Shared Email Templates: Troubleshooting

Error: Sorry, we can't complete this operation right now

Issue: I am installing Shared Email Templates in Outlook online but keep getting the message: Sorry, we can't complete this operation right now. Please try again later.

Cause(s): You are trying to install the add-in into a shared mailbox or the installation of add-ins is not allowed by your administrator.

Solution: If the problem occurs due to the lack of necessary permissions, contact your administrator and ask to allow the installation of the add-in from Office Store for your account.

To make it possible for all the users who have access to a shared mailbox to use Shared Email Templates with it, add the add-in to each user's work or school/Exchange account.

Error: Access is denied

Issue: I am getting 'Access is denied' when trying to install Shared Email Templates:

Cause: You do not have permissions to install add-ins from Office Store.

Solution: Contact your administrator so they check if the Let users access the Office Store and Let users install trial apps and services options are enabled in Org settings of Microsoft 365 admin center:

How to use Shared Email Templates with shared mailboxes

To make it possible for all the users who have access to a shared mailbox to use Shared Email Templates with it, add the add-in to each user's work or school/Exchange account. Installation instructions are available in this guide.

There is no add-in icon right after installation

Issue: I have just installed Shared Email Templates, but I cannot find its icon in Outlook.

Cause: Shared Email Templates works in the Outlook compose mode only, so you can find its icon when composing or replying to a message.

Solution: In the desktop Outlook for Windows, click New Email and find the Shared Email Templates icon in the Ablebits group in the Ribbon. In Outlook on the web and Outlook for Mac, you can locate the add-in by clicking first New message and then the ellipsis […] button.

The add-in icon has disappeared in the desktop Outlook

Issue: I no longer see the Shared Email Templates icon in my Outlook Ribbon.

Cause: The problem may occur if you have several mailboxes in your Outlook assigned to different accounts.

Solution: Please check if you compose or reply to a message from the mailbox assigned to the account under which you have installed the add-in.

The add-in icon is visible in Outlook on the web, but it is missing in the desktop version

Issue: I have installed Shared Email Templates and can see the product icon in Outlook Online, but I cannot see it in the desktop Outlook.

Cause: The problem might be caused by the disabled Turn on optional connected experiences option in the desktop version of your Outlook.

Solution: Go to File → Options → General → Privacy Settings and make sure that there is a check mark next to Turn on optional connected experiences:

The add-in does not load or load slowly

Issue: When I run Shared Email Templates, the templates do not show up and the add-in pane looks empty. A few minutes later the templates appear on the pane.

Cause(s): The network connection is poor, or you use several Internet connections.

In case of two or more connections, for example, Wi-Fi and some corporate VPN, Outlook selects a network connection in an unknown way, that is why some of your teammates may not notice the problem with loading the add-in as their Outlook is connected through Wi-Fi while for the others the add-in may not work at all because Outlook is connected through some specific connections.

Solution: Please check what network connection is currently used by your system via Control Panel → Network and Internet → Network Connections.

If your company uses some corporate network and your Outlook is connected through it, you should contact your network administrators and ask them to add two enabling rules for the following domains:
https://email-templates.app
https://*.email-templates.app

Error: There is no connection to the server

Issue: I cannot access my Shared Email Templates account and am getting the error message: There is no connection to the server. Please try again later.

Cause: You have a problem with the Internet connection.

Solution: Please first try to restart your system and sign in again. If this does not help, then verify your network connection and try to use a different connection. If you still have difficulties, contact your IT specialist to check if there are any blocks to use Shared Email Templates.

Formatting is broken

Issue: Formatting gets broken when text from an external source is pasted.

Cause(s): Pasting text from an external source into your template can make HTML inconsistent and break formatting.

Solution 1: Follow the steps described below.

1. Select the text of your template and click the Clear formatting icon on the toolbar:
   
2. Format your template anew.

Solution 2: Collect and edit your templates in Outlook, and then connect an Outlook folder to Shared Email Templates.

Bulleted and numbered lists issues

Issue: The bulleted and numbered lists used in templates are inserted incorrectly into the email body.

Cause(s): The issue mostly occurs in the desktop version of Outlook on Windows and Mac due to a bug on the Microsoft Outlook side. You can observe it when creating a template automatically based on the selected text in an Outlook message or when the text for a template has been created in another application, for example, Microsoft Word, and then copied to Outlook.

See other Outlook bugs and issues we have found in the Known issues section on our website.

Solution: Until Microsoft fixes the problem on their side, unfortunately, we can do nothing to change this behavior. However, we can suggest the following workaround:

1. Paste the problem template into the email body.
2. Correct the formatting of the necessary part.
3. Select the corrected text and copy it.
4. Open the problem template in the Edit mode.
5. Replace the part with the incorrect formatting with the copied text.
6. Save the template and try to paste it into the message.

