If people are using a word processing package etc, they are creating content that uses a wide variety of formatting that may not be available in html formatting. So if that content is pasted into an email, it may look not as intended. They should create the email properly and attach the eg: excel document to the email, so that the recipient can use the correct software to read the content as it was intended or use the Insert Table and manually add info method which is available within the email client Write/create email. This also means that the attachment can be saved separately from the email. Sometimes people use fonts that may not be available on your computer, so another font wil be used that is available. re: Blank emails This might be a side effect of your anti-virus program. ''If you receive blank messages it might be a side effect of the antivirus program certifying that each message was safe. If "View -> Message Source" confirms that the messages are empty try disabling that feature.'' * http://kb.mozillazine.org/Antivirus_software