This is nothing new — from what I can tell, it’s been around since at least October 2008 — but it’s something I just stumbled upon, and for all the time it’s saved me in the past week, I feel an obligation to share with the larger GP-universe. Canned Responses, beyond having a great name, are an easy way to insert stock text into an email. And they’re simple to set up and maintain. I’ve been using them for outreach emails and repeat replies. It’s a great Gmail game-changer. Follow the instructions below, and enjoy this time-saving technique.
1. In Gmail*, click on Settings (the sprocket symbol in the top right corner), and select “Settings”.
2. In the Settings menu, select Labs. Scroll to “Canned Responses” and click “Enable.”
3. Click “Compose” to create a new email. In the bottom right corner, click on the triangle. You will see an option for “Canned Responses.”
4. Write your email, including the subject line and body text. If you have a signature, delete it (to avoid repeating when writing new emails). Click “New canned response…” to save a new response (the subject line will be the name of the new Canned Response).
5. To write an email with a canned response, click “Compose” to create a new email, then click on the name of the canned response under the “Insert” header. Adapt as needed and send!
*Worth noting, I use Gmail still, not Inbox by Google. This guide addresses the steps for Gmail.
