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How to set up canned responses in Gmail

Do you ever find yourself writing the same emails over and over again? In this post I’ll show you how to set up canned responses in Gmail to save you some time!

Do you ever find yourself writing the same emails over and over again?

It can be tedious, and it’s definitely not the best use of your time.

This is where canned responses come in. Canned responses are pre-written emails that you can save and send out time and time again. This means you don’t have to keep writing the same response out every time someone emails you about something.

You might have canned responses for frequently asked questions, or to send out information to new potential clients, or to just let people know you have received their email and when you plan on responding to it.

Sometimes people keep their canned responses in a Google Doc, on Evernote, or something similar. But if you use Gmail then you can use its built in canned responses feature to create and use these pre-written emails.

In this post I’ll show you how to enable and use canned responses in Gmail.

This post was last updated on 24th October 2018. 


1 | Enable canned responses in Gmail

Let’s start by logging into our Gmail account. If you don’t have a Gmail account you can set one up for free. For more information about setting up a Google Account, check out this post.

Once you are in your inbox click on the Settings button (it looks like a cog). This will open a dropdown menu. From this menu, select Settings.

Gmail settings | HollyPryce.com

On the Settings page, click on the Advanced tab.

Here you will see an option called Canned Responses. Choose Enable for this particular optionand click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page when done.

Canned responses option in Gmail | HollyPryce.com

2 | Create a canned responses

Now that you have enabled the canned responses lab, you can create your first canned response.

Head back in to your inbox and click Compose just like you would if you were creating a new email.

How to compose a new email in Gmail | HollyPryce.com

Write out your canned response, including a subject for your email if you wish.

When you have finished writing it, click on the three dots in the bottom right hand corner. This will open a menu. From this menu, select Canned responses then select New canned response.

How to create a new canned response in Gmail | HollyPryce.com

A pop up will appear where you should enter the name of your canned response. This can be anything you like. When you’re done, click OK.

Enter a name for your canned response in Gmail | HollyPryce.com

And that’s it! Your canned response has been saved and it’s ready to use.

3 | Use your canned response

To use your canned responses, click Compose to write an email as you normally would.

Then click on the dropdown arrow, and over Canned responses. Then chose your canned response from the options below the Insert title. This will then populate the email (and the subject if you added one) with the content of your canned response.

Insert a canned response in Gmail | HollyPryce.com

If you click a canned response underneath the Save title you will override that particular canned response and replace it with the email you have composed. If you click a canned response underneath the Delete title, you will delete the saved canned response.

Looking for another way to save time in Gmail?

If you love canned responses then I’m sure you will love Boomerang for Gmail.

Boomerang for Gmail allows you schedule emails so that they go out at a later date and time, “snooze” emails so that they appear at the top of your inbox at a more appropriate time, and even set up reminders to chase emails when they’ve not been responded to.

If that sounds useful, be sure to check out my tutorial on setting up and using Boomerang.

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