in your Gmail Account.
2. Enable Display of Images in Outlook Mail
If Images are not showing in Outlook Mail, you should be able to fix the problem by unchecking the option to block attachments, pictures, and links from anyone that is not included in your Safe senders and domains list.
1. Login to your Outlook Mail Account on a Windows computer or Mac.
2. Once you are logged-in, click on the Gear Icon (top-right corner).
3. On the Settings menu, click on Mail > Junk Email. In the right-pane, make sure Block attachments, pictures, and links from anyone not in my Safe senders and domains is disabled.
4. Click on Save to preserve this setting in your Email Account.
3. Enable Display of Images In Outlook Desktop
If your using the Outlook Desktop app, you should be able to fix the problem by unchecking “Don’t download pictures automatically” option.
1. Open Microsoft Outlook Desktop on your computer.
2. Go to Info > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.
3. On the next screen, select Automatic Downloads in the left-pane and uncheck “Don’t download pictures automatically in HTML e-mail messages or RSS items” option.
3. Make sure that you click on OK to save this setting in your Microsoft Outlook Account.
Note: If you are using any Plugins or Add-ins, go to File > Options > Add-ins > Manage; Com Add-Ins and uncheck all the add-ins.
After disabling the Add-ins, Restart Outlook and see if the images are appearing. If they are appearing, you can enable the Add-ins one-by-one to see which one is causing the problem.
4. Enable Display of Images in Apple Mail App
Apple Mail supports all popular email clients like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and others. Irrespective of the Email client, Apple Mail can be set to automatically download and display images.
1. Open the Mail App on your MacBook.
2. Once you are logged-in, click on the Mail tab in the top-menu bar and select Preferences in the drop-down menu.
3. On the Preferences screen, go to the Viewing tab and make sure Load remote content in messages option is enabled.
5. Enable Display of Images in Emails on iPhone
If images are not showing up in the Mail App on your iPhone, make sure that “Block All Remote Content” option is enabled in the Mail section of iPhone Settings.
1. Go to Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection.
2. On the next screen, disable Block All Remote Content option.
In certain cases, iPhone may not automatically download images due to restrictions on the size of the downloaded content. In such cases, you can display images by scrolling down to bottom of the message and tapping on Download Full Message button.