How to Use Gmail Templates: The Complete Guide (2025)

If you’re anything like me, chances are there are times when you find yourself writing the same email repeatedly.

Maybe you’re responding to customer queries, confirming bookings, or answering common questions.

The good news is that Gmail now allows you to save up to 50 email templates that you can insert with just a couple of clicks, saving you countless hours of manual work.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to enable Gmail templates, manage them effectively, and even automate email responses. Stick around to the end, where I’ll also show you how to create HTML emails with buttons and custom formatting.

1. How to enable gmail templates
2. How to create and edit gmail templates
3. How to send templates automatically to new emails
4. How to send HTML emails in gmail
5. Bonus: create email templates in Google Docs

How to Enable Gmail Templates

By default, Gmail templates aren’t enabled. Here’s how to activate them:

1. Click the settings cog icon in the top-right corner of Gmail on your computer.
2. Click “See all settings” from the tab that pops up.
3. Navigate to the “Advanced” tab.
4. Next to “Templates,” click Enable.
5. Scroll down and click “Save changes.”

Managing Gmail Templates

Once Gmail templates are enabled, you can easily create, edit, and delete them. Here’s how:

Creating a Gmail Template

1. Click “Compose” in the top-left corner of Gmail on your computer.
2. Write the email you’d like to save as a template in the email composer.
3. At the bottom of the email composer, click the three dots to open more options and select “Templates.”
4. Choose “Save draft as template” and give your template a name.

Editing a Gmail Template

1. Open the template you want to edit by clicking “Compose” and selecting it from the Templates menu.
2. Make your changes in the email composer.
3. Save the updated version by clicking the three dots, selecting “Templates,” and choosing your existing template to overwrite it.

Deleting a Gmail Template

1. Open the Templates menu by clicking the three dots in the email composer.
2. Choose “Delete template” and select the template you wish to remove.

Send Templates Automatically with Filters

Want to automate email responses with templates? Gmail filters allow you to send specific templates automatically based on email criteria.

For example, if you have a contact form on your website and all submissions share the same subject line (e.g., “New form response”), you can set Gmail to send a confirmation email automatically.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Click the search settings icon in Gmail’s search bar (three sliders).

1. Enter the criteria for the emails you want to respond to. For example, in the Subject field, enter “New form response.”

1. Test your filter by clicking “Search” to ensure it identifies the correct emails.
2. Once satisfied, click “Create filter” and check “Send template.”
3. Choose your template from the dropdown and click “Create filter.”

Deleting a Filter

1. Go to Settings > “See all settings.”
2. Open the “Filters and Blocked Addresses” tab.
3. Edit or delete your filters as needed.

Using HTML Templates in Gmail

If you’re creating email templates, you might wonder if you can go beyond plain text to include buttons, logos, or custom designs.

There was a time when pasting raw HTML into Gmail worked perfectly, but for security reasons, those days are gone. Now, if you paste something like <button>Your Button Text</button>, it just appears as raw code:

Thankfully, there’s an easy workaround. You can still create stunning HTML emails—you just need to paste the rendered HTML, not the raw code. Here’s how:

Option 1: For Developers

1. Write your HTML email in a text editor like Notepad, TextEdit, or Visual Studio Code.
2. Save the file with a .html extension.
3. Open it in your browser, press Cmd + A (Mac) or Ctrl + A (Windows) to select everything, then right-click and copy.
4. Open Gmail, click “Compose”, and paste the copied HTML into the email body. Save it as a template for future use.

Option 2: For Non-Developers

If coding isn’t your thing, you can use an HTML email editor, such as the one offered by Mailmeteor’s template library.

These tools allow you to visually edit an existing HTML template—adjusting button colors, fonts, layouts, and more—without needing to know the underlying code. Many advanced editors also offer drag-and-drop elements to help you build your email effortlessly.

Once your design is complete:

1. Switch to the preview mode or export feature and copy the rendered HTML (not the raw code).

1. Paste the HTML into Gmail’s email composer and save it as a template for reuse.

Testing Your HTML Template

Before sending, always:

• Send a test email to yourself to check formatting and responsiveness.
• Preview the email on both mobile and desktop to ensure consistency.

For an in-depth guide to creating HTML emails, check out this resource.

Sending marketing emails with Gmail?

If you’re sending marketing emails with Gmail, you’ll love Mailmeteor. With over 6 million users worldwide, Mailmeteor is an easy-to-use email marketing solution that allows you to:

• Send personalized mass emails directly from your Gmail account.
• Track your results in real-time.
• Automate follow-up sequences to improve response rates.

Login with Gmail to send your next personalized campaign →

FAQs about Gmail templates

Bonus: Prefer to Create Email Templates in Google Docs?

Prefer working in Google Docs? Mailmeteor, the leading email marketing tool for Gmail, offers a Google Docs extension that lets you turn your Google documents into fully responsive email templates. It’s perfect for those who want to:

• Collaborate with others on email drafts in real-time.
• Leverage Google Docs’ formatting tools for polished templates.
• Seamlessly integrate with Gmail to send, track, and manage campaigns.

Discover Mailmeteor for Google Docs →