Forget copy-paste: Extensive guide to set up and use email templates in Gmail

Image Source: Pixabay.com

While most of us have been saving the pre-drafted email in “Drafts” and copy-paste it to a new email every time you need to send it. Not many know that Gmail has a built-in tool known as -Templates that make the entire process easy and you can summon your draft with just a few clicks as in when required.

The best part is that you can create and save up to 50 unique templates that can be used based on the requirements. So, if you plan to send your corporate introduction, sales pitch, or even a news-letter do give this guide a quick read.

How to create and save email templates in Gmail?

While Templates are available for both regular users and G-suite users, the feature needs to be activated before you can create, save and use an email template. Since the feature is off by default, here’s how you can activate it:

•   Log in to your Gmail account if not already logged in
•   Click the gear icon located at the top right to open Quick settings. Then click See all settings
•   Next up, search and click on Advanced. It would be located in the top list
•   In the Templates section, select Enable.
•   Click Save Changes at the bottom

Once activated, we can now create and save a new template:

•   Tap on “Compose”
•   Enter the subject
•   Next up, write the body part of the email that you want to save as a template
•   Once done, click the More (three dots menu) at the bottom located next to the delete icon
•   Click Save draft as template and tap on Save as a new template
•   Assign a name to the new template and click on save
•   To make changes to a template, you can create the draft again and overwrite the existing one.

How to use a Template:

•   Click “Compose” to create a new email
•   Click the More menu (three dots) in the bottom right-hand corner
•   Open “Templates”
•   Choose the template
•   Make the necessary changes. Once done, hit send to send the email

You can also use these templates to respond automatically based on the senders’ email id. Here’s how you can use Templates to auto-respond auto-respond to your emails.

•   Click on the pull-down menu housed on the centre top part of the Gmail page
•   Create a filter by entering your search criteria
•   Click on Create Filter at the bottom
•   Click on Select Template, choose a template
•   Click Create filter