Video: Templates and stationery

Overview Transcript

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Use an email template if you send similar emails frequently. And stationery gives your email a consistent look with colorful backgrounds, patterns, and designs.

If you send virtually identical e-mails over and over again, such as status emails, you'll save time by using an email template.

You create an email template, just like an email. Click HOME, New Email, and add what you want to the template, such as text, documents, and so on. If Outlook is configured to automatically include your signature and emails, don't include it in the template.

Select the Signature and press Delete. If you plan to send this email to the same people every time, you can add them to the To and Cc lines now.

Or, you can add or remove recipients before you send the email.

Because this email will become a template, you can even leave reminders for yourself in the text.

For example, I am adding a note to myself to include the month and the subject. After you write the email, don't send it. Save it as a template instead. We click FILE, Save As, click the down arrow next to Save as type and click Outlook Template.

It is important that you don't change where the template is saved, up here.

Give the template a name and click Save.

When you close the email, a dialog appears asking if you want to save your changes.

But, this is for the email not the template we just saved.

So, click No.

Now, we are ready to use the template. The following steps may seem a little confusing at first.

But, it'll only take a few clicks to get the hang of it.

On the HOME tab, instead of clicking New Email, click New Items.

Go to More Items and click Choose Form.

Click the down arrow next to Look in, click User Templates in File System, and there is our template.

If you don't see your template, try the previous step again, making sure you picked User Templates in File System.

Outlook will look for your templates only in this specific place.

We select the template and click Open.

Now, you can make the changes you want. And, doing so won't change the template.

For example, I'll add the month to the Subject, delete the note to myself, type the status for Milestone B, and insert the project's current timeline.

Double-check the message is going to who you want, and click Send.

Up next: Create templates for calendars, tasks, and contacts.