Would you like a quick and easy way to send a regular email without having to type it all out each time? In this article, I show you how to easily create custom email templates in Outlook, so you don’t have to search through your ‘Sent’ box for “that email” that you wrote last month to reuse the content again and again.
How Do I Create A Customer Email Template In Outlook
To create an email template, follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Outlook
- Click on New Message as usual (If you have created a standard signature, this will automatically appear at the bottom of the Body text).
- Leave the Tofield empty
- Type the subject in the Subjectfield (This will be the default subject line for your email. However, it can be amended when opening if needed)
- Type your default message in the main Body text area. Again, this can be amended each time you use it to add specific information.
TIP: If you have customer specific information to add to the template, mark these with characters such as #### so you know you need to add them in. For example, the opening greeting could be Hi ####, where #### needs the recipient’s name to be added.
Your email message will look something like this.
Now that you have created the template, you want to save it somewhere easy to access later. To do this:-
- Select File> Save As on the message itself. The Save As dialog will appear. The Save as type will automatically default to Outlook Message Format – Unicode. This needs to be changed to Outlook Template by clicking on the down arrow to the right.
- The location the file being saved to will automatically default to something like C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates directory. This can make it difficult to find when you want to use it, so I recommend creating a folder on your desktop or in your Documents folder called ‘Email Templates’ so it is easy to access. So, select the location you wish to save the templates in give your template a name. This will automatically be named whatever is in the Subject line, however you can change this to something that may be easier to remember. Then click on Save.
You now have a template saved that you can use again and again, without having to rewrite the entire message or search for a previously sent message.
How Do I Open An Outlook Template I Have Created?
Now that you have created an Outlook template, it’s time to put it to use.
To do this, you simply find the folder location (on your Desktop or in the Documents folder as recommended above) and double click on it.
This will bring up the relevant folder and you simply double click on the relevant template folder and the email will open in a new window ready for you to use.
Now that the email has been opened you will need to fill in the #### sections to personalise the message and add the recipient’s email address in the To field and then you are ready to send!
If you find that you need to update the template, it is very easy to do. Simply open it as if you were sending a message, make the necessary changes and save the file as per the guidelines above in the same location with the same name.
That’s all there is to it! You have now successfully created an Outlook email template that you can use again and again, saving you time.
Would you like someone to create a variety of Outlook templates for you? We are here to help. If you would like to us to set them up for you then call us on 01329 481202 or click on the ‘Request Call Back’ button below.
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