Quick answer: Customize WooCommerce emails from WooCommerce → Settings → Emails for logos, colours and subject lines, then use template overrides or well-supported email customiser plugins when you need deeper layout changes. Keep emails multipart (HTML plus plain text), test with real order data, and avoid heavy page-builder HTML that breaks in Outlook. Never edit core plugin files directly.
Default WooCommerce emails work, but they look generic. Customers notice. Branded, clear messages reduce “where is my order?” tickets and reinforce trust after the card has been charged.
This guide covers the safe customisation paths in WooCommerce as it stands in 2018.
What WooCommerce sends by default
Common transactional emails include:
- New order (admin)
- Processing / completed order (customer)
- Customer invoice
- Refund notices
- Password reset and customer account emails
- On-hold and failed order notices
Each has a subject, heading, body content and recipients you can adjust in settings. Start there before writing code.
Branding from settings
Under WooCommerce → Settings → Emails:
- Upload a logo that works on a white or light background
- Set base colours that match your store without destroying contrast
- Edit the footer text (include support email and legal name where needed)
- Change subject lines to include the shop name and order number clearly
Keep the logo file small. Some email clients block large images or scale them oddly.
Subject lines and preheaders
Subjects should be scannable:
- Good:
Your {site_title} order #{order_number} is confirmed - Weak:
Order - Risky: all-caps marketing slogans on transactional mail
Preheader text (the snippet after the subject in many inboxes) is often pulled from the first text in the body. Put the useful status early, not a long promotional blurb.
Template overrides
WooCommerce email templates live in the plugin’s templates/emails/ folder. To customise properly, copy specific templates into your theme under yourtheme/woocommerce/emails/ and edit the copies.
Override only what you need. The fewer overrides you maintain, the easier WooCommerce updates become.
Developers can also hook into actions inside email templates to inject order meta, delivery dates or care instructions without copying an entire file.
If you need custom behaviour beyond emails (packing slips, conditional content), a small custom plugin is often cleaner than a fragile theme pile.
Plugins versus code
Email customiser plugins can help non-developers rearrange blocks and add logos visually. Choose ones that:
- Still send reliable multipart emails
- Do not require a page builder runtime in the inbox
- Are updated for your WooCommerce version
For simple branding, native settings plus light CSS in the email template styles are enough. For complex lifecycle marketing (win-back campaigns, elaborate flows), you may connect WooCommerce to an ESP via integrations rather than overloading transactional templates. Related: abandoned checkout recovery ideas translate to WooCommerce with the right extensions.
Content that belongs in transactional email
Include:
- Order number and date
- Item list with quantities and variations
- Shipping method and address
- Billing summary
- Clear support contact
- Delivery expectations if you have them
Avoid:
- Massive hero banners that dwarf the order table
- Unrelated product grids that push the order details below the fold in the inbox
- Broken merge tags from unfinished custom code
If you sell physical goods internationally, make sure tax and shipping lines remain understandable after customisation.
Testing checklist
Before you call it done:
- Place test orders for guest and logged-in customers
- Test refund and partial refund emails
- Open messages in Gmail, Outlook (desktop if your customers use it), and at least one mobile client
- Check dark backgrounds do not hide white text logos
- Confirm plain-text parts still make sense if HTML is stripped
- Verify admin “new order” emails still arrive (spam filters love to catch these after DNS changes)
- Confirm links to view the order use HTTPS and the correct domain
Use staging with a mail-catching tool (MailHog, Mailtrap, or similar) so you do not email real customers while iterating.
Deliverability basics
Custom HTML will not save you if messages land in spam:
- Send from a domain you control with SPF and DKIM aligned
- Keep bounce rates low
- Separate marketing newsletters from transactional order mail when you can
- Do not attach huge PDFs unless necessary
Styling without breaking clients
Email HTML is not modern web development. Prefer tables for layout if you customise deeply, inline critical CSS, and keep widths conservative (around 600px for the main content column is still a common pattern). Avoid JavaScript entirely. Background images fail in many clients; solid colours are safer.
If you add buttons, use bulletproof button patterns (padded links or partial table buttons) so Outlook still shows something clickable.
Multilingual and multi-brand stores
WPML and similar setups need translated email strings, not only translated product pages. Multi-brand stores using the same WooCommerce install may need conditional logos and from-addresses by product line. Plan that before overriding a single hard-coded header image.
For stores migrating platforms or comparing stacks, keep email quality in the checklist beside catalogue tools. See WooCommerce vs Magento for platform trade-offs that include operational email maturity.
Common mistakes
- Editing files inside
wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/(lost on update) - Caching plugins serving stale HTML to email preview tools while live mail differs
- Hard-coding colours that fail contrast checks
- Removing the order details table for a “cleaner look”
- Forgetting that some emails go to admin addresses that need different content
Transactional versus marketing email
Keep order receipts separate from newsletters when you can. Mixing promotional design into every receipt trains customers to ignore transactional mail, and it can create consent confusion. A small “while you wait” cross-sell may be fine; a full campaign layout usually is not.
If you use an ESP for marketing, trigger post-purchase flows from order events rather than stuffing everything into the WooCommerce template. The receipt should still stand alone if the ESP delays.
Accessibility in the inbox
Use real text rather than text baked into images for order totals and buttons. Screen reader users and people on poor connections still need the receipt to make sense with images blocked.
FAQ
Can I add a review request to the completed-order email?
Yes, carefully. A short link is fine; aggressive marketing blocks can annoy buyers. Timed follow-ups via automation often work better than cramming everything into the receipt. See automated review requests.
Will Gutenberg change WooCommerce emails?
Email templates are separate from post editing. Still test after major WordPress and WooCommerce upgrades.
Do I need a developer for logo and colour changes?
Usually no. Logo, colours, subjects and footer text are admin settings. Layout restructuring and custom fields typically need a developer or a specialised plugin.
Make the receipt feel like your shop
Customizing WooCommerce emails is one of the fastest trust upgrades in ecommerce. Brand the basics, override templates only when needed, and test on real clients. The order confirmation is part of your storefront experience, even though it lives in the inbox.
If you want store emails, checkout and post-purchase flows tidied up as a set, our Turn visitors into customers ecommerce work covers WooCommerce UX and the technical setup behind it.
