When sending an e-mail though Apple Mail (also called mail.app), you can choose to send it in either Rich Text (which is the default) or in Plain Text format. Sending your messages as rich text formats the message in HTML format (hyptertext markup language) which allows your recipient to see formatting such as bold, italic, numbered lists, bulleted lists and more. The font settings you specify are sent along with your e-mail so conceivably, your recipent should see the same formatting on his or her end. Some older text only based mail programs might have difficulty displaying HTML formatting.

Sending a message as plain text removes all formatting from the message. In Apple’s Mail application, you can set either Rich Text or Plain Text as the default for all messages sent. If you know your recipient cannot receive HTML messages or need to send a message in plain text format for whatever reason, you can change the format on a message by message basis.

Quick Guide: Set the Default Format for E-mail Messages

1. Choose Mail > Preferences from the Apple Mail menu to display the Mail Preferences dialog box.
2. Click the Composing icon on top of the dialog box.
3. Click the Message Format drop-down list, and choose either Rich Text or Plain Text.
   
4. Click the close button on the window.

Quick Guide: Specify E-mail Format on a Case by Base Basis

1. Click the Compose New Message icon on the Mail’s toolbar or choose File > New Message from the menu or use the ⌘ + N keyboard shortcut.
2. Click Format > Make Plain Text from the menu (or Make Rich Text if the default format is set to Plain Text in System Preferences).
   Or
   Press the ⇧+ ⌘ + T keystroke combination to switch to Plain Text or Rich Text.

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