Short answer: Apple Mail on Mac has no template feature. The old Stationery templates are gone too: Apple's guide last documents them for macOS High Sierra, and Mail in macOS 27 has no Stationery option at all. The workaround that works best is a Templates mailbox. Save each template message there, then select one and choose Message > Send Again to open an editable copy while the original stays put. For short, repeated text, signatures and macOS Text Replacements are quicker.
Everything below was checked against Mail in macOS 27 and works the same way in macOS Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15 and Sonoma 14. Pick the method that matches what you send most often.
Does Apple Mail have email templates?
No. There's no Templates menu, no Save as Template command and no template library in Mail on Mac, iPhone or iPad. Older versions of Mail had Stationery: designed message backgrounds you picked from a Stationery button, plus File > Save as Stationery for your own. Apple's Mail guide covers that feature up to macOS High Sierra (10.13), and the guides for later versions don't mention it. In macOS 27, the Stationery commands aren't in Mail at all.
So when people talk about Apple Mail templates today, they mean one of four workarounds:
| Method | Best for | Formatting | Effort to set up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Templates mailbox + Send Again | Whole emails you send often, such as quotes, follow-ups and onboarding notes | Keeps the message as saved | About 5 minutes per template |
| Master draft, copy and paste | One or two templates you edit a lot | Keeps formatting when you paste rich text | A minute |
| Signatures | Fixed blocks of text at the end of a message, like a sign-off or a standard reply | Text, links and images | A few minutes |
| Text Replacements | Short phrases, addresses, links and one-line answers | Plain text | Seconds per snippet |
Method 1: a Templates mailbox and Send Again
This is the closest thing to real templates in Mail. You keep finished messages in their own mailbox and reuse them with Send Again, which opens a copy you can edit. The saved message never changes.
Set it up once
- Choose Mailbox > New Mailbox. For Location, pick your email account if you want the templates on your other devices too, or On My Mac to keep them on this Mac only. Name it Templates and click OK.
- Click the New Message button (or press Command-N) and write the template: subject, body, formatting and any placeholders, such as [name] or [date], that you'll fill in each time. Leave the To field empty.
- Choose File > Save. Mail saves it to your Drafts mailbox. Close the window.
- Open Drafts and drag the message into your Templates mailbox. Repeat for each template.
Use a template
- Open the Templates mailbox and select the template you need.
- Choose Message > Send Again. Mail opens a new, editable copy of the message.
- Add the recipient, replace the placeholders and click Send. The template stays in the Templates mailbox for next time.
Apple documents Send Again for resending a message from your Sent mailbox. Using it on messages kept in a Templates mailbox is a long-standing trick (a university IT knowledge base recommends it), and it's the same command. One tip: don't double-click a template in the Templates mailbox to open it. If you edit and send that, you've used up the original. Send Again always works on a copy.
Any email you've already sent can become a template too. Find it in Sent, choose Message > Send Again, strip out the specifics, save it, and move the draft into Templates.
Method 2: keep a master draft and copy from it
If you only have one or two templates, the low-tech way is fine. Write the message, choose File > Save to keep it in Drafts, and give it an obvious subject, like "TEMPLATE: invoice reminder". When you need it, open the draft, select the body, copy it, close the draft without sending, and paste into a new message.
The risk is obvious: it's easy to fill in a recipient and send the master by mistake. That's why the Templates mailbox above is the better habit once you have more than a couple.
Method 3: use signatures as reusable blocks
A signature in Mail doesn't have to be your name and phone number. You can make several, each with a full paragraph of text, links and an image, and pick one from the Signature menu while you write. That makes them a decent home for standard replies you add to the end of an email.
- Choose Mail > Settings, then click Signatures.
- Select the account in the left column, click the Add button (+) under the middle column and give the signature a name, such as "Pricing reply".
- Type or paste the text in the right column. Use the Format menu for fonts and colors, and drag in an image if you need one.
- In a new message, choose the signature from the Signature pop-up menu to insert it.
If you create the signature while All Signatures is selected, drag it onto the account you want before you can use it. Our guide to customizing your Mac Mail signature goes into more detail.
