Templates are aware of two Velocity variables, what works with Email this Issue's macros:

• disableAvatars: #renderIssueType(), #renderPriority(), #renderResolution()
• disableLinks: #renderSummary(), #renderProject(), #renderUser(), #footer(), #renderLinkToCustomerPortal(), #renderLinkToIssueCustomerPortal(), 

These variales are not working with the built-in Jira macros!

Disable Links

Add to the beginning of the template:

#set($disableLinks="true")

Disabling links via this variable may not remove all links from the final email, custom fields provided by third-party add-ons may still generate links however that cannot be suppressed. Also, your mail client like Outlook may recognize links even if they are not inserted as links in the template.

Disable Avatars or Icons

#set($disableAvatars="true")

This will prevent rendering user avatars, issue icons (type, priority, resolution).