# Damn Hotmail Problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178 "2004-07-15T00:42:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/1 "2004-07-15T00:42:02Z")
Quick question, quick problem… I have one BIG problem with my hotmail account that hopefully the wise doper minds can fix – Basically, I have found that whenever I send a message to someone it comes to them in a screwy format. In other words, it looks like this and this and this, with weird line breaks and sometimes even odd spaces in the wrong places. When I’m writing it nothing shows up but when it arrives at the destination it looks like this fucking mess and it’s really annoying me, especially as I’ve started using it for business and don’t want to change all my addresses now. So, any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/2 "2004-07-15T01:24:11Z")
The chances are that _you_ are hitting the “enter” key when you get near the edge of the message entry window. (Which looks a lot like the one I’m typing in now.) You should only hit “enter” when you _must have_ a line break no matter how wide the window the viewer is reading your message in. E.g., to start a new paragraph, to sep. items in a bullet list, etc. It’s an idiot computer, let it figure out how to do word wrap! I taught Computer Literacy many times and this is one of the hardest things to get newbies to understand: If you don’t want a line break _there_ then don’t hit “enter” _there_. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/3 "2004-07-15T01:35:58Z")
Nope, I wish it were that simple. I only hit ENTER under the circumstances you’ve described. I always just type and let the computer run the sentence over. What’s strange is the places it decides to split the sentence. It’s either something kooky with my account or something with the formatting, but regardless it’s driving me up the damn wall. Oh well. Thanks for trying, **ftg**! ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/4 "2004-07-15T01:45:46Z")
It could be some problem with your Internet browser. Which one do you use? ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/5 "2004-07-15T02:37:01Z")
Just regular old IE v6.0. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/6 "2004-07-16T02:10:00Z")
Anyone else have any ideas…? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/7 "2004-07-16T02:16:08Z")
Are you sure the problem is on your end and not your friend’s? Does he have some weird word wrap thing going on on his side? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/8 "2004-07-16T02:32:01Z")
Let me show you an example. Here’s my original post with _all_ the line breaks taken out. It comes out smoothly. The chances are that you are hitting the “enter” key when you get near the edge of the message entry window. (Which looks a lot like the one I’m typing in now. You should only hit “enter” when you must have a line break no matter how wide the window the viewer is reading your message in. E.g., to start a new paragraph, to sep. items in a bullet list, etc. It’s an idiot computer, let it figure out how to do word wrap! I taught Computer Literacy many times and this is one of the hardest things to get newbies to understand: If you don’t want a line break there then don’t hit “enter” there. Same text, but with deliberate "enter"s added on to each line _as they appear in the reply window_. The text still looks nice if your window is wider than my reply window, just some unused space off to the left. The chances are that you are hitting the “enter” key when you get near the edge of the message entry window. (Which looks a lot like the one I’m typing in now. You should only hit “enter” when you must have a line break no matter how wide the window the viewer is reading your message in. E.g., to start a new paragraph, to sep. items in a bullet list, etc. It’s an idiot computer, let it figure out how to do word wrap! I taught Computer Literacy many times and this is one of the hardest things to get newbies to understand: If you don’t want a line break there then don’t hit “enter” there. Now, here’s where you get weird stuff. Same text, but _some_ lines have “enter” on the end and some don’t. Things should look quite erratic. (Again, depends on your window size.) The chances are that you are hitting the “enter” key when you get near the edge of the message entry window. (Which looks a lot like the one I’m typing in now. You should only hit “enter” when you must have a line break no matter how wide the window the viewer is reading your message in. E.g., to start a new paragraph, to sep. items in a bullet list, etc. It’s an idiot computer, let it figure out how to do word wrap! I taught Computer Literacy many times and this is one of the hardest things to get newbies to understand: If you don’t want a line break there then don’t hit “enter” there. * * * I really do think this is it. (Unless you are cutting and pasting the message from another application, so it’s still the same effect and reasoning.) Like I said, I taught a lot of novice CS and non-CS majors over the years. What people _think_ they type and what they _really_ type are never quite the same. (Even for me from time to time.) ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/9 "2004-07-16T02:48:52Z")
Does [this](http://www.webdesignwisdom.com/articles/JD_are_your_email_messages_good_looking.shtml) help? ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-hotmail-problem/255178/10 "2004-07-16T07:23:35Z")
Thanks guys. I think **Earthling** may have got it right. Still not sure if I’m following you, **ftg**. The _only_ time I hit ENTER is when I’ve finished a paragraph and want a space between the next one. I think it has more to do with what the site **Earthling** sent me to described, i.e. different e-mail formatting. But thanks all for the help!