Question 1

What is email preheader text?

Accepted Answer

Preheader text (also called preview text or snippet) is the short line of copy that inbox providers display next to or below your subject line. Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and Yahoo pull it from the first text in your email body. A strong preheader lifts open rates significantly.

Question 2

How long should an email preheader be?

Accepted Answer

Aim for 40-85 characters. Gmail shows roughly 100-140 characters of combined subject + preheader, Outlook about 100, and Apple Mail around 350 on mobile. Always test the cutoff and pad with zero-width spaces so your body copy doesn't leak into the preview.

Question 3

How do I hide preheader text in the email body?

Accepted Answer

Wrap your preheader in a hidden div at the very top of the email HTML using display:none, max-height:0 or font-size:0, then pad with zero-width spaces so any following body text doesn't appear in the inbox preview. This tool generates the exact HTML snippet to paste into your template.