How to Schedule an Email in Outlook? (Updated for 2024)

Scheduling emails in Outlook is very convenient and easy.

Well, there’s a solution to this problem!

But when you are scheduling emails for the first time, you can feel a little lost.

Let me help you navigate through the email scheduling/delaying process for different versions of Outlook (because they have changed Outlook’s UI).

The cool thing is that Outlook gives you options to set automated (out-of-office) replies while you are on vacation and even send mass emails for cold outreach. You don’t even need any other platform.

For now, let’s check the step-by-step process for scheduling emails in Outlook.

How to Schedule an Email in Outlook – Table of Contents

• How To Schedule Emails in Outlook (Generic Method)
• Problems Faced by Users on Outlook
• How To Schedule Emails in Outlook (Using Tools)
• How To Keep Track of Scheduled Emails in Outlook
• Disadvantages of Scheduling Email in Outlook
• Key Takeaway
• FAQs

How To Schedule Emails in Outlook (Generic Method)

FYI, this generic method of scheduling email through Outlook is by using the built-in delay delivery feature.

If you want to schedule emails on Outlook with the help of a tool, then I have covered it in the next section.

Now, coming to the tricky part.

Outlook has made the UI confusing by changing it, and hence, many people are lost when they try to use the delivery feature.

We’ve covered scheduling email processes for three Outlook versions: 

1. Web Outlook (latest UI)
2. Classic Outlook (OG/vintage)
3. New Outlook App

Email Scheduling Process for Web Outlook

The new UI is actually simple to use, but it’s difficult to find the right buttons (with changed names) the first time.

So, here’s a step-by-step guide to schedule emails from web Outlook:

1. Create a new email as usual and write your email like you usually do. Make sure you add all the recipients and fill in the subject line.
2. Go to the downward arrow (⌄) beside the send button and select “Schedule send”.
   
3. Select the time: You can select from available options or by adding custom time, then select send.
   
4. When you click send, your mail will be saved to drafts until the delivery time that you specified.

If there are any changes in plans and you want to send your scheduled mail instantly.

All you need to do is, Go to drafts ➤ Select your scheduled email ➤ Select edit (pen) icon ➤ Click on “Send now”.

Email Scheduling Process for Classic Outlook

Classic Outlook does not have many users, but still, if you’re working with officials, then it’s likely that old school Outlook is your go-to emailing platform. 

(Thanks to our finance guys who still have Classic Outlook on their PCs)

If you’re one of them and need to schedule an email, follow these steps in your Classic Outlook.

1. Create a new email and fill out the subject line, recipients, etc.
   
2. After your email is ready to send, go to “Options” in the header and select “Delay Delivery”, as I’ve shown in the following image.
   
3. When you click delay delivery, a popup will appear on your screen. In the delivery options section, you need to select the “Do not deliver before” checkbox.
   Once marked, select the date and time of the email delivery.
   
4. Click close and send. Your email will be added to the Outbox folder, and it will be automatically sent based on the set date and time.

Email Scheduling Process for New Outlook

The new Outlook has made email scheduling very easy. It’s kind of like Gmail.

And if you’re using the latest version of the Outlook App, here’s how to schedule your emails.

1. Start by creating a new email and filling it with the basic details.
2. When your email is ready, go to the downward (⌄) arrow beside the “send” button and click “Schedule send”.
   
3. When you click Schedule send, a popup will show up, and you need to select the timing of your mail to be delivered. You can also select custom time.
   
4. Hit send, and your mail will be saved to the drafts.

If you want to change the scheduled email’s delivery date or timing in Outlook, just go to “Drafts” and click the edit icon. 

You will get an option to modify the email, change the delivery timings, and send the email instantly.

Problems Faced by Users on Outlook

I went around and checked what problems people are facing with scheduling emails in Outlook.

Here’s what I found.

On March 26, 2024, an Outlook user reported that the schedule send feature was missing from Outlook.

If you ask me to summarize the whole issue in one line, I would say, “They have moved things around very badly”.

Usually, when you are trying to improve the UI of a product, you should roll out in phases, instead of changing everything at once.

This left a lot of Outlook users frustrated because they were not able to find the delay delivery feature.

The reason ➜ Microsoft renamed it while expecting their users to understand it.

Users after updating to new Outlook 👇

If you follow the conversation further, you will find that users also reported that they were not able to use the mail merge feature in the New Outlook, which is somewhat critical. 

Hence, some users had to roll back to Classic Outlook.

If you are also facing issues with scheduling emails in Outlook, then you can check out the next part, where I’ve covered how you can schedule emails from your Outlook email without actually going into Outlook.

How To Schedule Emails in Outlook (Using Tools) 

Though the new Outlook is very convenient, I feel that it still lacks the ability to run powerful email campaigns.

This limitation can easily be compensated by email outreach platforms like Saleshandy.

How? Let me tell you.

Saleshandy is a top-rated cold email software that lets you automate the entire outreach process from your Gmail or Outlook email accounts.

Follow these steps, and you will be able to schedule thousands of emails from Outlook with a one-time set-up.

Step 1 ➜ Signup and Create Your Account 

You need to sign up on Saleshandy and create your account.

Once you do that, you will receive a confirmation email. Make sure you click on the verification link to get started.

Step 2 ➜ Connect Your Outlook Email Account

Now, you need to connect your email account(s). 

To do this, Go to “Settings” ➤ Click “Email Accounts” ➤ Add Email Account 

Note: You can connect up to 50 email accounts on Saleshandy for better deliverability.

Step 3 ➜ Add/Import Your Recipients

Once you’ve connected your Outlook email account, the next step is to add your recipients in Saleshandy.

