Format your message

The message box in Mail is more than plain text. You can make words bold or italic, build bulleted and numbered lists, quote something, and turn text into a link, all while you write. This page shows how.

The formatting tools live in a small toolbar that appears when you select some text, so you don't have to hunt for a menu. Everything here works the same whether you're starting a new message, replying, or forwarding.

Show the formatting toolbar

1. Open a message you're writing, or start a new one with Compose at the top of the sidebar.
2. In the message box, select the text you want to change. Drag across it, or double-click a word.
3. A small toolbar appears directly above your selection.

The toolbar floats over the text you picked, so it stays out of the way until you need it. Make a new selection and it follows. Click elsewhere and it disappears.

Make text bold or italic

1. Select the text.
2. Click Bold to make it bold, or Italic to make it italic.

Each button is a toggle: click it again on the same text to turn the style back off. The button looks highlighted while the style is on, so you can tell at a glance what the selected text already has.

If you'd rather use the keyboard, press Cmd+B (Ctrl+B on Windows) for bold and Cmd+I (Ctrl+I on Windows) for italic.

Add a list

1. Select the line you want to start the list from, or several lines to turn into a list.
2. Click Bullet list for a bulleted list, or Numbered list for a numbered one.
3. Press Enter to add the next item. Press Enter on an empty item to finish the list.

Click the same button again to turn the list back into normal lines.

Quote some text

Use a quote to set a block of text apart, for example when you want to highlight something you're responding to.

1. Select the lines you want to quote.
2. Click Quote in the toolbar.

The quoted text is indented with a line down its side. Click Quote again to remove it.

Turn text into a link

1. Select the words you want to link.
2. Click Link in the toolbar.
3. Type or paste the web address in the box that appears, then press Enter.

Your selected words become a link to that address. You don't have to type the https:// part: if you leave it off, Mail adds it for you. Links open in a new tab when the reader clicks them.

Mail also spots web addresses as you type them. If you write out a full address in your message, it becomes a link on its own, without using the toolbar.

To remove a link, select the linked text, then click Link in the toolbar.

What you can't change

The message box keeps formatting simple on purpose, so your email reads the same wherever it lands. There are no headings, font choices, colours, or text sizes. You have bold, italic, lists, quotes, and links, and that's the set.

To add a fixed block of text to the bottom of every message, such as your name and contact details, set up a signature instead. See Create an email signature.

When the message looks right, send it the usual way. See Compose and send an email.