Shared Email Templates for Microsoft Outlook

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

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. To turn some text that you have in an email message into a template, select that text, and then 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

In the Edit mode, you can insert macros, fill in message fields, attach files, 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 a 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. Attach a file from OneDrive, SharePoint, or a URL.
  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.

  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 and, for example, filled message fields or attached files.
  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

Attach files

Click Message attachments to select a file that will be automatically attached when you use a certain template.
Message attachments

Decide whether you want to attach a file from OneDrive, SharePoint, or a URL, and then click the plus sign on the right. Select a file and click Close.
Add an attachment.

If there are some attachments, the Message attachments button will be marked with a blue dot: 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.

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.

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.

Responses

Hey team, I am having an issue that I hope you could assist with. When I pull a contact list the mail merge tool shows the sheets within but is not reflective of the updated sheet names. It shows the sheet names for a previous contact list I have used. Would you be able to advise on this issue? Thanks!

I was using a template with images and everything, but from few day the same template is not showing the images just the text, I created a new email template also and still the images are not visible and I am very frustrated due to this and I paid yearly subscription also and this is not of any use.

Please rectify this issue as the support is not responding.

Hello Ameenah,

Our technical specialist has replied to your by email and requested to send us some additional information regarding the issue you have.

Please check your Inbox and email us back with the requested details so that we'll be able to help you further. Thank you.

Hi Katerina,

It wouldn't let me reply to your question, but my recipient list is only about 151 which is far below the max limit. Any insights as to why my template doesn't seem to be working? Thanks

Hi Vivian,

Thank you for the response.

We have checked the work of the ~%Add macro with the To field and tried to insert 170 email addresses, everything works correctly on our side. We have tested in the following configurations:
- Windows 11 pro, OS build 22621.2283 + Outlook 64-bit, Version 2308 build 16.0.16731.20182 (Current Channel)
- Windows 11 pro, OS build 22621.2283 + Outlook Online in Google Chrome 116.0.5845.188

Please contact us by email, support@ablebits.com, to investigate the issue further. Thank you.

Hello, I'm trying to create a email template, but is there a max amount of people that is allowed to be in the "To" field? This email template I am sending out has a big recipient list, so when I add everyone to the To field and then try to test out my template, it doesn't seem to work. I've re-tested it with a small recipient list and it seems to work just fine, so want to know what the max is or if maybe there's a bug that can be fixed within the add in itself. Thanks

Is it possible to begin an email template with Good morning [Recipient], Good afternoon [Recipient], Good evening [Recipient], depending on the time of day?

Hi,

Is it possible to import a specific font in Shared Email Templates, or have the templates default to the font set in Outlook?

We use a specific font for all our written communications and I'm looking for a way to update my existing templates to this font without having to copy and paste individual ones between your plugin and a text editor (and having to re-add all my macros).

Thanks in advance!

Hello Teun,
Thank you for your question.
Sorry, it is currently not possible to update all your templates to your custom font in one go. Each template should be updated individually. You can prepare your text in Word using a custom font and then copy and paste that text into your template. Thank you.

I'm looking for a way to paste a URL into a What to Enter field and have it output a clickable link message.
The message could be the same for every instance the template is used, like "Click here to access your profile".
Is this possible?
Thanks in advance,
Greg

Hello,

Is there any way to hide certain content from non-admin or non-editor teammates?

Specifically, I have tables set up that some of the email templates are linked to. Right now, anyone on the team can see the tables, but I'd like to hide them from these users. I moved the tables to "My Templates", but then any fields in a shared template that references the table(s) don't come up for anyone other than me (presumably since they're stored in "My Templates".

Is there a workaround for this?

Thank you!

Hello,

We have a template we are using that has a auto cc function added:

~%FILLCC

However, it keeps replacing anyone we currently have in the cc line with who we want to auto cc. Any way to fix this?

Thanks,
Tara

Hello Tara,

Thank you for your message. It looks like the ~%AddCc macro will suit your needs better. It will keep the email addresses you already have in the Cc field. By the way, you can find all the macros the Shared Email Templates add-in offers here.

I don't seem to be able to install Shared Templates to our shared mailbox. We have a support mailbox which is shared, but it won't install. The error we get is: Sorry, we can't complete this operation right now. Please try again later.
It installed to my personal email box straight away without a problem.
Is this a known issue with Shared Email Templates?
Kari

Hello Kari,

Thank you for your comment. It is possible to use Shared Email Templates in a shared mailbox. But you don't need to install the add-in for the shared account, you just need to install it for your personal one. Open your shared mailbox, click New Message, and choose the necessary email address in the From field, the Shared Email Templates icon will be available in your Ribbon. Start the add-in to get access to your templates.

Do you think you'll be adding the option to save a template with an attachment? I currently use several templates with PDF attachments and i need them to be saved together so i can quickly send them, vs, having to reattach the PDF each time i'm using the template.

Brian Jenkins says:
January 28, 2020 at 5:10 pm

Recently downloaded.

Is there a way to add attachments in a stable format at this time?

Katerina Bespalaya (Ablebits Team) says:
January 28, 2020 at 5:32 pm

Hello Brian,

Thank you for your interest in our product. You can attach files to your templates from URL or OneDrive in the current version of Shared Email Templates. Please see more details on how to do this here.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Arthur Arellano says:
January 9, 2020 at 4:51 am

I first started with your Template Phrases, then realized you had to manually copy paste each template to all the other in boxes with absolutely no way to import/export all my templates, nor was it cross platform compatible so I had to abandon the software after manually copy pasting 77 templates. The user above is asking the same question we probably are all asking, why is this software so difficult to use, why can't your dev team quickly build an import/export tool? Would be so easy to build from Excel, Word or whatever. Anyway, Ablebits then recommended I use Shared Templates so I was forced to manually add all our templates and unknowingly was blocked from entering anything more than 40. So I spent all this time entering 40 phrases and I'm prevented from entering the rest of our phrases. Where does it say there is a max of 40 templates? Had I known this I would not have wasted even more time. Ablebits doesn't seem to have answers or solutions to users needs. Its basically here's our software use it if you can approach. Its been frustrating trying to set up templates.

Hello Arthur,

Thank you for your feedback and your criticism. The thing is, Shared Email Templates is currently in an early beta-phase (we’ve published it in the middle of December) and we constantly improve and develop it.

Now, it includes the main features only and we eagerly get all the feedback and criticism from our users. Thank you for sharing it with us.

As for the export/import feature, of course, it is in our roadmap. I suppose it will be available after a couple of next releases.

Limits. Now there are 2 plans available: https://www.ablebits.com/outlook-shared-email-templates/index.php#uslp15-blockid-prices-oset

It looks like you have selected the free plan. So, your templates are limited by 40.

Please keep in mind that we don’t rush to roll out new features to interfere with the add-in’s stability. We test each release thoroughly under all supported platforms so please give us some time :) Thank you.

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