Preview and Test Your Email Campaign

Different email programs display your HTML email differently, so we recommend you preview and test your campaign content before you send.

In this article, you'll learn how to preview your campaign in Mailchimp's preview mode, and how to send test emails.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

• If you have run out of test email sends for your campaign, there are a few things you can do to test your campaign. To learn more, check out About Test Email Sending Limits.
• Every email you send to a recipient counts toward your monthly send limit or uses a Pay As You Go credit, whether it's a test campaign or a live campaign.
• When you use the Send a Test Email option, the merge tags won't be activated because your campaign isn't being sent to an audience just yet. We recommend that you test your merge tags.
• Test emails sent from the template builder will display a from email address that is the primary account contact for your Mailchimp account. This is because template tests are not associated with an audience in your account. When you send your campaign, the From email address will display as the from email address associated with the audience you're sending to or the address you typed in the From section of the campaign builder.
• In test emails, the raw message data includes all Dynamic Content, regardless of recipient.
• For more information on reviewing your content before sending, take a look at our email campaign testing tips.

Enter preview mode

Preview mode gives you an idea of how your campaign will look in your recipients' inboxes on both desktop and mobile.

To enter preview mode from the email designer, click the Preview drop-down menu and choose Enter preview mode.

In some campaigns, you can also enter preview mode by clicking the preview image in the Content section of the campaign builder.

This will open the preview mode overlay, which shows how your campaign will appear to different users.

Use the tabs to look at different views. The Desktop tab shows the desktop preview of your campaign, and the Mobile tab shows the mobile preview. The right tab, Inbox, shows your campaign's Inbox Preview. On the right side of the screen, Header Info displays campaign information, like the subject line and reply-to email address.

If you’re using merge tags and want to see how they’ll look to your contacts, toggle the slider to the green checkmark to enable live merge tags.

If you continue to see test data, check out our troubleshooting merge tags article.

Open link checker

Use our Link Checker to make sure all the links in your campaign are valid and take your recipients exactly where you want them to go.

To enter the Link Checker from the Email Designer, click the Preview drop-down menu and choose Open Link Checker.

The left panel displays a campaign preview, and the right panel lists all links in your campaign.

Click a link in the right pane to open Link Details. The Link Details pane displays the URL the link points to and a screenshot of what the website looks like, and tells you whether the URL is valid. Mailchimp cannot preview links containing merge tags, anchors, or mail-to addresses in the Link Details pane.

If you need to change the URL the link points to, click Edit link under the URL in the Link Details screen.

To navigate between checked links, you can either use your mouse or use keyboard shortcuts. Use your left and right arrow keys to move up and down the list, and "e" to edit a link.

Send a test email

Send a test email to see how a campaign will appear in your inbox, or to share a draft campaign with a colleague.

To send a test email, follow these steps.

1. In the email designer, click the Preview drop-down menu, and choose Send a test email.
   
   If you’re working with a regular email campaign, you can also click Send a Test Email link in the Content section of the campaign builder.
2. Type the email address you want to send the test to. You also have the option to use the checkboxes to send to other users on your account.
   
   You can include optional instructions and a personal message, then use the checkboxes to select which account users will be notified of new comments.
3. When you're ready, click Send Test.

Recipients can reply to the test email with their feedback. We use an inbound email address to send their feedback directly to your account. To learn more, check out Collaborate on Campaigns.