Making Evolution Not Wrap Lines in Composed Emails

Line Wrapping in Evolution Email Composer

Evolution automatically wraps long lines in Plain Text mode, which can be frustrating if you need to preserve line breaks exactly as you’ve written them. Unlike some email clients, Evolution doesn’t support “soft wrapping” where text reflows visually in the composer but sends without hard line breaks.

Using External Editor

The most straightforward approach is to compose your email in an external editor where you have full control over formatting, then paste it into Evolution or use Evolution’s built-in external editor support.

To open an email in your configured external editor, press Ctrl+Shift+E while composing. This launches your $EDITOR (vim, nano, emacs, etc.) where you can write without automatic wrapping. Save and close the editor to return to Evolution with your text intact.

Configure your default editor in Evolution’s preferences under Edit > Preferences > Composer > Text Editor, or ensure your shell’s EDITOR environment variable points to your preferred tool.

Preformatted Text in Plain Text Emails

If you must compose within Evolution, switch to Normal format (Ctrl+0), write your email, then select all content (Ctrl+A) and apply preformatted styling with Ctrl+7. This preserves your exact line breaks when sent.

The limitation here is that preformatted text in plain text emails appears in a monospace font on the receiver’s end, which works for code blocks or structured data but looks odd for regular prose.

Sending HTML Emails

For most modern email clients and corporate environments, HTML email is the practical solution. In Evolution, compose normally and send as HTML — text breaks become soft wraps that reflow in the recipient’s client, while explicit <br> tags and block-level elements force hard breaks.

To force HTML mode for a single message, go Message > Format > HTML in the composer. To change the default, use Edit > Preferences > Composer and toggle “Compose messages in HTML format.”

HTML email is reliable for business communication and preserves your intended structure while letting recipients’ clients handle display width appropriately.

Best Practice

For technical users:

• Code or structured data: Use external editor (Ctrl+Shift+E) or preformatted text (Ctrl+7)
• Regular correspondence: Send as HTML and let the recipient’s client handle wrapping
• Plain text purists: Configure your external editor as the primary composition tool and use Evolution purely for sending/receiving

If you need to consistently work without Evolution’s wrapping behavior, consider using a lightweight mail client like mutt or neomutt with your preferred editor, which offer finer control over message composition and formatting.