Create a template by saving a draft email you've already written

The fastest way to make an email template in Outlook is to write an email the way you want it to look, then save it as a template instead of sending it. Open Outlook and start a new message. Write your subject line, add any text, formatting, or signature you want to reuse, and insert any images or attachments that should appear every time. Do not add a recipient yet — leave the "To" field blank.

Once the email looks the way you want it, go to File in the top menu, then select Save As. A dialog box will open. At the bottom, you'll see a dropdown that says "Outlook Message Format" or similar. Click that dropdown and change it to Outlook Template (the exact name varies slightly by Outlook version, but it will say "Template"). Give your template a name — something clear like "Weekly Status Report" or "Client Follow-up" — then click Save.

Key Takeaways

  • Write your email with subject, body text, formatting, and attachments already in place, then use File > Save As and change the format to Outlook Template.
  • Outlook stores templates in a specific folder on your computer; if you can't find a saved template, check that folder location in your Outlook settings.
  • To use a template, go to File > New > Select a Template and choose the one you want; Outlook will open a fresh copy without changing the original.
  • You can edit a template by opening it, making changes, and saving it again with the same name — Outlook will overwrite the old version.
  • Templates work best for emails you send regularly with the same structure, like status updates, meeting requests, or customer responses.

Find and use a template you've already saved

Once you've saved a template, you need to know where to find it. In Outlook, go to File in the top menu. Look for an option that says New or New Items — the exact wording depends on your Outlook version. Click that, and you should see Select a Template or More Templates. Click it.

A window will open showing your saved templates. Find the one you want and click it. Outlook will open a fresh copy of that template as a new message. You can now fill in the recipient, make any changes you need, and send it. The original template stays unchanged, so you can use it again next time.

Understand where Outlook stores your templates

Outlook saves templates in a specific folder on your computer. On Windows, this is usually C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates. On a Mac, it's typically in Users/[Your Username]/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/Data. The exact path can vary depending on your version of Outlook and how your computer is set up.

If you can't find your template through the File menu, you can navigate to this folder directly using your computer's file explorer. Look for files with a .oft extension — that's the Outlook template file type. If you see your template there, it's saved correctly. If it's not there, the template may not have saved properly, and you should create it again.

Edit or delete a template you no longer need

To change a template you've already made, open it through File > New > Select a Template, just as if you were going to use it. Make whatever changes you want — edit the text, update the formatting, add or remove attachments. Then go to File > Save As, change the format to Outlook Template again, and use the exact same name as the original template. Outlook will ask if you want to replace the old version. Click Yes, and your changes are saved.

To delete a template, navigate to the Templates folder on your computer (the path listed above) and delete the .oft file directly. You can also right-click the template in the File > New > Select a Template menu and look for a delete option, though this varies by Outlook version. Once deleted, the template won't appear in your list anymore.

Use templates for recurring emails across different Outlook accounts

If you use Outlook with multiple email accounts, a template you create in one account is usually available in all of them, because templates are stored on your computer, not on your email server. This makes templates especially useful if you manage several inboxes — you can create one "Out of Office" template or one "Meeting Reschedule" template and use it from any account.

However, if you want a template to include a specific email signature or sender address, you may need to create separate versions for each account. When you use the template, Outlook will use whatever account is currently active, but the signature will be whatever you set as the default for that account. If you need different signatures in different templates, create them separately and name them clearly — like "Client Follow-up — Work Account" and "Client Follow-up — Personal Account".

Common reasons a template won't open or save

If you try to save a template and Outlook won't let you, the most common cause is that the file format dropdown isn't actually set to "Outlook Template." Check that dropdown again — it may say "Outlook Message Format" or "HTML" by default. You must change it to the Template option for the file to save as a .oft file.

If you saved a template but can't find it in the File > New menu, the template folder may be in a different location than Outlook is looking for. Check your Outlook settings under File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Security, or look in the Templates folder path listed above. If the template file is there but Outlook isn't showing it, try restarting Outlook — sometimes it needs to refresh to see newly saved templates.

If you're using Outlook on the web (the browser version), templates work differently. Web Outlook doesn't have a built-in template feature the same way the desktop version does. Instead, you can save a draft email and reopen it, or use your browser's autofill feature for repeated text. For full template support, you need the desktop version of Outlook installed on your computer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share a template with someone else?

Yes. Find the template file in your Templates folder (the .oft file), and send it to the other person as an attachment. They can save it to their own Templates folder, and it will appear in their File > New > Select a Template menu. This works as long as you're both using the same version of Outlook.

What's the difference between a template and a signature?

A signature is just the closing part of an email — your name, title, phone number — that Outlook adds automatically to every message you send. A template is an entire email structure you reuse, including subject line, body text, formatting, and attachments. You can use both together: create a template with your message content, and Outlook will still add your signature when you send it.

Can I create a template that sends to the same person every time?

You can save a template with a recipient already filled in, but Outlook doesn't recommend it. If you save an email with a "To" address and then use it as a template, you have to remember to check that you're not accidentally sending to the wrong person. It's safer to leave the "To" field blank in your template and fill it in each time you use it.

Do templates work on my phone or tablet?

Templates created in desktop Outlook don't automatically appear in Outlook on your phone or tablet. Mobile Outlook has limited template support. You can sometimes access templates through the mobile app if your organization uses Outlook 365 with cloud-based templates, but personal templates you create on your computer won't sync to your phone.

Can I organize templates into folders?

Outlook doesn't have a built-in folder system for templates within the process. All templates are stored in the same Templates folder on your computer. You can organize them by using clear, descriptive names — like "Client Follow-up — Initial Contact" and "Client Follow-up — 30 Days" — so they're straightforward to find in the list.