Deliverability
Gmail message size clipping checker
Compare a message’s HTML, or a byte count you already have, against the ~102 KB estimate Mailchimp and Litmus each measured for Gmail clipping - never presented as Google’s own rule.
Free, no accountIn your browser
The full HTML source of the message. Measured in your browser; nothing here is sent anywhere.
Result
Paste the message HTML or enter a byte count to check it
Nothing to measure yet. The comparison is against an ESP-measured estimate, not a Google rule - see below once there is something to check.
What this is
This Gmail message size clipping checker compares a message’s HTML, or a byte count already in hand, against ~102 KB - the point Mailchimp (mailchimp.com/help/gmail-is-clipping-my-email/) and Litmus (litmus.com/blog/how-to-keep-gmail-from-clipping-your-emails) have each independently measured Gmail clipping a message around. Google does not publish this number at all, and every result below says so, not just once in an FAQ.
Gmail is widely reported to cut off, or "clip," a message once its HTML passes a certain size, replacing everything past that point with a "View entire message" link - which can take an unsubscribe link, a footer, or tracking code with it if any of them sit near the end of the document.
Nowhere does Google publish the size that triggers it. What exists instead is two ESPs’ own measurements, each landing on roughly the same figure independently, which is the only reason ~102 KB is usable at all - and exactly why it has to be labelled an estimate rather than a rule.
How to read the result
Paste the message’s HTML and the byte count is measured in your browser, the same way any text becomes bytes once encoded - nothing here is uploaded anywhere. If a byte count is already known from an ESP’s own reporting, it can be entered directly instead.
The headroom or overage shown is always against the ~102 KB estimate, never against a documented limit, because there is no documented limit to measure against. A message under the estimate has margin, not a guarantee; a message over it is more likely to be clipped, not certain to be.
Common mistakes
What goes wrong most often, and how to tell.
- Calling ~102 KB "Gmail’s size limit"Google has never published a message-size figure for clipping. ~102 KB is an estimate two ESPs - Mailchimp and Litmus - each measured independently, which makes it a useful number to aim under, not a documented platform rule to cite as if it were.
- Putting an unsubscribe link at the very bottom of a large messageEverything past the clipping point is hidden behind a "View entire message" click a reader may never make. An unsubscribe link, a required footer, or compliance text placed after a lot of HTML is the one place clipping actually causes a real problem, not just a cosmetic one.
- Assuming a remotely hosted image counts toward the sizeThis checker measures the bytes of the HTML itself. A remotely hosted image adds nothing to that count even though the reader’s client still has to load it - it is an inline, base64-encoded image, with its data sitting inside the HTML, that actually adds to the figure checked here.
Questions
What people ask about this tool.
- There is no official figure - Google does not publish one. Mailchimp and Litmus have each independently measured clipping happening around ~102 KB of HTML, which is the estimate this checker compares a message against, clearly labelled as an estimate rather than a confirmed threshold.
- No. It is an estimate from two email service providers’ own measurements (Mailchimp and Litmus), not a number Google has published anywhere. Treat it as a useful line to stay under, not a documented rule.
- Because this tool measures the bytes of the HTML document itself, and a remotely hosted image is only a URL inside that HTML - the image’s own bytes live on whatever server hosts it, not in the message. An inline, base64-encoded image is different: its data is written directly into the HTML, so it does add to the count.
- Everything past the point Gmail cuts at, replaced with a "View entire message" link - which can include a footer, an unsubscribe link or tracking code if any of them sit near the end of the document, making placement as important as total size.
Sources
Every fixed value here comes from the provider’s own documentation. These pages change, so each says the day it was last read.
- Mailchimp, “Gmail is Clipping My Email: What to Do” read 11 October 2026
- Litmus, “How to Keep Gmail From Clipping Your Emails” read 11 October 2026
Use it from the API
The same check, as one request.