Import an HTML email
Paste your ready-made HTML email or upload it as a file. MailGraf checks the code and adds the required footer when the email is sent.
If you built your email in another tool or coded it yourself, you can bring the HTML into your campaign. MailGraf checks the code, saves it as an HTML email and adds the required footer when the email is sent. For Canva designs, follow Import an email from Canva.
Import the email
Choose Import HTML on the Design step
If the campaign already has a design, MailGraf asks whether you want to replace it first.Read the Before you start notes
The first time, three short notes appear: the unsubscribe, update profile and view in browser links are added automatically at the bottom when the email is sent, and images must be reachable on the internet. Tick I have read and understood this information and click Continue.Upload or paste the code
On Upload file, drop an .html, .htm or .zip file; a ZIP can be up to 20 MB. On Paste code, paste the whole code and click Check the code.Read the checks
The email preview appears on the left and the checks on the right. If everything is fine, you see No issues found in these checks.Click Use this email
MailGraf saves the email and opens it in the code editor.
What the checks tell you
The checks fall into three groups:
- This email cannot be saved yet: you can't go on until these are fixed. Remove any script, password field or form that sends data to another site.
- Mandatory footer: a note reminds you that the legal footer is added when the email is sent. It holds the View in browser, Update my profile and Unsubscribe links, a Powered by MailGraf line and the logo, matched to your email's background colour. It is not written into your code; you see it in the preview. If your template has its own unsubscribe link, remove it; the footer already has one.
- Recommended checks: these don't stop sending. Examples are images without a description, a design wider than 700 px, or an email over 100 KB that Gmail may clip.
If the code contains tags from another tool, such as Mailchimp's *|FNAME|*, Convert tags for MailGraf turns them into MailGraf tags such as {{first_name}}.
If images are embedded in the code or point to files inside the ZIP, Upload images puts them in the HTML import folder of your Media library. Each image must be a PNG, JPG or GIF of up to 10 MB. Images that already have a web address stay as they are.
Edit the email later
An HTML email does not open in the drag and drop editor. Edit code on the Design step opens the code editor. Code, Split and Preview at the top show the code, the code next to a preview, or the preview alone.
The Insert field or link menu adds personalisation fields and system links such as unsubscribe where your cursor is. Insert image uploads an image. Format code splits single-line code into readable lines; the email looks the same. The Email checks list under the code shows what needs your attention.
Save before you test
In the code editor, Send a test email stays off while there are unsaved changes. Save first, then check the email in your own inbox; the test email carries the same footer as the real send.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit an HTML email in the drag and drop editor?
No. An imported email stays an HTML email. You edit it in the code editor that opens from Edit code on the Design step.
Why can't I click Use this email?
There is at least one issue under This email cannot be saved yet, for example a script in the code or a form that posts to another site. The button turns on once you fix the issue. Unsubscribe, Update my profile and View in browser links are not required in your code: MailGraf adds them at the bottom when the email is sent.
Will the tags from my old email tool work?
Convert tags for MailGraf turns Mailchimp, Klaviyo, MailerLite, Beefree, Stripo, Unlayer and Canva tags into MailGraf tags. Tags MailGraf does not recognise are listed separately in the checks.
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