Also, feel free to send the HTML code of your problem template to support@ablebits.com so that our developers investigate the issue further. To get the HTML code of a template, click the View HTML icon < > in the Edit mode, copy all the text you see there and send it to us as a Word document.

Tables or template text issues

Issue: The formatting of text, lists, cell borders and backgrounds in tables and/or the formatting of template text are corrupted when I insert the template into a message.

Cause(s): Different issues in table and text formatting occur in different Outlooks – the desktop Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, and Outlook online.

See a complete list of Outlook bugs and issues we have found in the Known issues section on our website.

Solution: Until Microsoft fixes bugs on their side, we cannot recommend anything but trying to find alternative formatting that will work for you.

Also, feel free to send the HTML code of your problem template to support@ablebits.com so that our developers investigate the issue further. To get the HTML code of a template, click the View HTML icon < > in the Edit mode, copy all the text you see there and send it to us as a Word document.

My templates have disappeared

Issue: I no longer see any/some templates under My Templates.

Cause(s): If some items from My Templates have disappeared, you might have deleted them somehow since you are the only person who has access to My Templates. The other reason may be that you have moved templates to another folder or team. In this case they are gone from the original folder.

Solution: Please check all folders and teams you have in Shared Email Templates to see if the templates have been transferred accidently to another location.

Team templates are not visible

Issue: I no longer see templates in the team.

Cause(s): One of the reasons why you do not see any items in the team may be that the team is encrypted and you need to enter a password to get access to the team templates. If it is the case, the key icon next to the team folder will be red:

If you do not see just some items in the team folder, then the reason may be that the templates have been deleted or moved to another folder by your teammates who have admin or editor permissions.

Solution: In case of the encrypted team, you should contact the team admin and ask for a password if you do not have it. Then select the team and enter the team password in the corresponding field on the add-in pane.

In the second case, please find out at the team admins or editors if they have deleted or moved the templates you are looking for.

Issues with New Outlook for Mac

Issue: I have switched to New Outlook for Mac and some functionality of Shared Email Templates has stopped working.

Cause: The thing is that Microsoft has included the old mailbox API to New Outlook for Mac so most of Outlook add-ins may not work correctly now. Particularly in Shared Email Templates you may have problems with:

• The WhatToAttach macro
• SSO (single sign-on) when attaching files and images from OneDrive and SharePoint
• Editing linked Outlook drafts
• Inserting templates from linked Outlook drafts that contain attachments and inline images

Solution: We strongly recommend you to get back to the old Outlook for Mac and wait for Microsoft to fix this issue in the new version. You can track the updates of Outlook for Mac here.

Outdated version of Microsoft Office

Issue: I get the Outdated version of Microsoft Office error:

Cause: In outdated Office versions, some functionality of the add-in may not work.

Solution: In Windows, go to Settings → Advanced options and turn on the Receive updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows option:

After that, install all the updates Windows will offer.

Outdated Internet Explorer and Edge Legacy

Issue 1: Outlook is running on the outdated Internet Explorer.
Issue 2: Outlook is running on the outdated Edge Legacy.

Outdated Internet Explorer	Outdated Edge Legacy

Cause: Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer are no longer supported by Microsoft and therefore are not safe enough for Shared Email Templates to work.

Solution: Update your Windows and Office.

The subject goes missing

Issue: The subject inserted with the ~%Fill or ~%Add macro disappears.

Cause: The issue is caused by the conflict between Microsoft Outlook and the Adobe Send & Track for Microsoft Outlook - Acrobat or Adobe Document Cloud for Microsoft Outlook - Acrobat add-in.

Solution: In your Outlook, go to File → Options → Add-ins, click Go next to Manage: Com Add-ins, clear the checkbox next to Adobe Send & Track for Microsoft Outlook - Acrobat or Adobe Document Cloud for Microsoft Outlook – Acrobat, and then click OK.

Workaround: In your template, place the ~%Fill or ~%Add macro after the ~%Attach macro.

Previous version keeps showing up after the new release

Issue: After the new version is published, the previous version keeps showing up in the About section.

Cause: The issue is caused by the Office cache.

If the version you have is the previous one, try to update the add-in:

• In desktop Outlook for Windows, click the add-in pane to move the keyboard input focus, and then press Ctrl+F5.
• In Outlook Online, click the three dots in the lower-right corner of the add-in pane, select About, right-click the add-in pane, and then select Refresh frame (Microsoft Edge), Reload frame (Google Chrome), or Reload Page (Apple Safari).
• In Outlook for Mac, right-click the add-in pane, and then select Reload.
• In Outlook Online on Mac, click the three dots in the lower-right corner of the add-in pane, select About, right-click the add-in pane, and then select Refresh frame (Microsoft Edge), Reload frame (Google Chrome), or Reload Page (Apple Safari).

If the previous version persists, try the solution below.

Solution: Clear the Office cache manually by following the corresponding instructions on the Microsoft Learn website.

• Clear the Office cache manually on Windows
• Clear the Office cache manually on Mac