Method 4: Text Replacements for snippets
For short things you type over and over (your address, a booking link, a two-line answer) macOS Text Replacements are the fastest option. You type a short code and macOS swaps in the full text, in Mail and most other apps.
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Keyboard.
- Click Text Replacements, then click the Add button (+).
- Type the short code (for example, ;addr) and the full text it should become, click Add, then click Done.
- In a Mail message, type the code and a space or punctuation mark, and the replacement appears.
Text Replacements are plain text, so they're no use for formatted emails, but Apple can keep them in sync across your Apple devices. That makes them the one method here that also helps on iPhone. Start codes with a symbol like a semicolon so they never trigger by accident in normal writing.
What about templates on iPhone and iPad?
Mail on iPhone and iPad has no templates either. Your options there are a saved draft you copy from, a Text Replacement (synced from your Mac or created in Settings on the phone), or a different email app. If your Templates mailbox lives in an email account rather than On My Mac, you can still open a template on your phone and copy the text.
Tips for templates that don't embarrass you
- Mark every blank clearly, in brackets or capitals. A stray "Hi [NAME]" is the classic template accident.
- Keep the To field empty in saved templates, so nothing can go out before you've added the right person.
- Mail's Undo Send gives you a few seconds to pull a message back. You can lengthen the delay in Mail > Settings > Composing.
- Review templates every few months. Prices, links and names go stale faster than you'd think.
If you want templates built in
Disclosure: we make Canary Mail. If you send the same emails every week, it's easier to use an app that has templates as a feature. Canary Mail is an email app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android that works with Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange and other IMAP accounts. Its free plan includes email templates, according to our pricing page. The free plan covers unlimited accounts on 2 devices with AI inbox sorting; the Growth plan ($36 a year) adds AI writing and summaries, read receipts and send later. There's a 7-day trial, and paid plans are yearly or lifetime. More than 2 million people use it, and Apple has featured it on the App Store and the Mac App Store.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I create templates in Apple Mail?
Not with a built-in feature. Save template messages in a mailbox called Templates and reuse them with Message > Send Again, which opens an editable copy. Signatures and Text Replacements cover shorter, repeated text.
Where did Stationery go in Apple Mail?
Apple removed it. Its Mail guide documents Stationery up to macOS High Sierra (10.13), and later versions of Mail, including macOS 27, don't include it.
How do I edit a template in Apple Mail?
Select it, choose Message > Send Again, make your changes, then choose File > Save and move the new draft into your Templates mailbox. Delete the old version so you don't mix them up.
Does Apple have email templates on iPhone?
No. Mail on iPhone has no template feature. Use a saved draft, a Text Replacement, or an email app with templates.
Can a template include attachments?
Keep attachments out of templates where you can and attach the current file each time. That way you never send last quarter's price list by mistake.
More Mac Mail guides
- How to customize the Mac Mail sidebar and Favorites
- How to use and rename flags in Mac Mail
- Apple Mail keyboard shortcuts and how to change them
- How to change swipe actions in Apple Mail
- How to customize the Mac Mail toolbar
- Smart Mailboxes in Mac Mail
- How to pin an email in Apple Mail
Other Mac Mail fixes
- Mac Mail not opening or freezing
- Mac Mail keeps crashing
- Mac Mail not sending emails
- Messages stuck in the Outbox
- Mac Mail not receiving emails
- Mac Mail inbox not updating
- Mac Mail can't connect to the server
- "Unable to verify account name or password"
- Mac Mail not showing attachments
- Mac Mail not showing images
- Mac Mail search not working
Sources
- Apple Mail User Guide (macOS 27): Send email messages
- Apple Mail User Guide (macOS Sequoia): Resend emails
- Apple Mail User Guide (macOS 27): Create or delete mailboxes
- Apple Mail User Guide (macOS 27): Edit text and email signatures
- Apple Mac User Guide (macOS 27): Keyboard settings
- Apple Mac User Guide (macOS 27): Replace text and punctuation in documents
- Apple Mail User Guide (macOS High Sierra): Personalize messages with stationery
- San Jose State University (MLML) knowledge base: Save and use messages as templates in macOS Mail
- Canary Mail: Pricing and plan comparison