Templates in Outlook: How to Create, Use and Import Them (2026)

To use templates in Outlook, compose the email you want to reuse and save it as a template: in new Outlook and Outlook on the web that is Message > Mail template > Save email as template, and in classic Outlook it is File > Save As > Outlook Template (*.oft). Which menu you see depends on your version of Outlook, so the first step is knowing which one you are running.

Microsoft now runs several Outlook apps side by side, and each handles templates a little differently. Below are the official methods for each, as of October 2026. Menu names do shift between updates, so if a label looks slightly different on your screen, look for the closest match.

Which template option should you use?

Outlook has three different “reuse this content” features, and they solve different problems.

According to Microsoft’s support page, Mail Templates and the My Templates add-in both require a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription. If you only need a standard reply paragraph, a snippet feature is usually quicker. If you send the same full message to the same people every week, a full template saves more time.

Templates in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web

Full-email templates arrived in new Outlook in 2025. The Microsoft 365 Message Center post MC1129129 announced the rollout starting in September 2025, enabled by default and available across devices.

Save an email as a template

1. On the Home ribbon, select New > Mail.
2. Add whatever you want saved: recipients, subject, body text and attachments.
3. On the Message ribbon, select Mail template > Save email as template.
4. Give the template a name and save it.

Microsoft notes that a template is saved to the account you are composing from. That matters if you have several mailboxes in Outlook: a template saved in your work account won’t appear when you compose from a personal account. Because templates live in the mailbox, the same templates are also available when you sign in to Outlook on the web.

Find and manage your templates

Go to Settings > Mail > Templates. Templates are listed by account, so pick the right account under the “Your templates for” option if you have more than one.

Third-party guides disagree on how much you can edit in that list, and Microsoft’s page does not spell out an in-place editor. One reliable workaround is to start a new email from the template, make your changes, and save it again as a template under the same or a new name.

You may see a cap of 50 templates per account mentioned online. We could not confirm that number in Microsoft’s documentation, so treat it as unverified.

Import templates from classic Outlook

If you are moving off classic Outlook, you don’t have to rebuild your templates by hand. As described by Ablebits and other guides:

1. Open Settings > Mail > Templates.
2. Choose the account you want to add the template to.
3. Select Add > Add OFT and pick the .oft file from your computer.

The import makes a separate copy in your mailbox. It will not sync back to the original .oft file, and templates created in new Outlook are not available in classic Outlook.

Templates in classic Outlook (.oft files)

Classic Outlook for Windows still uses template files on disk, a method that has barely changed in years.

Save a template

1. Create a new email and write the content you want to reuse.
2. Select File > Save As.
3. In Save as type, choose Outlook Template (*.oft).
4. Enter a descriptive file name and select Save.

By default the file goes to your Templates folder, typically C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates, according to Ablebits’ .oft guide. You can save it anywhere, including a shared drive, but templates outside the default folder have to be browsed to manually.

A practical tip from the same guide: if Outlook adds your signature automatically, turn that off before creating a template, or you can end up with two signatures in every message sent from it.

Use a template

1. On the Home tab, select New Items > More Items > Choose Form.
2. In the Look In list, choose User Templates in File System.
3. Select your template and click Open.

The template opens as a new draft, so your saved file stays unchanged. To update it, open it the same way, make your edits, and use File > Save As with the same name to overwrite the original.

Templates in Outlook for Mac

Microsoft documents a file-based method for Outlook for Mac covering the Microsoft 365, 2024 and 2021 versions:

1. Select the email you want to use as a template.
2. Choose File > Save As Template.
3. Name it, optionally add a tag, pick a location and save. The file ends in .emltpl.

To use it, go to File > New > Email From Template and open the file.

The My Templates add-in is also an option on Mac, but Microsoft says it works with Microsoft Exchange accounts and isn’t available in shared mailboxes. If you can’t find it, your organization may have turned add-ins off.

Snippets: My Templates and Quick Parts

My Templates add-in

My Templates stores short blocks of text rather than whole emails. In new Outlook, classic Outlook and the web:

1. Start a new email.
2. On the Message tab, open Apps and choose My Templates.
3. Select + Template, enter a title and the text, and save.

To insert one later, open My Templates in the same way and click the entry; the text drops into the message body. The first time you open the pane you’ll see a few sample templates, which you can delete or reuse.

Quick Parts

In classic Outlook, Quick Parts is the Word-style building block feature. Microsoft’s Quick Parts and AutoText article describes the process: select the content, then on the Insert tab go to Quick Parts > Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery, name it, and click OK.

Quick Parts also came to new Outlook and Outlook on the web in 2026. Office-Watch reports that you select text in a message, choose Insert > Quick Parts > Save (or right-click and pick Save Selection to Quick Parts), and insert entries from the same menu. Keep in mind that:

• The new Outlook version is simpler. It doesn’t support classic galleries, categories or AutoText.
• Classic Quick Parts are stored locally and do not carry over, so you have to recreate them.
• Entries are tied to one mailbox and can’t be shared across accounts.
• Reports on the exact rollout timing differ, and availability may still depend on your account or tenant.

Common problems

• The template option is missing. Check that you are on a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan, and confirm which Outlook you have. The new Outlook ribbon and the classic File menu are completely different.
• My template vanished when I switched accounts. New Outlook templates belong to the account you saved them from. Switch the “From” account or the account selected in Settings.
• My old .oft files don’t appear in new Outlook. Import them with Add > Add OFT, as described above.
• Add-ins are greyed out at work. Your admin controls add-ins, so ask IT rather than looking for workarounds.

Outlook is still changing quickly as Microsoft moves users from classic to new Outlook, so if a step here no longer matches your screen, Microsoft’s template support page is the best place to check the current menu names.