In Gmail, you can easily send messages using rich HTML formatting or plain text. Plain text formats remove formatting, as well as colors and images. Here's how to send plain text messages using Gmail on the web.

To send a plain text email in Gmail, compose a message as you normally would. At the bottom of the compose window, click the three-dot menu, and then click Plain Text Mode.

This setting acts as a toggle. To deactivate plain text mode, select the menu option again.

Plain-text messaging is technically the standard method by which email is sent. However, if you use special formats such as HTML or RTF, the email looks like gibberish behind the scenes; the raw formatting code is what is sent over the Internet. The recipient's email program reads the coded instructions to reconstruct the email and then present it as you intended.