00:00:00
Hi, everyone. Kevin here. Today, we're going to
learn how to send recurring emails in Microsoft
00:00:06
Outlook. For example, say you want to remind
your team to submit their expense reports
00:00:12
every single month, or maybe you want to send a
birthday note to your mom every single year. I'm
00:00:18
sure she would really appreciate that. This
is completely free, it requires no add-ins,
00:00:23
and also no macros. Let's find out how to do
this. To set up a recurring email, log into
00:00:29
the website outlook.com. You have to set this up
on the web, but you can send your email anywhere.
00:00:37
In the top left-hand corner, let's click on
the waffle icon. See, it kind of looks like
00:00:42
a waffle. This is also known as the app launcher,
and this shows you all of your different Microsoft
00:00:47
365 apps. At the very bottom, let's click on the
text that says All Apps, and this shows you all
00:00:52
the different apps that you get with Microsoft
365. If we scroll down just a little bit,
00:00:57
you'll see an option titled Power Automate, and
this helps us automate all sorts of different
00:01:03
flows. This will help us set up that recurring
email. Let's click on this option. This drops us
00:01:09
on the Power Automate home page, and you can use
Power Automate whether you have a work or school
00:01:14
Microsoft account, or even if you have a personal
Microsoft account. Right here in the center of
00:01:19
the page, you'll see a button that says Create.
Let's click on this. This now drops us on a page
00:01:25
where we can set up our flow. If you've never used
Power Automate before, you can automate all sorts
00:01:31
of different processes. If we scroll down the page
just a little bit, you'll see all sorts of sample
00:01:37
templates that show you some of the different
ways that you can use Power Automate. You can
00:01:42
automate all sorts of different apps and services
and tie them together. It's extremely powerful.
00:01:48
If we go back up the page, to set up a recurring
email, we want to set up a scheduled cloud flow.
00:01:54
The reason why is we're going to define when
and how often our email should go out. So,
00:01:59
let's click on this option right here. This
now opens up a prompt, and at the very top,
00:02:04
you can give your flow a name. Here, I'll
call it Brainstorm New Cookies Reminder. At
00:02:09
the Kevin Cookie Company, we want employees always
brainstorming new cookie ideas. That's how we stay
00:02:14
on top of the cookie industry. Down below, you
can indicate when you want this flow to become
00:02:20
active. I want it to be active immediately, so
I'll leave it set to the current date. Down below,
00:02:25
you can also indicate how often you want it to
recur. Now, if I click on this dropdown list,
00:02:30
here I have all these different options. I want
to send out a weekly email. So here, I'll select
00:02:35
Week, and it's currently set to one week. And
down below, I can indicate the day of the week
00:02:40
that I want this email to go out on. I think every
Friday would be good, so let me deselect all these
00:02:46
other days and just leave Friday active. I
think this all looks good, so down below,
00:02:50
I'll click on Create. On this next screen, we
can start building out the flow. At the very top,
00:02:56
we can see the recurrence that we set up on the
previous screen. Here, I can click on that, and
00:03:01
here, I can confirm that it runs on Friday every
single week. That's exactly what I want. Up above,
00:03:06
I could also modify that if, let's say, I want a
different frequency for this email. Down below,
00:03:11
you can also click on Show Advanced Options. And
here, you could configure a few other settings.
00:03:16
For instance, you could set the time zone. Over
here, you could also set the hour for when this
00:03:20
email should go out. Now, I find that 8 a.m. tends
to work the best. That's when people get to work,
00:03:25
and they check their inbox. And this way,
this email will show up at the top of their
00:03:28
inbox. That's exactly what I want. And here,
you could also define the minute. Otherwise,
00:03:33
all these settings look good, so here,
I'll collapse this category. Now that we
00:03:36
have the recurrence all set up, now, we need to
configure it to send out an email. Down below,
00:03:42
let's click on the button that says New Step.
And here, we can now choose an operation. Here,
00:03:47
we can see all the different apps and services
that we can automate. I’ll click on this icon,
00:03:52
and this expands the list of all the different
connectors I can use. Just as an example,
00:03:57
let's say instead of sending an email, you want
to send out a Teams message every week. Here,
00:04:01
you could choose Microsoft Teams, and you have
all these different apps and services that you
00:04:05
can use as well. So, so many different options. Of
course, we want to send out a recurring email. So,
00:04:10
up above, let's type in Outlook, and this will
filter the group just down to Outlook. Over here,
00:04:15
you have Office 365 Outlook. So, if you have a
paid account, you can use this option. Over here,
00:04:20
we have Outlook.com, and if you have a free or
paid account, you could use this. So, in this
00:04:24
instance, I'm going to click on Outlook.com. This
now opens up a list of actions that I can automate
00:04:30
within Outlook, and here too, you have many, many
different options. Of course, we want to send
00:04:35
out an email, and here's an action for sending an
email. Let's click on this option. On this screen,
00:04:41
I can now enter in the details of my repeating
email. Up above, I can specify who I want to send
00:04:47
this email to. Well, I want this to go out to the
marketing team at the Kevin Cookie Company. So,
00:04:51
I'll type in their email address. Over here, I
can enter in a subject. So, hey, please submit
00:04:56
new cookie ideas. And down below, I could also
enter in the body of my message. So, here,
00:05:01
I'll enter in my message. At the very bottom, you
can also expose advanced options, and when I click
00:05:06
on this, here you can copy people on your email.
You could also BCC someone, and you could even
00:05:11
add attachments. So, a few different options that
you can look at. I'll hide the advanced options. I
00:05:17
think this email is now all ready to go. So, down
below, I'll click on save. And look at that. Up on
00:05:23
top, it now tells me that the flow is ready to go.
That means that this flow is now active, and it'll
00:05:28
start sending out the email every single Friday at
8 a.m. They also recommend testing it. In the top
00:05:35
right-hand corner, you'll see this icon that says
test. If I click on that, that opens up a pane,
00:05:39
and here, I can manually test out this flow. And
here, let's click on test. On this next screen,
00:05:45
let's click on run flow. And look at that. It
looks like it successfully sent out the email.
00:05:50
I'll click on done. Right up on top, here, it
lets me know that the flow ran successfully. So,
00:05:55
that means that everyone on the marketing team
has now received this email. Over on the left-hand
00:05:59
side, let's now click into my flows. On the my
flows screen, over here, I see a list of all
00:06:05
of my different flows, or in this case, the one
repeating email that I've set up. When I hover
00:06:11
over it, here, I can manually just run the flow.
Here, I could also go back and edit it. Let's say
00:06:16
that I want it to run every two weeks instead of
every week. And here, if we click on the ellipsis,
00:06:20
I have a few more options. Down here, if I no
longer want to send out this repeating email, over
00:06:25
here, I could turn it off. Back on this main list,
let's click into the flow to see what additional
00:06:30
details we get. On this next screen, I can see all
the details of this flow. And if I go down to the
00:06:36
very bottom, here, I can even see a run history.
And look at that. There's my test that I just sent
00:06:41
out a moment ago. All right. Well, hopefully,
this helps you save a lot of time with all of
00:06:46
those repetitive emails that you have to send out.
But please don't use this for your mom's birthday.
00:06:52
She carried you for nine months. The least she
deserves is a phone call. To watch more videos
00:06:59
like this one, please consider subscribing,
and I hope to see you in the next video.