Content

• Steps
• Warnings

Email, in general, includes only plain (ASCII) text, while Word documents can contain a lot of formatted text. There is no way to completely preserve the formatting of a Word document when you copy it into the body of an email. However, there are several options, depending on your goals.

Steps

1. 1 Attach your Word document to your email as an attachment, not in the body of the email. However, some people who receive the email may not have a Word editor and thus may not be able to read the document easily. In addition, due to differences between users' computers, some documents may differ slightly.
2. 2 Save the document in Rich Text Format (RTF) in Word, and then attach the document to your email. WordPad, a piece of software that comes free with Windows, and almost all text editors can read RTF files. RTF files retain most (but not all) of the formatting in Word documents.
3. 3 If you own the full version of Adobe Acrobat, or know another way to create a PDF file, you can export the Word document as a PDF file and then attach it instead. Adobe Acrobat Reader software is free and most users already have it installed on their computers. The PDF file will look the same as a Word file, but it cannot be easily edited.You can also use a free product called PDF Creator (at http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/) to create PDFs.
4. 4 Many email clients allow you to add some formatting to your email. This feature, variously referred to as "rich text" or "html mail", is available in different ways depending on your email client. It actually sends email in HTML format (like a web page), which is slightly more restrictive than the RTF format described above. It is often more convenient to have text in the body of an email message rather than as an attachment. But not all people receiving email can receive HTML mail.
5. 5 Paste your Word document directly into your mail as text, but take some precautions first. Use as little formatting as possible. Change "smart quotes".

Warnings

• Do not attach documents as Word documents unless absolutely necessary. Usually only very long documents need to be attached. Everything else can be specified in plain text in the body of the message. If you really want the recipient to see the document exactly as it appears on the screen, then learn how to create a PDF file. If he needs to make extensive changes, then attach a Word document or RTF file.