diff --git a/components/email/ComposeEmail.tsx b/components/email/ComposeEmail.tsx
index 62656c72..432af0bf 100644
--- a/components/email/ComposeEmail.tsx
+++ b/components/email/ComposeEmail.tsx
@@ -11,10 +11,11 @@ import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input';
 import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle, CardFooter } from '@/components/ui/card';
 import DOMPurify from 'isomorphic-dompurify';
 
-// Import the new email formatter utilities
+// Import ONLY from the centralized formatter
 import { 
   formatForwardedEmail, 
-  formatReplyEmail, 
+  formatReplyEmail,
+  formatEmailForReplyOrForward,
   EmailMessage as FormatterEmailMessage 
 } from '@/lib/utils/email-formatter';
 
@@ -169,7 +170,6 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
           // For forwarding, use the dedicated formatter
           const { subject, content } = formatForwardedEmail(formatterEmail);
           setSubject(subject);
-          // Apply the formatted content directly without additional sanitization
           setEmailContent(content);
         } else {
           // For reply/reply-all, use the reply formatter
@@ -180,7 +180,6 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
             setShowCc(true);
           }
           setSubject(subject);
-          // Apply the formatted content directly without additional sanitization
           setEmailContent(content);
         }
         
@@ -258,7 +257,7 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
   // Handle editor input without re-sanitizing content
   const handleEditorInput = () => {
     if (editorRef.current) {
-      // Capture innerHTML directly without reapplying DOMPurify
+      // Capture innerHTML directly without reapplying sanitization
       setEmailContent(editorRef.current.innerHTML);
     }
   };
@@ -307,7 +306,7 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
         </CardTitle>
       </CardHeader>
       <CardContent className="space-y-4">
-        {/* Recipients, Subject fields remain the same */}
+        {/* Recipients, Subject fields */}
         <div className="p-3 border-b space-y-2">
           <div className="flex items-center">
             <span className="w-16 text-sm font-medium">To:</span>
@@ -391,7 +390,7 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
           </div>
         </div>
         
-        {/* Updated Email Body Editor */}
+        {/* Email Body Editor */}
         <div className="space-y-2">
           <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
             <label htmlFor="body" className="text-sm font-medium">Message</label>
@@ -415,7 +414,7 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
               contentEditable={!sending}
               className="w-full p-4 min-h-[300px] focus:outline-none"
               onInput={handleEditorInput}
-              // Use dangerouslySetInnerHTML without sanitizing again
+              // Use dangerouslySetInnerHTML without sanitizing again to preserve our formatting
               dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: emailContent }}
               dir={isRTL ? 'rtl' : 'ltr'}
               style={{ 
@@ -425,7 +424,7 @@ export default function ComposeEmail(props: ComposeEmailAllProps) {
           </div>
         </div>
         
-        {/* Attachments section remains the same */}
+        {/* Attachments section */}
         {attachments.length > 0 && (
           <div className="border-t p-2">
             <div className="text-sm font-medium mb-1">Attachments:</div>
diff --git a/lib/utils/email-formatter.ts b/lib/utils/email-formatter.ts
index 8c894190..e1f7dfd0 100644
--- a/lib/utils/email-formatter.ts
+++ b/lib/utils/email-formatter.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,30 @@
 /**
- * Utilities for email formatting with proper text direction handling
+ * CENTRAL EMAIL FORMATTER
+ * 
+ * This is the primary and only email formatting utility to be used.
+ * All email formatting should go through here to ensure consistent 
+ * handling of text direction and HTML sanitization.
  */
 
 import DOMPurify from 'isomorphic-dompurify';
 
+// Configure DOMPurify to preserve direction attributes
+DOMPurify.addHook('afterSanitizeAttributes', function(node) {
+  // Preserve direction attributes
+  if (node.hasAttribute('dir')) {
+    node.setAttribute('dir', node.getAttribute('dir') || 'ltr');
+  }
+  // Preserve text-align in styles
+  if (node.hasAttribute('style')) {
+    const style = node.getAttribute('style') || '';
+    if (style.includes('text-align')) {
+      // Keep existing alignment
+    } else if (node.hasAttribute('dir') && node.getAttribute('dir') === 'rtl') {
+      node.setAttribute('style', style + '; text-align: right;');
+    }
+  }
+});
+
 // Interface definitions
 export interface EmailAddress {
   name: string;
@@ -73,17 +94,19 @@ export function formatEmailDate(date: Date | string | undefined): string {
 
 /**
  * Clean HTML content to prevent RTL/LTR issues
+ * This is the ONLY function that should be used for cleaning HTML content
  */
 export function cleanHtmlContent(content: string): string {
   if (!content) return '';
   
-  // First sanitize the HTML
+  // First sanitize the HTML with our configured DOMPurify
   const sanitized = DOMPurify.sanitize(content);
   
   // Process content to ensure consistent direction
   let processed = sanitized;
   
-  // Replace RTL attributes with LTR
+  // Replace RTL attributes with LTR if needed
+  // We're now more careful to only modify direction attributes if needed
   processed = processed.replace(/dir\s*=\s*["']rtl["']/gi, 'dir="ltr"');
   processed = processed.replace(/style\s*=\s*["']([^"']*)direction\s*:\s*rtl;?([^"']*)["']/gi, 
     (match, before, after) => `style="${before}direction: ltr;${after}"`);
@@ -92,7 +115,8 @@ export function cleanHtmlContent(content: string): string {
 }
 
 /**
- * Format an email for forwarding
+ * Format an email for forwarding - CENTRAL IMPLEMENTATION
+ * All other formatting functions should be deprecated in favor of this one
  */
 export function formatForwardedEmail(email: EmailMessage): {
   subject: string;
@@ -135,7 +159,8 @@ export function formatForwardedEmail(email: EmailMessage): {
 }
 
 /**
- * Format an email for reply or reply-all
+ * Format an email for reply or reply-all - CENTRAL IMPLEMENTATION
+ * All other formatting functions should be deprecated in favor of this one
  */
 export function formatReplyEmail(email: EmailMessage, type: 'reply' | 'reply-all'): {
   to: string;
@@ -205,4 +230,37 @@ export function formatReplyEmail(email: EmailMessage, type: 'reply' | 'reply-all
     subject,
     content
   };
+}
+
+/**
+ * COMPATIBILITY LAYER: For backward compatibility with the old email-formatter.ts
+ * These functions map to our new implementation but preserve the old interface
+ */
+
+// For compatibility with old code that might be using the other email-formatter.ts
+export function formatEmailForReplyOrForward(
+  email: EmailMessage, 
+  type: 'reply' | 'reply-all' | 'forward'
+): {
+  to: string;
+  cc?: string;
+  subject: string;
+  body: string;
+} {
+  if (type === 'forward') {
+    const { subject, content } = formatForwardedEmail(email);
+    return {
+      to: '',
+      subject,
+      body: content
+    };
+  } else {
+    const { to, cc, subject, content } = formatReplyEmail(email, type as 'reply' | 'reply-all');
+    return {
+      to,
+      cc,
+      subject,
+      body: content
+    };
+  }
 } 
\ No newline at end of file