Guide to the email template editor

You will learn

Learn about Klaviyo’s drag-and-drop email template editor, including how to use template styles and configure each block type.

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About blocks and layouts

When you open the Klaviyo email template editor, the sidebar will display a selection of block and section options to choose from. Choose between basic blocks, which are blank slates used to build emails from scratch, and universal content, which is content you’ve built in other templates and saved for later use.

In the Basic section, you’ll find a selection of both blocks and layouts. Use blocks to add content, like text, images, or buttons. Use layouts (i.e., sections and columns) to group your blocks and configure them.

Blocks and sections can be cloned, deleted, or saved using the icons that appear when you hover over the block or section.

To move a block or section, click and drag it.

Template styles

Click Edit styles in the left sidebar to open the styling options for your entire template.

This is where you can set the look and feel of your email. If you've gone through the setup wizard, this area will already contain some of your brand styles.

Here, you can edit the following settings:

• Email
  • Template background
    Choose a background color for your template
  • Background image
    Optionally add a background image
  • Content background
    Set a background color for the content of your email; this color can be different than the template background, and only spans the width of your email’s content
  • Width
    The width of your email content (600px recommended)
  • Corner radius, margins, padding, and border
    Add spacing and borders to your template
• Text & Headings
  Set styles for normal text and 4 heading styles, then choose a text style from the dropdown menu in any text block to apply it
• Font
  Select a font, font spacing, size, weight, and color for the text style
• Letter spacing
  Spacing between each letter horizontally
• Line spacing
  Vertical spacing between lines of text
• Text alignment
  Choose left, center, or right-aligned
• Mobile
  Choose whether to enable mobile optimization (recommended) or display the same styles and content on both desktop and mobile
• Other
  • Currency
    Select a default currency for the template, if different than your account settings

How template styles interact with block and section styles

Your template style settings will be applied to your template first, before any block or section-specific settings are applied. If a block or section’s styles conflict with your template styles, the block and section styles will be used. For example, if you set a content background color in the Edit styles panel, then set a block-specific background color, the block's background color will be used for that block's area.

Sections and section styles

All content in the template editor is organized into sections. When you create a new template, it will contain 1 or more sections by default, and you can add or delete sections as needed.

To open a section’s settings, click the area to the right or left of that section’s content. Note that clicking a block will open the settings for that block, rather than the section containing it.

Each section has a Styles tab and a Display tab. Use the section’s styles to add background images, padding, and other styles to that section. Use the section’s display options to choose which device types and recipients should see the sections.

Learn more about sections.

The section style settings will be applied to your template after your template styles, but before any block-specific styles. If the template styles conflict with your section styles, section style will be used. If a block’s settings conflict with your section styles, the block’s style will be used.

Blocks and block styles

Within sections, add blocks to populate your email with content. Most content blocks have a Styles tab, where you can configure the appearance of the block, and a Display tab, where you can choose who should see the block and which device types it should display on. The specific styles settings available are different for each block type, but the same display options are available for all blocks.

Any style sections with color options include the color picker tool, which offers several ways to select a color:

• Use the gradient field to select a shade and hue.
• Copy and paste a HEX or RGB code.
• Select from your recently used colors or the colors already present in this template.
• If your browser supports the eyedropper tool, use it to choose a color from anywhere in the email canvas.

Learn about display options or read on to learn about block types and how to use them.

Text

Use a text block to add text to your emails. Choose a text style (Normal or Heading 1 - 4) to apply the style settings from your main template’s styles, or customize the text content with the text editor’s settings.

Klaviyo's email editor uses the UTF-8 encoding standard, which means it supports Latin characters, emojis, double byte characters, and more.

You can add dynamic content to your text block to personalize the message for each recipient. Learn more about message personalization.

<style type="text/css">
    p, h1, h2, h3, h4, ol, li, ul { direction: rtl; }
</style> 

Open the text block’s Styles tab to choose a background color for the block or text content area and add padding.

