Create a new email in Litmus

You can create an email by sending to a personal Litmus email address, choosing a draft from a connected ESP, importing or pasting HTML, coding from scratch, or using a template in Builder. For most accurate results, we recommend sending your email to Litmus from your ESP.

Send in your email

Your account has a personalized Litmus email address for your Litmus inbox. You can customize your Litmus address in your Account settings.

You can also use a folder address to send from your ESP so your email is routed directly to that folder. Navigate to any folder in the sidebar on your Emails tab, select Send your email to this folder, and you'll have that specific folder's custom address. Your custom email address gets appended with an identifier for each folder so you'll know exactly where your draft lands!

You can view all emails in the inbox, emails in a specific folder selected in the left side list, or your own emails by using the My emails quick filter on the right above the main inbox pane.

You can quickly copy your test address from the Test your email dropdown on the Home or Emails tab. Sending to this address will add your email to the Unsorted emails folder. Any time you send a test to this address, a new email will be created in your account.

Use ESP Sync to choose a draft or import from cloud storage

Select Test your email on the Home or Emails tab and choose the Choose from email service provider (ESP) option. If you’ve connected ESPs with Litmus, choose one and we’ll display a list of your most recent draft emails. Select your draft and we’ll automatically trigger a test send from your ESP into Litmus. You won't have to switch tools or log in to your ESP.

You can also import from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. These options are at the bottom of the Test your email dropdown.

Import or paste your HTML

If you'd like to edit your HTML, select Create from HTML on the Create new dropdown in the Home or Emails tab.

To paste your HTML, in Build select the Blank email template. In Test and Collaborate, select the View more ways to create an email link to find the Paste HTML option.

If you'd like to run a Previews and QA check on your HTML, select Paste HTML from the Test your email dropdown. This also allows you to name your email, set a subject line, and paste your HTML in a text field.

You can create a placeholder in Litmus for any email even before you have the HTML. Select Create from HTML, choose any option and then close the modal. You'll find the Summary populated with your email's title, ready for your HTML when you are!

Code from scratch

Select Create from HTML on the Create new dropdown in the Emails or Home tab. Select the Blank email option. Your project is ready for you to start coding.

Start with a template

Select Create from HTML or Create from template on the Create new dropdown in the Emails or Home tab. Select any template in your library. Your project opens in our Visual editor. You can edit in that view or switch to Code editor view if you'd prefer.

Duplicate an existing email

You can also start a new email by duplicating an existing email. There are two places where you can duplicate an email using a breadcrumb menu:

Duplicating an email will create the email copy in the same folder as the original email. You can move it to any desired folder. By default, Litmus will name the duplicate Copy of [Original email]. Use the same breadcrumb menu to find the Rename option.

When you duplicate an email, it will only create the email in Builder and no email previews will generate. Use the Update Previews or Update Proof & Previews tabs button to create the email and previews in Previews & QA and Proof tabs.

Proof your email

Litmus Proof simplifies and streamlines the review and approval process. It enables teams to share, give clear feedback, gain visibility and version control, and collaborate directly on an email in a single location, reducing review cycles and production time. Comments and approvals are automatically documented in your Litmus Proof timeline, too!

Best practices for best accuracy

We highly recommend sending in your email directly from your email service provider (ESP) to start an email in Litmus. Many times, ESPs can change or alter your HTML template before your final send. Since Litmus does not alter your HTML code, you may see a difference between an HTML-uploaded copy versus what you see on your ESP’s sent copy. If you use the Update Proof & Previews tabs from Builder, that is also not as accurate as sending the email directly from your ESP. 

We recommend that you make edits to your email where you build. If you build your emails in your ESP, it is best to make all edits there and send the new version of the email into Litmus using your unique Litmus address.

If you send in your email directly from your ESP, you will see exactly what your subscribers see when they receive your campaign. You can easily send an email test by using your Litmus email addresses in your ESP's test or preview email send option before sending your campaign to your subscribers.

Sending from your ESP is also best when using our Spam Testing tools, as this will provide the most accurate reputation scoring for your email. When you send from your ESP, you'll automatically get 7 essential spam checks that are not possible to provide with HTML upload emails. The spam checks help you make sure your authentication records are set up properly, including DMARC, DKIM, and more, in addition to making sure you're not on any blocklists. You can find these results in the Spam testing section at the end of your Previews & QA checklist. Read more about starting a spam test using ESP connection.