Email Not Displaying Correctly in Gmail: Fix CSS Grid Broken Columns for Mailchimp for Client Rendering Engine Anomalies
Email client rendering variations are caused by differences in parser engines. Legacy Outlook engines ignore modern block models, forcing layouts to stack vertically. Below is the targeted integration guide to fix CSS Grid Broken Columns inside Gmail Web (Desktop) templates when using Mailchimp.
Technical Breakdown
CSS Grid is unsupported in Gmail Webmail, causing columns to stack vertically on desktop screens.
Mailchimp Behaviors
Mailchimp's classic template compiler injects custom inline attributes (like 'mc:edit') and automatic CSS reset sheets before delivery. If your fallback code includes head styling wrappers, Mailchimp's post-processing parser will strip media query priorities, breaking display rules in clients like iOS Mail and Gmail. The fallback table structures must have absolute styles inlined directly. Test layout code regressions side-by-side using the Campaign Diff Comparator before pushing visual style changes to your production templates.
Remediation Code Block
Always compile grid layouts using standard percentage-width or pixel-width nested tables aligned with the align='left' attribute. This acts as a responsive grid block that floats and adapts naturally to any viewport size. In your Mailchimp campaign manager, make sure you configure your links to run via *|UNSUB|*.
<table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<td width="48%" align="left" valign="top">Col 1</td>
<td width="4%"></td>
<td width="48%" align="left" valign="top">Col 2</td>
</tr>
</table>Live Code Sandbox Test
How to Deploy inside Mailchimp
Copy the fixed VML or table wrapper code block from the remediation box above.
Locate your campaign block inside Mailchimp. Drag a 'Code' block into your canvas workspace. Toggle the editor view to Source, paste the optimized code, and click Save.