Image

Use an image block to insert an image into your email. You can add images from the following sources:

• Image library
  Add an image that you’ve uploaded in the past by searching your Image Library
• Upload image
  Upload a JPEG, PNG, or GIF from your device. You can also upload a non-animated WebP image and convert it to PNG when prompted.
• Import from URL
  Import an image using its image URL
• Dynamic image
  Display a custom image for each recipient using a dynamic image variable (e.g., by referencing an image URL stored in a recipient’s event data or as a profile property)

Once you select your image, adjust your image settings, including alt text (a description of the image), a link address so the image is clickable, image width, alignment, and other styles.

Split

Use a split block to display content in 2 columns of any width. Add an image or text content to each side of the split block. By default, your split block will use a 50/50 split; navigate to the Styles tab to adjust this ratio. Alternatively, you can use the Columns layout to split your content into 2 or more columns.

Button

Button blocks create large links that are more obvious than regular text links and great for emphasizing important calls-to-action (CTAs). Because they're used for CTAs, you'll likely want to use only a few in each email.

At a minimum, fill out the Text and Link address fields. Text is what the recipient will see in the button, and the URL is where the visitor will be taken when they click the button. Adjust the button’s appearance, shape, and size using the color, corner radius, and padding options. You can also adjust the block’s font and other styles below.

Header/link bar

Use the header/link bar block to add a logo and navigation links that redirect to different content on your site.

When you drag in the block, you’ll be presented with some common header/link bar layouts to pick from. You can select different layouts for desktop and mobile, to better accommodate each device’s size.

Add any links to the link bar that you’d like. You can set device display settings for each link, and we recommend showing only key links in mobile, since the device size is smaller.

Once you’ve added your links and logo, apply the finishing touches using the style options below. You can change the font, colors, and spacing for the block. Once it’s ready, preview in both desktop and mobile to see the final product.

Drop shadow

Use a drop shadow to add depth to your message or emphasize a certain area. Color options for the shadow include Light, Medium, and Dark, and you can set a background color and padding for the block.

Divider

Add a simple line between other content blocks. Choose between solid, dashed, or dotted lines. The color, size, and padding are fully customizable. Formerly called Horizontal Rule.

Social link

The social link block is an easy way to add social icons for your Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, X (Twitter), and more. Klaviyo offers the standard full-color icons for a variety of sites, as well as simplified black, white, or grey options.

If you would prefer to use fully custom social icons, use the custom option and upload your own image files. If you go this route, we recommend using images that are 96px square. To maintain spacing and alignment between Klaviyo's social icons and your custom images, use icons that are 50px wide, and both vertically and horizontally centered in the image file.

Drag the icon labels in the sidebar to reorder the icons. You can use the Add Spacer button for more granular control over the space between each icon.

Spacer

The spacer block adds a customizable amount of space between vertically stacked blocks. To customize the space between blocks that are side-by-side (e.g., in a column), use left/right padding.

Product

Use a product block to add recommended items from your store’s catalog. When you add a product block, you will have two options: Dynamic or Static.

A dynamic feed updates automatically, and is configured via a product feed. To learn more about setting up a product feed, read our article How to use product feeds and recommendations.

A static product block shows only the catalog items you hand-select in the template editor, and won’t be updated automatically or targeted towards individual recipients.

With either option, once you’ve selected either the feed or items, you can customize the block’s appearance. Product blocks can show images only, or include each item’s name and price. Scroll through all the options in the product block’s styles tab to fully customize the block.

Coupon

Use a coupon block to display a coupon code in your email:

1. Drag a coupon block into the canvas.
2. If your account has no coupons yet, click Create coupon in the block’s settings to create one, then return to this block in the editor.
3. Select a recent coupon, or click View all to search or filter the coupon list and click Select for the coupon you want.

The block displays each recipient’s assigned code from the selected coupon. If a recipient hasn’t already been assigned a code, Klaviyo assigns one as part of sending the message. This behaves the same as inserting a coupon using a template tag, but with built-in styling options.

You can add header text to provide context for the coupon and customize the block's appearance, including the coupon text style, background color, and border.

