How To Save An Email As A Template In Outlook

This guide explains how to approach how to save an email as a template in outlook, including the preparation, practical steps, common mistakes, and final checks that help you finish with confidence.

5 minutes Time needed

Easy Difficulty

File location Watch out for

Before You Start

Check first: The template saves everything from the draft email—including formatting, images, attachments, and even 'To', 'Cc', and 'Bcc' fields if you've filled them in. Double-check that you haven't included any sensitive or recipient-specific information before you save.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Common Problems When You Save an Email as a Template in Outlook

Advanced Tips for Outlook Email Templates

Once you've mastered the basics, you can use these advanced techniques to make your templates even more powerful and efficient.

Create a Quick Step to Open a Template

For templates you use daily, navigating through menus is too slow. A "Quick Step" can launch a template with a single click.

Share Your Templates with Your Team

Consistency across a team is vital. You can share your `.oft` template files with colleagues to ensure everyone uses the same approved messaging.

Simply navigate to your templates folder (%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates on Windows), find the `.oft` file you created, and send it to your colleague via email or a shared drive. They just need to save that file into the same templates folder on their own computer. When they go to "Choose Form", the shared template will appear in their list.

Editing an Existing Template

To update or change a template, you don't need to start from scratch. You can edit the original file directly.