Create an email message template
Applies To
Outlook for Microsoft 365 Outlook 2024 Outlook 2021 Outlook 2019 Outlook 2016 New Outlook for Windows

Use email templates to send messages that include information that infrequently changes from message to message. Compose and save a message as a template and then reuse it when you want it. New information can be added before the template is sent as an email message.​​​​​​​

In New Outlook, Classic Outlook, and Outlook on the Web, there are two ways to save templates, depending on the template’s purpose and content type: using the Mail Templates built-in feature or the My Templates add-in.

Mail Templates built-in feature

My Templates add-in

Purpose​​​​​​​

It saves full emails, including recipients, subject, body, formatting, and attachments.

It only stores short text snippets for quick insertion into an email.

Formatting & Media support

It supports rich formatting, images, tables, and attachments.

It only supports plain text with basic styling (bold, italics, underline).

Use Cases

Ideal for complete, repeatable emails like newsletters or announcements.

Best for inserting just reusable phrases like standard replies.

Important: Both the Mail Templates built-in feature and My Templates add-in are available for Microsoft Exchange accounts.

Create a template using the Mail Templates built-in feature

  1. From the Home ribbon, select New > Mail. In the email draft, add any content you would like to save in a template, including recipients, subject and attachments.

  2. From the Message ribbon, select Mail template > Save email as template.

  3. In the Save email as template dialog, type a name for your template, and then select Save.

  4. To view your saved templates, open the Settings Page,​​​​​​​ select the Mail tab and then select the Templates tab. The templates are listed by account. 

Notes: 

  • Templates you create in new Outlook on Windows using the Mail Templates built-in feature are saved to the account you are composing the email draft from. These templates can also be accessed from that account mailbox in Outlook on the web.

  • For more information on how to send an email message using a template, see Send an email message based on a template.

Create a template with the My Templates add-in

  1. From the Home ribbon, select New > Mail.

  2. From the Message tab of the ribbon, select My Templates.​​​​​​ This opens a task pane.

    Tip: ​​​​​​​If you don't have My Templates listed, your organization may have add-ins turned off. For further assistance, contact your administrator.

  3. In the My Templates task pane, select +Template​​​​​​​.

  4. In the Title field, enter a name for the new template.

  5. In the succeeding field, enter the template message.

  6. Select Save. The saved template now appears in the My Templates ​​​​​​​task pane.

    Note: Templates you create in new Outlook on Windows using the My Templates add-in are saved to your primary mailbox. You can then access these templates from your primary mailbox in other platforms, such as Outlook on the web, on Windows (classic), or on Mac.

Template availability in shared mailboxes

While using a shared mailbox in new Outlook on Windows, the availability of the templates you create with the My Templates add-in may differ depending on whether you promoted a shared mailbox to a full account (to learn more, see Manage shared mailbox settings in new Outlook).

If you access a shared mailbox that hasn't been promoted to a full account, templates you create are only available to your account. Other users who have access to the shared mailbox can't view or edit the templates you create. However, if you access a shared mailbox that's been promoted to a full account, templates you create there can be viewed and edited by anyone with access to the shared mailbox, provided they also open the shared mailbox in new Outlook on Windows and promote it to a full account. These templates aren't available if the shared mailbox is accessed on other platforms or in new Outlook on Windows as a non-promoted account, even if you created the template.

See also

Can I create email templates in Outlook for Mac?

Send an email message based on a template

Create and use a résumé template

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