What Email Preflight Checks (and What It Deliberately Does Not)
Preflight is automated quality on compiled email output - variables, links, images, accessibility, and structure. It is not deliverability, inbox placement, or campaign analytics.
By The Memo Team
Last updated
Quick answer
Email preflight is an automated pass over compiled HTML and plain text before approval or export - catching broken links, unresolved variables, accessibility gaps, and structural issues on the asset you control. It does not send mail, score deliverability, or guarantee inbox placement.
Teams use “preflight” to mean everything from a mental checklist to a Litmus inbox preview. In Memo, preflight means something narrower and more useful: deterministic checks on the email you actually export - run on the same compiler output that powers preview, export, and test send.
What preflight is
Preflight reads compiled HTML and plain text, walks the document structure, and returns findings you can fix in the editor. Categories include content and variables, links, images and assets, HTML hygiene, rendering, accessibility, brand compliance, and compliance-adjacent footer checks - each with a severity and a plain recommendation.
What preflight is not
- Not a substitute for your ESP - Memo does not send campaigns or hold audiences.
- Not deliverability scoring or inbox placement guarantees.
- Not open/click analytics - those live in your sending platform.
- Not a legal review - footer checks are mechanical, not counsel.
When to run it
Run preflight after meaningful edits and before review or export. Pair it with human judgment on message and brand. Pair it with a controlled test send when you need a real inbox render - preflight first, eyeballs second.
How Memo uses preflight in the workflow
Findings surface in the editor. Teams can gate approval or export until critical issues clear. That keeps reviewers off broken-link duty. See Resolve preflight findings for the fix loop.
Frequently asked questions
- Does preflight guarantee my email will reach the inbox?
- No. Preflight catches fixable quality issues in the email file. Inbox placement depends on sender reputation, list hygiene, and signals outside the design studio.
- Is preflight the same as inbox preview tools?
- No. Preview tools show client rendering. Preflight checks structural quality, links, variables, and policy-oriented footer elements on compiled output.
- Can I turn preflight rules off?
- Core safety rules stay on. Quality profiles let teams tune severity for marketing vs transactional intent where the product supports it.
- Does Memo run preflight on every save?
- Runs are tied to meaningful compile events and workflow gates - not a vague “score” that changes silently on every keystroke.
Glossary
Documentation
In-depth guides
Continue reading
- Operations · 8 min readThe Email Preflight Checklist: What to Check Before You SendThe concrete checks worth running on every email - and how to automate them so the checklist does not live in someone’s head.
- Guide · 7 min readPlain-Text Email: Why It Still Matters and How to Ship a Good OnePlain text is not an auto-generated afterthought - it is part of the send-ready package. What to check before export.
- Operations · 8 min readEmail Merge Tags: Preview, Validate, and Export Without SurprisesUnresolved variables ruin sends quietly. Preview with datasets, let preflight catch gaps, then export in the syntax your ESP expects.
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