Streamline email responses using Quick Parts in Outlook

As a business owner, I spend a significant amount of time responding to and sending emails. Over the course of a week, a significant portion of my administrative tasks relates to email responses. One of those tasks is responding to frequently asked questions where quite often an in-depth response is needed along with some customised elements.

As a way of streamlining this process and to ensure consistent delivery of information, I utilise the Quick Parts feature of Microsoft Outlook to allow me to insert reusable information into an email message without having to type it each time or resort to copy and pasting from another source. This reusable information can be created based on simple information such as your contact details right through to multiple paragraphs including formatting and numbered/bullet lists.

Quick Parts is also included as a feature in Microsoft Word so be sure to take a look at my post, Quick Parts – the quickest way to insert reusable information in Word.

To set up a Quick Part, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook (I’m using Outlook 2016)
2. Open a new blank email message using Ctrl + N on the keyboard
3. Type in the block of text you wish to save for future use

Tip: I use this feature for content which ranges from long sentences through to multiple paragraphs. Essentially any text you include on a regular basis, you can use within Quick Parts.

4. Format the text in the way you will want it to be displayed including formats such as bold, italics or numbered lists
5. Now highlight the text/paragraph
6. Click the Insert tab and select the Quick Parts button

7. From the menu select Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery
8. The Create New Building Block dialog box will appear:

9. Change the name to something more descriptive so you can easily identify each block of information later
10. Now click OK
11. Delete the text you have just saved, or create another new blank email message
12. Select Insert > Quick Parts
13. You will see your entry listed along with a preview

14. Click on the entry to insert it into your blank email message
15. Voila, the block of text is now inserted into your email
16. You can insert multiple Quick Parts into the one email message to build a complete message if needed
17. Quick Parts will also work when you reply or forward an email message

This is a nice easy way to quickly reuse content within Microsoft Outlook.