Recurring emails can save you quite some time in the long run. For example, if you are a small business owner or you are maybe an accountant and you work with payroll, you probably have to send several, if not dozens emails at the end of the month to your employees or contractors.
Instead of emailing them, one by one, every single month to remind them to send their invoices, you can just set up a recurring email to do the job for you. See how this is brilliant?
In this blog post, we will show you step-by-step how to send recurring emails in Outlook with two different methods, so you can choose what works best for you.
But before we jump straight into the methods to schedule recurring emails, let’s first take a look at some important best practices that can improve the experience of email campaigns for your end users.
Best practices when setting up and sending recurring emails in Outlook
Get permission.
You should only send recurring emails to people who have agreed to receive them and who find them valuable. You should also provide an option for them to unsubscribe or change the frequency of the automatic emails if they wish.
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Set an end when appropriate.
You should specify an end date or condition for your recurring emails if they are not meant to last indefinitely. For example, if you are sending a recurring email to remind someone of a project deadline, you should stop sending the reminder email after the project is completed.
Proofread your content
You should make sure that your recurring email is clear, accurate, and error-free before you set it up. We recommend also checking the recurring email settings periodically to make sure that the information is still relevant and up-to-date.
Be prepared to update your recurring email information.
You should be ready to change or cancel your recurring email if there are any changes in the situation, such as a change of the mail recipient, a change of date or time, or a change of content.
Method 1) Setting up a recurring event in Outlook
Step 1: Compose your email
Open your Outlook application or go to the Outlook website and log in with your Office 365 account.
On the ribbon at the top left, click on the “New Email” button to compose a new email.
In the new email window, enter the email address of the recipients you want to send the email to in the “To” field.
Compose the content of your email entirely, including the subject and body and also the signature if you want it to show in the email.
Step 2 – Set up the Delay Delivery Option
Once you finish composing your email, click on the “Options” tab in the ribbon at the top of the window.
In the “More Options” group, click on the “Delay Delivery” button. This will open the message options window.
In the message options window, check the box next to “Do not deliver before” and select the specific date and time you want the email to be sent.
Click “Close” to close the message options window.
Now, instead of clicking the “Send” button, click on the “File” tab in the ribbon at the top of the window.
Step 3 – Save email as a template
In the “Save As” section, click on the “Save As” button and choose “Outlook Template” from the dropdown menu.
Give your email template a name and save it.
Close the email window without sending the email.
Step 4 – Set recurring events in Outlook
Go to your Calendar in Outlook.
Click on the “New Appointment” or “New Event” button to create a new event.
In the event window, enter a title for the event, in this case I named it Biweekly marketing meetings.
Set the start and end times for the event.
In the event window, click on the “Recurrence” button to open the recurrence settings.
In the recurrence settings, choose the recurrence pattern that you need. In this case, this is a biweekly meeting. So I set the pattern to Weekly and also made sure to set it to recur every two weeks on Wednesday.
In the range of recurrence, set start and end dates. This is important because you don’t want to annoy your clients or peers by sending emails after the project or event has finished. Click ok.
In the Insert tab at the top, click on the “Add Attachments” button and select the same email template that you saved earlier.
Save the event.
Method 2) Using power automate
For this method, you will need to open Outlook in the browser since the option is not available in the app.
Step 1 – Log onto Outlook on the web
Log onto Outlook.com. Once logged in, click on the app launcher in the top left-hand corner and scroll down until you find Power Automate.
If you can’t find it, click on Explore all your apps and search there.
Step 2 – Open Power Automate
On the Power Automate homepage, click on the Create icon.
Next, click on Schedule cloud flow. This sort of flow allows you to send automatic emails and specify when and how frequently the email should be sent.
Step 3 – Set up the workflow
This brings up a settings menu where you may give your new flow its name. You can also indicate when the flow will become active.
By default, it activates as soon as you establish the flow. You can also specify how often the repeating email should be sent out. You can choose between months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and even seconds. You can easily set it up to send out weekly or monthly emails.
In this case, I set it to send recurring email reminders once every two weeks.
Once you click Create, you can always update the recurrence if you need to. To change the recurrence, simply click on the step in the flow. You can also specify the exact moment when the repeat should occur. For example, you could wish to send an email at exactly 1 pm, like I did in the example.
Now that the recurrence is set up, click on the plus sign to add a Next Step.
On this screen, you can select an action. Type in Outlook, and the group will be filtered down to Outlook. You will see Office 365 Outlook.
If you have a paid account, you can select this option. Outlook.com is another alternative. This works whether you have a free or premium account. To set up recurring emails, choose either Office 365 Outlook or Outlook.com.
Once you choose Outlook.com, you’ll see the list of actions available. Click on the Send an Email (V2) action.
You may now draft your recurring email. You can use the Show Advanced Options button to add persons to cc, bcc, or even attach files.
When you’re done, click Save to activate your new flow.
Step 5 – Test the workflow
You may test your new recurring email by clicking the test button in the top right corner.
This sends a test email to each of your recipients. On the left-hand side, select My Flows to view all of your recurring emails.
In My Flows, you may manually send your recurring message by email, view a log of all emails sent, alter your recurring email, and pause or delete it.
How to schedule an email in Outlook
The email scheduling feature is one of the most useful functions that help you write the email and send it at a later time. Some of the benefits of scheduling emails are:
You can be sure your emails show up in the top of the recipient’s inbox by timing them right.
You can respond promptly when your thoughts are still fresh, but wait to send until later when the time is better.
You can surely make it convenient to handle various time zones by opting the best time for the recipient.
You will never forget critical dates because you can schedule email in advance for birthdays, anniversaries, or reminders.
Step 1: Write a new email in Outlook.
Log into your Outlook account, click the ‘New Email’ button, and compose your email as usual, including the subject line, email body, and recipient(s).
Step 2 – Access the ‘Delay Delivery’ feature
Once you’ve composed your email, use the ‘Delay Delivery’ tool to schedule it to be sent at a later time.
To schedule your email, click the ‘Options’ option in the header menu and pick ‘Delayed Delivery’.
Step 3 – Set delivery date and time
After clicking ‘Delay Delivery’, a popup window will appear on your screen.
Find the ‘Delivery Options’ area and choose the ‘Do not deliver before’ tick.
Once marked, specify the day and time you want your email to be delivered to the recipient(s).
Step 4 – Click ‘Close’ and ‘Send’
After selecting the best date and time to send your email, shut the pop-up window and click the ‘Send’ button to schedule it in Outlook.
Once you click the ‘Send’ button, your email will be saved in the Outbox folder and sent automatically on the specified date and time.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How can I set Outlook to send daily emails automatically?
Outlook’s ‘Recurring Messages’ function allows you to automatically send daily emails to many recipients.
2. How do I automate several emails in Outlook?
While Outlook does not allow you to fully automate multiple emails, you might try establishing multiple repeating messages to send them automatically.
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Summing Up
And that’s it! You have successfully set up a recurring email in Outlook using the methods shown today. This method is great if you want to have more control over the recurrence pattern and the end date of your emails.
We hope this blog post was helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below or contact us at sales@wingmansolutions.ca for dedicated Micrososft 365 solutions for your business. Thank you for reading and happy emailing!
