The tutorial shows how to create reusable pieces of content for Outlook emails by using Quick Parts, AutoText and Shared Templates. Show
Like many Outlook users, you may often need to send the same text over and over again - new offers to your business partners, replies to prospective clients, reports to supervisors, and so on. Do you still do it the long and tedious keystroke way? In this case, you'll certainly find Quick Parts very useful. Not only will they save you a surprising amount of time, but also introduce consistency and accuracy in your emails. What is Outlook Quick Parts?Outlook Quick Parts is a gallery of reusable pieces of content that you can quickly insert into your email messages as well as appointments, meeting requests, contacts, and tasks. Microsoft defines this feature as building blocks. Quick Parts were introduced in Outlook 2007 as a more versatile replacement for AutoText from previous versions. These snippets of predefined content are not limited to text only - they can include images, tables, graphics, and formatting. The Quick Parts feature works the same way in all versions of Outlook for Office 365, Outlook 2021, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, and Outlook 2007. How to create Quick Parts in OutlookTo begin with, type the desired text, format it the way you want, and include graphics if needed. Technically, it does not matter where you create a new building block - the steps are the same for emails, appointments, contacts and tasks. When your new piece of content is ready, here's what you do to add it to the Quick Part Gallery:
Once a Quick Part is created, you can access and reuse it at any time from everywhere including emails, meeting requests, tasks, etc. Quick Parts attributesBy specifying the following details, you can better organize Quick Parts for your specific needs: Name - type a unique name for your new Quick Part. Because a building block can be inserted by name, short and meaningful names can save you a lot of time. In the gallery, the names are listed in alphabetical order. So, if you want a specific entry to appear at the top of the list, you can prefix the name with a number or underscore, e.g. "1map" or "_map". Gallery - select the gallery in which you want the new building block to appear. Outlook can save entries in many different galleries, but generally you'll use Quick Parts and AutoText. Category - categories belong to galleries and you can regard them as kind of sub-folders for further grouping. The default category is General. If you have over 10 reusable pieces, it's a good idea to organize them in your own categories. For this, click the drop-down arrow and choose Create New Category. Description - optionally, type some text that describes the entry. But you may not bother about this attribute, as you'll never see it or use it. Save In - Save to the default NormalEmail.dotm template if you want the new Quick Part to be available in all emails and other Outlook items. If you use your own Outlook templates, you can isolate your building blocks by template. A template must be open to appear in the drop-down list. Options - defines how the entry is inserted:
How to use Quick Parts in OutlookThere are three ways to insert building blocks into Outlook items. The below instructions are for emails because we use them most often. The techniques for tasks, appointments, and contacts are exactly the same. Insert Quick Parts by pressing F3The fastest way to put a reusable piece of content into an email message is this:
For example, to insert the Quick Part named "Map", you type "map" and press F3. The image below shows the result: In most cases, you do not need to enter the whole name. It is enough to type the part of the name until it becomes unique. Let's say, you have two Quick Parts named "Thanks for support" and "Thank you":
Auto-complete Quick Parts with the Enter keyIn Outlook 2016 and higher, Quick Parts can also be auto-completed by hitting the Enter key. You just start typing the name and as soon as it becomes
unique the "Press ENTER to Insert" suggestion appears. Press the Enter key and the content is inserted straight away. Notes:
Insert Quick Parts by choosing from the galleryIf you have many building blocks and you cannot remember the name of the particular snippet that you want to use, find it in the Quick Parts Gallery:
How to rename and edit Quick PartsTo modify an existing Quick Part, here's what you need to do:
How to quickly modify multiple Quick PartsIf you'd like to change several entries, this can be done faster via the Building Block Organizer:
How to change the content of a Quick PartThe Modify Building Block dialog box only allows renaming Quick Parts and changing their attributes, but not the content. To change the Quick Part's content, you need to replace it with a new one. Here's how:
Note. To replace the original entry in the gallery, the new entry's name and all the attributes must be the same as the original. How to delete Quick Parts in OutlookIf you want to permanently remove a certain building block from the gallery, this is what you need to do:
Outlook AutoTextIn Outlook 2003, AutoText was the only type of the available building blocks. In Outlook 2007, Quick Parts appeared, and AutoText became its part. In the modern versions of Outlook, the only difference between Quick Parts and AutoText is that they are different galleries. In all other respects (creating, editing and inserting), they are absolutely the same. To add a new AutoText entry, select the text that you want to store and do one of the following:
Or you can create a Quick Part as usual, but choose to save it to the AutoText Gallery: To view the existing AutoText entries, click Quick Parts > AutoText: Where are Quick Parts located?Outlook Quick Parts are stored in the NormalEmail.dotm file, which is located here:
If you want to export your quick parts from one computer to another, simply paste the NormalEmail.dotm file to the Templates folder on another PC. Using Outlook Quick Parts - tips and tricksBelow I will share a few little secrets can make a great difference in the way you use Quick Parts in Outlook. Add Quick Parts to Quick Access ToolbarTo always have the building blocks at your
fingertips, add them to the Outlook Quick Access Toolbar. For this, just right-click the Quick Parts button, and then click Add to Quick Access Toolbar: That's it! The Quick Parts Gallery is now easily accessible from almost everywhere. Add Quick Parts to Outlook ribbonAs you already know, Quick Parts reside on the Insert tab. If you plan to frequently use them in your work, it can be more convenient to have your building blocks on the default Message tab. To have it done, carry out these steps:
Back up and restore Outlook Quick PartsAs mentioned above, Outlook Quick Parts are located in the NormalEmail.dotm file, which is stored here:
To back up your Quick Parts, close Outlook and copy this file to a save location. To restore Quick Parts, copy the file from your backup location to the Templates folder, with Outlook closed. Please note that aside from Quick Parts, the NormalEmail.dotm file also contains settings for all the styles that you have added or modified. So, when you back up and restore Quick Parts, your custom styles are also copied and restored. How to add attachments to Quicks PartsSorry, bad news first - there is no way to add an attachment to a Quick Part :( The good news is that there are at least two other ways to automatically add attachments in Outlook:
The Quick Parts and AutoText galleries surely beat manual copying and pasting. But I personally do not use them in my work. Why? Because I have a better choice - Shared Email Templates for Outlook. The Email Templates tool has a number of unique features that make it superior to Outlook Quick Parts:
As an example, let's create a template for sending a new price list to your partners. So, you compose the message, add the desired graphics and formatting, and then do the following:
And now, whenever you want to reply with template, simply double click its name. Voilà, your response is ready to go - the text is
inserted, the attachment is added, and the Subject line is filled, all with a mouse click! This is only a quick and short introduction to our new Templates tool, but there is much more to it! If you are curious to discover other useful features, you are welcome to try:
Other ways to reply with template in Outlook:Which file format is available for use if Outlook is configured to support Outlook stores?Certain types of accounts, such as POP accounts, store their information in Outlook Data Files (. pst files). Outlook 365 accounts, Exchange accounts, IMAP accounts, and Outlook.com accounts store their information in Offline Outlook Data Files (. ost files).
Where does Outlook store configuration file?You can find these settings in one of the following locations: Windows 10 drive:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\profile name. xml. Older versions of Windows drive:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\profile name.
Are there PST files in Outlook 365?pst files (personal folders) to your Office 365 account. This allows you to access all of your email no matter what computer you are using. NOTE: We have had reports that importing large . pst files can cause Outlook to crash.
What is the use of PST file in Outlook?pst files are used for POP3, IMAP, and HTTP accounts. To create archives, project files, or backup files of the Outlook folders and items on your computer, including Exchange accounts, you must create and use additional . pst files.
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