There have been literally hundreds of times over the years where I have thought after typing a long email that hey I should save this as a template for use later.

Saving an email as a template is fairly straightforward. Having it easily accessible I found out is another thing altogether.

One Click = One Template

The following instructions basically create a Macro which will open the email template you have made and also attach this Macro to a tab in Outlook that you can click once and make it work. Once you have made a couple of these it is very easy to replicate as many times as you want.

As a bonus, I have also included some Auto Hot Key code which will launch the template straight from the keyboard. If you are like me and navigate outlook mainly by keyboard this will be super handy.

Step 1:

Open a new email.

Delete the existing signature (if any), otherwise, when the template is used later it will have two signatures which will look odd!

Populate the email with your desired recipients, Subject and Body. You can also add any attachments as well.

 

Step 2:

GOTO:       File –> Save as Template

Name the template. For this example, I have used “Test Template”. Before you hit save, copy the file path and filename down, you will need it during the next step.

Example:

C:\Users\XX Your User Name XX \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Test Template

Hit save.

 

Step 3:

Open Macros in Outlook. You can search Macro if you are not sure where to find it (within Outlook) and it should pop up.

Create a new Macro and give it a name. I have named this one “TestTemplate” (Note there is no space between words and the create option won’t be available if there is a space).

The Visual Basic Editor will open.

Copy and Paste the below into the editor and save.

Sub TestTemplate()
Set temp = Application.CreateItemFromTemplate( _
“C:\Users\XX Your User Name XX\AppData\Roaming\” _
& “Microsoft\Templates\Test Template.oft”)
temp.Display
Set temp = Nothing
End Sub

You need to change the names to match. I have made bold italic above. My test example is below for reference.

Step 4:

GOTO:       File –> Options –> Customise Ribbon –>

You can add a New Tab to Outlook to easily locate your templates later or you can add to an existing one.

The tab I have added is labeled as Email and will show up on your menu bar like below once finished.

Click on Add a New Tab and then add a new group (to this new tab) and then rename it if wanted. I have a few already added as per below but have not renamed them as the New Group name is not displayed.

Next, go to the drop down listed label Popular Commands (Still within the Customise The Ribbon Top Left Hand Side) and select Macros.

Select the Macro you just created in step 3 and click the Add button in the middle of the screen. The email template will now be visible in the New Group that was created.

Now select this and rename it to something suitable and choose an Icon. In the below screenshot I have renamed both the group and the Macro. You will see this name and icon from the main menu.

Click OK and you are all set!

Navigate to your new tab, select the template you have made and you are now faster than most of your competition, er, I mean colleagues. Just repeat this process as needed for any other templates you wish to set up.

 

Using Auto Hot Key to assign a Hotkey

If you really wanted to bypass the mouse altogether you could assign your newly created template to a hotkey (Keyboard Shortcut) using Auto Hot Key.

The basic code is below, which is simply navigating the Outlook Ribbon to launch the Macro is executed by pressing Ctrl + 1 together.

You will need to modify the code numbers to reflect the location of your Macro (for example mine below is the 6th macro on my system).

#IfWinActive, ahk_class rctrl_renwnd32 ;If the Outlook Inbox is active
^1:: ;Control+1 together
Sleep 1000 ;Wait 1 second
Send, {ALT} ;Sends ALT Key
Send, y ;Sends Y Key
Send, 1 ;Sends 1 Key
Send, y ;Sends Y Key
Send, 6 ;Sends 6 Key
return