Outlook Email Templates: Create, Save and Reuse
An Outlook email template helps reuse the stable part of a message. The recipient, dates, attachments and actual decision still need a fresh check. This guide separates saving a template in Outlook from preparing its wording in Brainbaby. Start with a free text example, adapt it to your own facts and choose the Outlook option available in your version and account.
Five professional email examples you can edit
Download original fictional examples with source facts and a review checklist. Adapt the recipient, dates and request before using a draft.
Editable plain text (.txt) · English · No account needed
Download five professional email examples
These are authored examples, not generated AI results or sent messages. The free download does not run AI. A new AI draft in chat uses your account allowance.
Step by step
Choose a repeatable situation
Start with one message you write often: requesting a missing file, giving a project update or asking for feedback. Identify what is stable and what changes each time. A greeting and short request can be reusable; a recipient address, delivery date or approval usually cannot. Build a small template for one situation rather than an oversized message that tries to cover every client.
Choose the template feature in your Outlook
Microsoft distinguishes Mail Templates for complete emails from My Templates for short reusable text. Its current instructions require a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription for these features. If My Templates is absent, organization settings may restrict add-ins. Check the linked Microsoft instructions for your Outlook version; a Brainbaby subscription does not unlock Microsoft features.
Save a complete email in new Outlook or on the web
In Microsoft’s documented new Outlook and web workflow, compose a draft, then choose Mail template and Save email as template. Saved templates are listed under Settings, Mail, Templates. Use a descriptive name. Review any saved recipients or attachments when reusing the template.
Save a short snippet or a classic Outlook template
For short wording, Microsoft documents My Templates in a new message, then +Template, a title and the text, followed by Save. Classic Outlook also has File, Save As, Outlook Template for saving a draft. A plain .txt download from this page is not an .oft file; renaming it does not convert it.
Reopen and adapt the draft
Test the saved template in a new draft before relying on it. Substitute the current recipient, your name and the source facts. Read the subject and message together: a reminder subject can imply an earlier request, while “approved” can imply a decision. Make sure those implications are supported. Check the actual attachment list in Outlook separately from the wording.
Use AI for wording after checking the facts
The brief planner below can organize notes for a Brainbaby chat draft. Load a fictional example to see the structure, or enter your own permitted source. Edit the prepared instructions and explicitly continue into chat if you want an AI draft. This guide does not connect to your mailbox, save an Outlook template, book a meeting or send an email. AI requests use the current account allowance.
A reusable missing-file template
This original fictional example has no recipient address, attachment or promised review date. Its stable part asks for a file; the brackets mark facts to supply for each use. It is authored guidance, not an AI result or a message from a customer.
Template wording
Subject: [File name] for review Hi [Name], Thanks for the update. I could not find [file name] attached to your message. Could you resend it? I will need the file before I can review [the specific content]. Thanks, [Your name]
What stays stable
The request explains what is missing and why it is needed. Keep that structure when it describes the actual situation. There is no invented review deadline or claim that the file was opened. If the file is available through another channel, change the request rather than sending an inaccurate missing-attachment reply.
What changes every time
Replace each bracket with the current name or detail. Remove brackets that do not apply. Confirm that the message really arrived without the relevant file and that you need it for the task. If an attachment or link is supplied elsewhere in the thread, the template may need a different question.
Keep a template separate from a commitment
Project dates
A template can include a place for an agreed date; it cannot establish that agreement. Keep a planned date distinct from a promised one. If a dependency is unresolved, name it and ask for the missing input. Do not reuse last week’s Friday date just because it appears in a saved message.
Meeting times
Write the actual time zone rather than assuming both people share one. A useful availability message can ask for the other person’s zone and the duration. It should not say a meeting is booked when you are still proposing a time. Keep calendar confirmation separate from reusable email wording.
Approvals and attachments
A saved sentence such as “attached is the approved version” contains two claims. Check both in the current draft. Change it when approval is still pending or a file is missing. An AI rewrite can make a sentence sound confident without making either claim true.
Use the free examples without an account
Open the text pack and select one example
The pack contains five complete illustrative emails plus their source facts and review notes. Copy only the email draft into your working document or email composer. The source-facts and review sections are instructions for you; they should not be pasted into the recipient’s message. Keep the original pack as a reference rather than overwriting it with a client’s details.
Make the example yours before saving it
Replace the café project, page outline and illustrative times with your own facts. Remove irrelevant promises instead of adding them to fit the example. Read the text aloud or ask whether the recipient could answer the request without guessing. Save reusable wording only after this review, then still review the next draft when the situation changes.
Check a new draft rather than assuming a save proves everything
Opening a saved template shows whether the reusable text is there. It does not prove the recipient is correct, an attachment is current or the message has been sent. Check the final draft in Outlook and use its send action only when you choose. This page supplies text and instructions; it has not performed an Outlook device test for your account.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create an email template in Outlook?
Identify your Outlook version first, then follow the matching official instructions linked above. Start with one reviewed draft and reopen the saved result before reusing it.
Does the free download include an Outlook .oft file?
No. It is a plain-text pack with five original examples and review notes. Copy the selected email into Outlook and use Outlook’s own template controls where available. Renaming .txt to .oft does not make an Outlook template.
Why can I not find My Templates?
Check the feature requirements in the official Microsoft instructions and ask your administrator about your account. This guide cannot change your organization’s settings.
Does Brainbaby save or send a template in my Outlook account?
No action on this guide saves a template in Outlook or sends an email. The planner prepares an editable instruction brief. An AI draft in Brainbaby is a separate explicit request, and you review and use the result yourself.