Outlook Email Broken Layout Fix: Resolve Max-Width Constraint Collapsing for Transactional & System Notifications
Transactional emails (receipts, password resets, shipping alerts) carry critical operational data. Spacing collapses or broken buttons can block users from completing essential user journeys. Below is the targeted integration guide to fix Max-Width Constraint Collapsing inside Outlook 2013 templates when using Brevo (Sendinblue).
Technical Breakdown
Outlook 2013 uses the Microsoft Word (MSO) which lacks support for standard rendering rules. This causes Max-Width Constraint Collapsing elements to break or collapse when rendering templates.
Brevo (Sendinblue) Behaviors
Brevo's rendering system injects inline spacing helpers to support their responsive editor, which can cause column overlaps in Outlook. Using explicit table alignments is required. Because system notifications are triggered frequently, ensure your CSS rules are completely inlined to guarantee readability in high-volume, automated delivery queues.
Remediation Code Block
To secure design widths, always wrap your layout inside a parent table with a static, hardcoded HTML width attribute (e.g. width='600') targeting Microsoft clients using conditional comments. In your Brevo (Sendinblue) campaign manager, make sure you configure your links to run via {{ unsubscribe }}.
<!--[if mso]>
<table role="presentation" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600">
<tr>
<td>
<![endif]-->
<div style="max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto;">
Centered Layout Content
</div>
<!--[if mso]>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<![endif]-->Live Code Sandbox Test
How to Deploy inside Brevo (Sendinblue)
Copy the fixed VML or table wrapper code block from the remediation box above.
Open Brevo's template canvas, select the element you wish to configure, click 'Edit HTML' or insert a standalone 'HTML' content block, and paste the code.