How to Create Email Templates in Outlook

Writing email after email can get a little tedious, especially when you’re just writing the same thing over and over with little variation. You’re wasting time you could be spending on other, more productive tasks. Thankfully, Microsoft has provided a solution – templates you can build into Outlook that eliminate the typing time burden.

You just need to know how to create email templates in Outlook, which you’ll discover in this step-by-step guide.

How to Create an Email Template in Outlook

There are two aspects of making a template in Outlook – creating the template, and tweaking it after the fact.

The Steps to Create an Outlook Template

“New” Outlook doesn’t offer templates as standard, so you have to add an app to the platform. These steps show you how to create email templates in Outlook using the Outlook ribbon.

Step 1: Navigate to “Insert” in the ribbon bar and select “Apps.”

Step 2: Type “My Templates” in the search bar and click the icon with the same name that appears. If you don’t get the icon, hit “Get add-ins” and search for “My Templates” there.

Step 3: Hit “Continue” after reading the description of what the “My Templates” add-in does.

Step 4: You’ll see a handful of Microsoft’s standard templates in your collection already. If any of them apply, click the template and start creating your email. However, if you want to create your own, select “+ Template.”

Step 5: Type the name of your new template in the top text box, followed by entering the text for your templated email in the box below. Hit the “Save” button when you’re done.

Step 6: You should see your created template is now listed underneath the standard options Outlook provided earlier. Click that new template and voila – you’ll see your templated message appear in the message panel in the center of the screen.

Once your templated message has appeared, you can tweak it as needed and set the email address it needs to go to. After that, just hit the “Send” button like you would with any other email to send the templated email on its way.

How to Access and Tweak Your Templates

Once you have your template saved, you might want to change it around or even delete it from your Outlook storage. These steps help you do that.

Step 1: Hit the “Insert” option in the Outlook ribbon, select “Apps” and hit “My Templates” again.

Step 2: Locate your template in the list and hover your cursor over it.

Step 3: You should see two options in the template’s right-hand corner – a rubbish can and a little pen and paper. If you want to get rid of your Outlook template, hit the rubbish can icon. Note that clicking this icon gets rid of the template immediately, with no request for confirmation on your part. The pen and paper icon allows you to edit the template, which is helpful whenever you want to make a tweak or you notice a spelling mistake in your original template.