Shared Email Templates for Microsoft Outlook / Gmail

Create and manage templates

Create, edit, back up, and export your email templates with ease by following instructions below.

Here is the Getting Started cheat sheet for you.

Download cheat sheet

Video: How to create and manage templates

Learn how to make your templates either from the ground up or by using email messages you already sent.

Video: How to edit email templates

Use the template editor toolbar to insert macros, pictures, buttons, or a signature, fill in message fields, add attachments, and bind tables to datasets.

The Shared Email Templates pane in Outlook / Gmail sidebar

Here you can find a detailed description of the Shared Email Templates pane.

Create a new folder

  1. To create a new folder for your templates, right-click My Templates, a team (editor permissions are required), or a folder, and then select New Folder.
    Select New Folder.
  2. Enter the name of your new folder, add a description if you want to, and then click Save.
    Save a new folder.

When you select a folder, you can see its name and description in the preview pane. You can edit, copy, move, and delete the folder or visit the relevant help page by clicking the corresponding button.
Action buttons

Create a new template

Note. The HTML code of a template must not contain more than 131,072 symbols.

  1. To create a new template, select a folder where you want to keep it, and then click the New Template button at the bottom of the add-in pane.
    The New Template button
  2. Enter the name of your template, its text, and then click Save.
    Save a new template.

To create a new template, you can also right-click a folder, and then select New Template from the list of options.
The New Template option

To open a new template in the Shared Email Templates web app in your default browser, right-click a folder, and then select New Template in Browser.
Create a new template in a browser.

Tip. When replying to an email or composing a new one, you can turn existing text in the message body into a template. Simply select the text and click the New Template button on the Shared Email Templates pane.

Select the text and create a template.

Edit a template

To edit a template, select it on the add-in pane and click Edit.
The Edit button

To edit a template in the Shared Email Templates app in your default browser, select a template on the add-in pane and click Edit in browser.
The Edit in browser button

When editing a template, you can insert macros, fill in message fields, choose files to attach, add pictures and buttons, insert shortcuts, select a signature, change text formatting, create tables, add and remove hyperlinks, view HTML and the template content, and insert the template into an email message.
The Shared Email Templates editor toolbar

  1. Insert macro. Add a macro to a template. To learn more about Shared Email Templates macros, visit the How to use macros in templates page.
  2. Message fields. Fill in the To, Cc, Bcc, and Subject fields.
  3. Message attachments. Select files to be attached.
  4. Insert picture. Open a list of the InsertPicture macro options to choose any you need. For more information, visit this help page: How to insert pictures into your templates.
  5. Insert button. Add a button to a template.
  6. Insert shortcut. Open a list of available shortcuts to select the necessary one.
  7. Signature. Select a signature from a dropdown list.

    Note. The Signature dropdown list is available on the template editor toolbar if you have signatures associated with the folder where you're currently creating or editing your template.

    Note. The signature selected from the Signature dropdown list will not be inserted if a template already contains the Insert Signature option of the Insert macro. The signature returned by the Insert macro will be inserted instead.

    Note. Shared Email Templates for Gmail doesn't support the Signatures feature.

  8. Table. Insert a table into a template.

    Tip. To change a style applied to the table by default, right-click the table, select the Style option, and then select the style you want to apply.
    Table styles to choose from

  9. Clear formatting. Clear formatting of the selected text.
  10. Insert/edit hyperlink. Add a hyperlink to the selected text by entering a URL. You can also add a title that will appear when you hover the cursor over the linked text in a template.
  11. View HTML. View and edit a template in HTML.
  12. View template content. View the content of a template, including HTML, message fields, or message attachments.
  13. Insert. Insert a template into an email message.

Tip. If you need advanced formatting, you can collect and edit your templates in Outlook, and then connect an Outlook folder to Shared Email Templates [DEPRECATED].

Fill in the To, Cc, Bcc, and Subject fields

To get the To, Cc, Bcc, or Subject field filled in automatically when you use a certain template, click Message fields.
Message fields

Enter email addresses for the To, Cc, and Bcc fields and text for the Subject field. Then click Save.

Note. If you want to enter several email addresses into the To, Cc, or Bcc field, use a semicolon to separate them.

Fill in message fields.

If there is some data saved, the Message fields button will be marked with a blue dot: The Message fields button with a blue dot

Note. If the To, Cc, Bcc, or Subject fields in the email you're inserting the template into already contain values, they'll be overwritten with those from the corresponding pre-filled message fields in the template.

Attach files

Click Message attachments to select a file that will be automatically attached to your email message when you insert the template.
Message attachments

Choose an attachment source (cloud storage or URL), click the plus sign next to it, select a file or enter a URL, and then click Close.
Add an attachment.

A blue dot will appear on the Message attachments button: The Message attachments button with a blue dot

Insert pictures

For quick access to the InsertPicture macro options, click Insert picture.
Insert a picture.

Then choose any option you like.
Select the necessary option.

Note. If you use Shared Email Templates for Gmail, you'll be able to insert pictures only from Google Drive.

Insert a button

With Insert button, you can add a button to your template.
Insert a button.

You just need to specify the button dimensions and alignment, choose a color for the button, and decide what text and link your button will have.
Configure a button.

Insert a template into an email message

You can insert a whole template or just a part of it.

To insert a whole template into an email message, select the template in the list on the add-in pane, and then click Insert.
Insert a template.

Note. If the Subject field in your email message is empty, it will be automatically filled with the name of the inserted template unless you use the Fill macro to fill the Subject field with certain text or the Add macro to add certain text to the Subject field.

To insert a part of a template, select this part, and then click Insert in the preview pane.
Insert a part of a template.

Note. This inserting option does not work for templates located in linked Outlook folders.

You can also insert a template or its part in the Edit mode.

To insert a whole template when you're editing it, click Insert on the template editor toolbar.
Insert a template you're editing.

To insert a part of the template you're editing, select this part, and then click Insert on the template editor toolbar.

Insert a part of the template you're editing.

Copy a template to the clipboard

To copy the text of a template to the clipboard, right-click the template, and then select Copy to Clipboard:
The Copy to Clipboard option

Tip. When selecting Copy to Clipboard, keep the Alt key pressed to make macros that add information to the message body work and, as a result, copy not the macros themselves but the values they return.

Compare:

  • Copy to Clipboard
    Hello,

    I'm happy to offer you an additional ~%WhatToEnter{"title":"Choose a discount","type":"dropdown",
    "items":["5% discount","10% discount","15% discount"],"editable":false,"required":true,"multiselect":
    false,"separator":""} on any product of your choice.

  • Copy to Clipboard with the Alt key pressed
    Hello,

    I'm happy to offer you an additional 10% discount on any product of your choice.

Note. This combination—Copy to Clipboard with the Alt key pressed—is not supported in Outlook for Mac.

Create templates for the Outlook calendar

For detailed information, visit this help page: Templates for appointments and meetings.

Note. This functionality is not supported in Shared Email Templates for Gmail.

Back up, export, and import templates

To back up your templates, export or import them, refer to the Back up, export, and import templates guide.

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