Table

Table blocks can help you structure images and text within an email template. Add columns or rows as needed. Columns are spaced automatically, or you can set each column’s Width in the Columns section of the Styles tab.

When a table block is first dragged into your template, it has 1 row with 2 columns. Use the Styles tab to add additional rows and columns, then navigate back to the Content tab to configure the table’s content.

Use the Cell selector section to open a specific cell’s contents. Use the Cell content section to choose between Text or Image content, then add your content. Note that if you switch back and forth between the text and image content types, you may lose content that was previously in that cell; use the undo button to revert your changes.

To edit the colors, fonts, borders, and layout of the table, open the Styles tab.

Table blocks are also used to display dynamic content, like the details for a list of items in the recipient’s cart. Learn more about dynamic table blocks.

HTML

Add custom code to your template using the HTML block. Use this block type when adding custom-coded elements, third-party features like countdown timers, or custom CSS. If you have trouble with custom code in your email, learn how to troubleshoot custom code in templates.

Review quote

If you use Klaviyo reviews, use a review quote block to feature customer reviews in your email.

The review quote block offers a selection of reviews to feature in your messages. If you aren’t yet able to select a review, it may be because:

• Your filters exclude the reviews you want. The review picker starts with 5-star reviews selected; adjust the rating and other filters to broaden the selection.
• There aren’t enough high-quality reviews in your account to select from. Check back at a later date for a selection of reviews.
• Your reviews haven’t yet been processed. If you’d like to feature a brand-new review, wait a few hours before trying again.
• The reviews in your account aren’t verified. To be verified, a review must be submitted through a personalized link in a Klaviyo review request flow or marked as verified in an uploaded CSV of reviews from another platform. Unverified reviews, including reviews submitted directly to your site, are not eligible for inclusion in a review quote block.

Columns

Use a Split block or a Columns layout to add columns to your email templates. A split block places text or image content in 2 columns and lets you adjust each column’s width precisely.

With a column layout, you can add any type of content to each column, but are limited to a handful of pre-selected column width options. However, the column layout permits between 1 and 4 columns.

Once you add columns to your template, drop content blocks into each column to populate it. You aren’t limited to just 1 content block per column: add as many content blocks as you’d like, stacked on top of each other.

Video

Video blocks display a linked thumbnail in your email. When a recipient clicks the thumbnail, the linked video page opens.

To add a video block, paste your video’s URL into the block’s settings. Klaviyo retrieves a thumbnail for supported YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok URLs.

If no thumbnail appears, or your video is hosted elsewhere, select or upload a thumbnail image. Turn on Show play button in the block’s settings to add a play-button overlay.

Why won’t the video play directly within the email?

Most major email clients (such as Gmail) view embedded content like videos as a security threat. These email clients will often strip out this embedded code completely and your recipients will not see your content rendered when they open your email.

Because embedded video does not reliably render across major email clients, Klaviyo does not support directly embedded video.

Universal content

You can save blocks or sections in templates for use across any other templates using the star icon. If you save a block or section, it will appear in the Universal tab of your email template blocks. When you make edits to a universal block or section, you can choose to apply those edits across all instances of the saved content. After editing across all instances, click Publish changes, review the affected messages, and confirm publication.

Learn more about using universal saved content.

Undo and redo

If you make a mistake while editing your template, use the undo button to revert it. You can also use the Redo button to reverse that change. Your template will autosave throughout your editing session, and the Undo/Redo buttons will log your changes as long as you are editing the template. However, past changes will only be stored during your editing session. If you exit out of the template and come back to it later, the Undo button will be disabled until you make future changes.

Previewing your email

Click Preview to check your email’s layout and personalized content. If you’re building a reusable template, choose preview data based on how the email will be sent. Use the table below to select the appropriate data.

After selecting your preview data, check the desktop and mobile layouts. To check the email in an inbox, enter your test recipient’s email address in the preview sidebar and click Send test. Open the test email to check its layout and links.

Additional resources