by Despite the popularity of instant messaging, email is still a key player in business communication. Many teams, especially those in customer support or sales, rely on email templates to keep responses fast, professional, and uniform.
A shared template database or even the ability to share individual templates make things much better. Alas, Gmail doesn't offer a built-in way to do that.
Fortunately, there are four workarounds that will let you share Gmail templates with your team :)
Copy-paste ready-made emails
The most straightforward way to share email templates in Gmail is to send them as pre-formatted emails. Yes, it's not the most high-tech solution, but it works. Your teammate can copy the content and save it as a draft or a Gmail template.
Here's a quick breakdown of how to share Gmail templates with your team using ready-made emails:
- Compose an email with the necessary text, formatting, links, attachments, etc.
- Send it to your teammate or a group. Enter their email addresses in the To field and click Send.
- The recipients will need to copy the email and paste it into their Drafts or save it as a Gmail template.
As for the attachments, they will need to download them and either attach them to a Draft right away or make a note in this template to remember to attach the files later.
This is a simple and accessible way to share Gmail templates that requires no additional tools.
But it's obviously a time-consuming one. Just imagine having to pass edits in multiple templates to multiple teammates — it can quickly become overwhelming.
Besides, it leaves plenty of room for errors if templates are edited incorrectly (or not edited at all when needed) and can clutter inboxes with unnecessary emails.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Simple and requires no extra tools. | Time-consuming for large teams and multiple templates. |
| There's no way to update templates for everyone at once, making it easy for errors to creep in. | |
| Clutter Inbox with unnecessary emails. |
Share Gmail templates using Google Docs
Google Docs is a great way to share email templates in Gmail Workspace while storing them in one central place. Since Google Docs allows real-time collaboration, you can easily share the document with your team so everyone has access to the latest versions of your templates.
Besides, you can assign roles (editor, commenter, viewer) to everyone you're sharing Gmail templates with to make sure only the right people can change the content.
Tip. You will learn more about protecting shared Google Docs and Google Sheets in this article.
So here are the details of how you can share Gmail templates using Google Docs:
- Open or create a Google Doc with the templates you intended for certain teams or people.
- Click Share in the top right (next to your Google account picture).
- Enter your team members' email addresses in the top field and tweak their access as needed: editor, commenter, or viewer.
Tip. Keep the Notify people checkbox selected so every member receives an email inviting them to collaborate on or view the document. You can also add an invitation message.
Confirm by clicking Send.
- After your teammates gain access, they will need to copy-paste the templates into their Gmail replies when needed.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to update and collaborate in real-time. | You'll have to add attachments to emails separately. |
| No integration with Gmail: you must navigate to the document and copy-paste templates into emails. |
Share Gmail templates using Google Keep
When looking for ways to share email templates in Gmail workspace, you may also consider Google Keep. Unlike Google Docs, each template is stored as a separate note. You can share each note with teammates to use them in Gmail and collaborate.
- Pick or create a note in Google Keep. It'll be your Gmail template.
- To share the template with the team members, click Collaborator at the bottom of the note.
Enter the email addresses of all people who need access. Confirm each by clicking Add collaborator.
- After you enter all the people, click Save.
- Collaborators will receive an email saying that the note has been shared with them.
- To use these templates, open Gmail and click the Keep icon on the far-right side panel:
- Select the note and copy-paste its content into emails when needed.
Even though this option may remind you of a "traditional" template database, there are still some major cons to consider.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Quick access from a side panel. | Still requires manual copy-pasting into emails. |
| Easy to share and edit templates in real-time. | Doesn't support text formatting, links, and attachments. |
| Works well for short, simple templates. | Not ideal for long or complex templates. |
Use Shared Email Templates for Gmail (best solution for teams)
If you're tired of Google Workspace limiting you in Gmail every step of the way; if you're ready for the best possible solution, you must try Shared Email Templates for Gmail.
This powerful extension is absolutely perfect for both individual and teamwork.
Its full integration with Gmail lets you create, use, and manage templates without leaving your Compose window.
And it's so easy to share Gmail templates with the team and collaborate, I can't even. :) Let me show you how.
- Create a team that's going to use those shared email templates. You can create as many teams as needed — each with its templates and collaborators.
Tip. You can also protect each team with a password if you need extra security measures.
- Now that the team's ready, it's time to add the users. If they don't have a Shared Email Templates account yet, no worries — the extension will let you invite them :)
Tip. If you have admin rights in your Google Workspace, you can also import users from your Google Workspace Directory.
- After adding the users, take a minute to adjust permissions to control who can view or edit templates.
Each user will see their available teams right in the extension sidebar in Gmail:
So, how exactly do you share Gmail templates with your teams? It's easy! Since a team is already a shared space, any template you create within is automatically available to all team members. So just create new templates for each team. Everyone with access will instantly see and use them — no extra sharing steps needed :)
Tip. You can also quickly move or copy your personal templates into team folders.
With this browser extension, you don't just get shared Gmail templates organized in a sidebar. You get so much more. You and your team can instantly insert templates into new emails and replies, complete with formatting, attachments, dynamically customized fields, etc.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Full Gmail integration. | Purchase plans. But hey, what goody is free nowadays? There's a 60-day trial available — that's plenty of time for your entire team to play around with this extension. |
| Team collaboration with access controls. | |
| Easy to share and update templates once for the entire team in real-time. | |
| Supports text formatting, links, attachments, dynamically personalized fields, and whatnot! | |
| Simple and user-friendly tool. | |
| Works well for short & long, simple & complex templates. |
So, let's wrap everything up. While there's no built-in way to share email templates in Gmail, the four options covered in this article are effective depending on your needs.
For occasional use, Google Docs, Google Keep, and even sending & copying emails can work pretty well.
However, if you work with a team or simply rely on templates regularly and value your time, Shared Email Templates for Gmail is your best solution out there.