Attachment Issues

How to Send a Word Document as the Body of an Outlook Email on Mac

Nimra Malik Oct 8, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to send a Word document directly as the body of an Outlook email on a Mac, ensuring that the original formatting and clickable hyperlinks are preserved.

How to Send a Word Document as the Body of an Outlook Email on Mac

Product: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook
Device & OS: macOS
Scenario: Pasting a formatted Word document into an Outlook email body instead of sending it as a file attachment.
Observed behavior: Using the Share feature only attaches the file, while manually copying and pasting loses the original formatting and corrupts the document layout.

Before you start

Ensure both macOS and Microsoft Office (Word and Outlook) are updated to their latest versions, as certain earlier macOS releases have known clipboard and formatting conversion issues.

Solution 1Recommended

Use a Table to Preserve Document Layout

Since emails use HTML (which fluidly adjusts to window size) instead of fixed page layouts, wrapping your content in a table forces the formatting to stay intact.

Email clients like Outlook render messages in HTML. HTML does not have fixed left and right margins like a Word document. To prevent text from flowing differently depending on the recipient's screen size, you can use a table as a rigid container.

Insert a table in Word

Open your document in Microsoft Word. Go to the Insert tab and click Table. Select a 1x1 (one-cell) table, or multiple cells if you need controlled alignment for different elements.

Move content into the table

Select your document's text, hyperlinks, and images, then drag or paste them directly into the table you just created.

Hide table borders (Optional)

If you don't want the table lines to be visible in the email, select the table, go to the Table Design tab, click Borders, and choose No Border.

Copy and paste into Outlook

Select the entire table, press Cmd + C to copy, open a New Message in Outlook, click into the email body, and press Cmd + V to paste.

Complex Layout Limitations: Highly complex Word layouts with overlapping images or unique text wrapping may still not convert reliably to HTML email format. Keep the layout as simple as possible.

Solution 2

Verify Web Layout and Update Software

Check how your document behaves in HTML mode natively within Word and ensure software bugs aren't causing the formatting drop.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Try WPS Office for Seamless Document Formatting

If you frequently struggle with formatting loss and layout corruption between different Office apps, consider WPS Office. It provides a lightweight, highly compatible suite that maintains precise layout controls.

1. Download and Install: Visit the official WPS website, download the Mac version, and install it on your device.
2. Open your Document: Launch WPS Writer and open your existing Word document. The software will automatically maintain your original layout.
3. Edit and Share: Make your edits with advanced formatting tools and use the built-in share features to easily distribute your work.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Word (.docx) formats.Preserves complex document layouts and formatting natively.Lightweight, fast, and completely free alternative for Mac users.Familiar user interface requires no learning curve.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Word document lose formatting when pasted into an Outlook email?

Outlook uses HTML for email bodies, which fluidly wraps text based on the recipient's window width. Word uses a fixed page layout with strict margins. Copying between these entirely different layout engines often results in shifted text and lost margins.

Can I send a Word document as an email body without losing hyperlinks on Mac?

Yes, hyperlinks usually transfer seamlessly via standard copy and paste. If the links break or formatting drops, wrapping your text and hyperlinks inside a table in Word before copying can help preserve the structure.

Why is the 'Keep Source Formatting' option missing when I right-click in Outlook for Mac?

This can happen due to clipboard glitches in specific macOS or Office versions, such as early releases of macOS Sonoma. Updating your Mac operating system and your Microsoft Outlook application to the newest versions usually resolves this missing option.

Outlook & Email Problems