Go to the ‘Prospects’ section from the Saleshandy Dashboard. There, you’ll get options to add prospects one by one or an ‘Import via CSV’ button to upload your recipients in bulk.

I’ve shown how to do this in the following screenshot.

Step 4 ➜ Create Your Sequence With Personalized Emails and Follow-Ups

After adding your recipient(s), you need to create a sequence of the first email and scheduled follow-ups.

Here’s what you need to do: Go to the ‘Sequences’ section ➤ click on the ‘Create Sequence’ button.

There you’ll get the option to create personalized emails with help of merge tags and variable tags, and set scheduled follow-ups.

With such a personalized email sequence, you can easily avoid spam folders and have higher chances of getting replies.

Now, let’s continue further.

Step 5 ➜ Specify Your Email Schedule

In order to send emails in the specified time slot, you need to create a pre-set schedule that you can use directly in any of your email sequences.

Open the ‘Settings’ section, go to the ‘Schedules’ tab, and click on the ‘Add Schedule’ button.

Here, you need to write a name for your Schedule, select Time Zone, and choose the day and time when you want to send your emails.

Step 6 ➜ Launch Your Campaign and Reply to Them Promptly

Once everything is set up, you can now finally schedule your email campaign. 

All you need to do is – go back to the ‘Sequences’ tab and simply toggle the ‘Activate Sequence’ switch. 

Note: If the campaign is inactive, the toggle switch will indicate “Draft.”

When you do this, Saleshandy will automatically start sending your emails during the specified time period.

How To Keep Track of Scheduled Emails in Outlook

In Outlook, you don’t receive an intimation of whether your scheduled email was sent successfully or it has failed to deliver.

Hence, you need to take a detour to differentiate the emails.

Here’s how I do it: try it out to track your scheduled emails in Outlook.

Step 1 – Go to the ‘Outbox’ Folder in Outlook

Open your Outlook and go to your “Outbox” folder (the place where all your unsent emails usually hang out).

Step 2 – Open the ‘Field Chooser’ Settings

Then, right-click on the bar at the top of your email list and select “Field Chooser” from the menu.

Step 3 – Add the ‘Defer Until’ Column

Drag and drop the “Defer Until” column next to the “Subject Line” column in the Field Chooser. This will show you when each email is set to send.

Now, you can easily see which emails are scheduled and when they’re set to go out. 

Disadvantages of Scheduling Email in Outlook

I know that scheduling emails in Outlook may seem convenient at first, but it can become a headache if you have to do it for every prospect in your cold email outreach.

Let me tell you why.

It Lacks Personalization

Outlook doesn’t do a great job of personalizing emails. 

You can definitely add names and greetings, but that’s the limit. 

You can’t really dive deep and tailor each email to a specific person. It’s like sending a mass email with a slightly personalized touch – not exactly the best way to grab someone’s attention. 

Difficult To Manage Large-Scale Campaigns

Scheduling a few basic emails to your co-workers or leads is fine in Outlook. 

But if you want to run a segmented email campaign with hundreds of personalized emails on a regular basis, Outlook can make it incredibly messy and frustrating to organize everything neatly.

In short, Outlook isn’t robust enough for a large-scale email outreach or marketing need. 

So, if you need to launch an email marketing or outreach campaign, you’re better off using specialized cold email software.

Impossible To Track Performance

Outlook does not have any feature that lets you track important metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and reply rates.

When you are in the sales or marketing domain, you need to know who actually opened or ignored your emails. 

For tracking, email open and click-through tracking is important. This means in Outlook, you can’t see what subject lines or content resonate with your recipients.

This makes it extremely difficult to optimize and improve your email campaigns over time.

In the long run, you need to have a dedicated tool to give you powerful analytics to gauge engagement. 

No Auto Follow-Up Feature

Outlook does not have any auto follow-up feature.

This means you have to follow up with people who haven’t responded manually. 

For a few emails, it’s not a big deal, but when you’re sending out hundreds of emails, it’s a waste of time.

For these reasons, specialized email outreach tools are a better option. 

These tools offer features like personalization, spam avoidance, campaign management, tracking, and auto-follow-ups. 

If you’re serious about email outreach, it’s worth investing in a good tool.

Key Takeaway

If you ask me to keep it short, I’ll give you three pointers you should keep in mind to schedule emails successfully from Outlook.

1. Remember that the term “Delay delivery” is now “Schedule send” in the new Outlook.
2. I recommend the new Outlook for faster setup of email delivery.
3. Using a tool like Saleshandy makes bulk email scheduling super easy.

FAQs

1) How to schedule an email to send later in Outlook?

To schedule an email in Outlook to send later, simply compose your email like you normally would, use the Delay Delivery options to pick a future date/time, then send the email to have it scheduled.

2) Does Outlook delay delivery work even if the computer is asleep?

Yes, I personally checked that the schedule send feature works even if your computer is asleep because the information is stored on the server. Just make sure that your Outlook is in online mode when you are scheduling the emails.

3) How to remove delay delivery in Outlook?

To remove delay delivery, you need to go to Drafts, and then go to the edit option. There you can modify the scheduled timings or choose to send it immediately.

4) Does Outlook delay delivery work if the computer is off?

Yes, the delayed email delivery feature in Outlook will still work even if your computer is turned off at the scheduled send time.

5) Can you edit a scheduled email in Outlook?

It is possible to edit an email in Outlook that you have scheduled to be sent later. You just have to open the scheduled email, make your desired edits, and click on the ‘Send’ button again to be sent later as per your preference.