How to use macros in templates

In Shared Email Templates for Outlook

Using the Shared Email Templates macros, you can easily avoid repetitive actions and automatically attach files, insert pictures, and fill in the Bcc, Cc, or Subject field in your emails. You can also add dynamic content, dropdown lists, and fillable fields to your templates.

On this page, you'll find instructions on how to use macros.

To download a quick How to use macros cheat sheet, click the button below:
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• How to add macro to your template
• What macros do and how to use them
  • Fill in email fields: To, Cc, Bcc, Subject
  • Attach files to emails
  • Insert images into message body
  • Add information to message body
  • Enter text or pick date with ~%WhatToEnter
  • Clear message body and disable pasting templates
  • Add internal note to template
  • Create meetings and appointments in Outlook Calendar
  • Add merge fields
• Nested macros
• Сomplete list of macros

How to add a macro to your template

To add a macro, take the following steps:

1. Select an existing template or create a new one and click Edit:
   
2. In the text of the template, place the cursor where you want to put a macro and click the Insert macro icon:
   
3. In the Search box, type words that will help you find the necessary macro. For example, if you want the full name of the recipient to be inserted into the message body, type "full name" in the Search box and double-click Insert Recipient Full Name in the list you'll see or select Insert Recipient Full Name and click Select:
   

The macro is inserted. It's shown in the text of the template with a macro placeholder:

Every time you paste the template into your email message, the full name of the recipient will be inserted automatically.

What macros do and how to use them

Try out all the macros to discover how to simplify your email routine with them.

Fill in email fields: To, Cc, Bcc, Subject

To put some email addresses or text into email fields, you can use the ~%Fill macro or the ~%Add macro.

• You can insert the necessary email addresses (separated by semicolons) into the To, Cc, and Bcc fields with the ~%Fill macro. Any email addresses that were added previously will be deleted.
• The ~%Fill macro can also help you fill in the Subject field with the text you need. The text that was added to the Subject field previously will be deleted.
• If you want to add some email addresses (separated by semicolons) to the To, Cc, and Bcc fields, the ~%Add macro will be helpful. All the email addresses added previously will be kept.
• With the ~%Add macro, you can also add the necessary text to the Subject field. The text you already have there will be kept.

  By default, the text added by the ~%Add macro is inserted after the text that is already in the Subject field. If you want the text of interest to be added to the beginning of the Subject, select the Before checkbox when inserting the macro:
  

Attach files to emails

Attach files from OneDrive, SharePoint, or a URL with the ~%Attach macro. Or, use the ~%WhatToAttach macro as a reminder. Here is the detailed guide: How to attach files to your templates

Insert images into the message body

To insert images from OneDrive, SharePoint, or a URL, use the ~%InsertPicture macro. For more information, visit the How to insert pictures into your templates page.

Add information to the message body

Add subject, date, time

If you want to insert the Subject field contents into the message body, use the ~%Insert macro. This macro can also help you add the current date and current time to your email message.

Add addresses from the To, Cc, and Bcc fields

Use the ~%Insert macro to insert the contents of the To, Cc, or Bcc field into the message body.

Insert the recipient and sender names

You can insert the first, full, or last name of the recipient or the sender into the message body with the ~%Insert macro.

Paste mailbox, profile, and team properties

Easily add mailbox, profile, and team properties to your templates with the ~%Insert macro. Here is the How to use team, profile, mailbox properties guide.

Add a value from a dataset

Use the ~%DatasetValue macro to add a fixed value from a dataset. Here is the manual.

Enter text or pick a date with the ~%WhatToEnter macro

To explore all the possibilities the ~%WhatToEnter macro offers, visit this help page:
Create templates with fillable fields, dropdown lists, etc.

Clear the message body and disable pasting a template

The ~%Clear macro will help you clear the message body as well as the To, Cc, Bcc, and Subject fields.

With the ~%DisableIf macro, a template won't be pasted if the condition that you specified is met.

Add an internal note to a template

To leave an internal note in a template for yourself or your teammates, use the ~%Note macro. It will be present only in the template itself and won't change an email message.

In the template preview mode, the macro placeholder looks like this:

To see the text of a note, simply hover the cursor over the macro placeholder. To open the note, click the macro placeholder:

If you want notes to open automatically, choose one of the two following ways:

• When inserting the ~%Note macro into a template, select the Auto expand checkbox in the macro dialog:
  

  As a result, such a note will open automatically.

• Add the AutoExpandNoteMacros property with the "true" value to your profile or team properties:
  

  As a result, all the notes you have in your templates will open automatically for your profile or for your team(s).

Create meetings and appointments in the Outlook Calendar

You can create appointments and schedule meetings with the help of templates and use the ~%Fill, ~%Add, and ~%Insert macros in them. Detailed information is available on the Use Shared Email Templates in Outlook Calendar page.

Add merge fields

To personalize templates for mail merge campaigns, use the ~%MergeField macro. Here is the step-by-step guide.

Nested macros

If you want to combine two macros making them work together for you, just nest one of them in the other.

Suppose you would like not only to automatically fill in the Subject line with some text but also to have the opportunity to change this text if necessary. In this case, you'll need to nest the ~%WhatToEnter macro in the ~%Fill macro:

1. Select Fill Subject and click the Insert Macro button in the dialog window that will appear.
   
2. Select What to Enter, fill in the fields that the dialog window of the macro to be nested contains, and then click Insert.
   

This is an example of how the HTML code will look like:

~%Fill{"field":"subject","value":"~%WhatToEnter{\"type\":\"text\",\"title\":\"Text for Subject line\",\"defaultValue\":\"A very important reminder\",\"required\":false}"}

When you paste a template containing such HTML code into your email message, you'll see a dialog window showing the text for the Subject line. You can always change this text if you want to.

The complete list of macros

For a detailed description of each macro, including syntax and examples of use, refer to the Complete list of macros.