Outlook includes two methods to send messages at a later time: an after sending rule that holds a message in the Outbox for up to 120 minutes or a setting in Message Options to send the mail at a specific time.
I do not recommend delaying messages more than a few days. Outlook uses the date you pressed Send as the sent date, not the date it handed the message off to a SMTP server. If the recipient uses a sort by sent date view, they may not see your message.
If you hold messages to send later, you will receive a prompt from Outlook everytime you close Outlook, reminding you that there are messages waiting to be sent.
You cannot disable this alert. It really does have purpose: Anyone who doesn’t use Send immediately or is having connectivity issues appreciates being told Outlook hasn’t sent the messages in the Outbox.
A bug in Outlook 2010 RTM prevented this alert from coming up. Outlook 2010 SP1 fixed this bug and the alert working in Outlook 2010, as it does in every previous version of Outlook.
Use this dialog to stop accidentally closing Outlook.
To schedule recurring message, see Scheduling a Recurring Message
Using “Do Not Deliver Before”
Outlook can hold mail in the Outbox and send it at a later date. For this to work, you need to have Outlook running at the appointed time. If you use Exchange server, you may need to use online mode, not cached mode, when you set up the message and send it to the Outbox.
I highly recommend testing this feature before using, so you understand how it works.
In many cases, the sent time will show as the time you sent the message to the Outbox, not the time Outlook actually sent the message. Testing it beforehand will allow you to see if your email server uses the time you sent it to the Outbox or when Outlook actually sent the message. For more information, see “Send Time” time stamp information is incorrect when you send a delayed delivery message in Outlook (MSKB)
The option for “Do Not Deliver Before” is on the Options dialog (shown above) or, in Outlook 2007 and 2010, also on the Options ribbon.
Hold messages for up to 120 minutes
To hold messages for up to 120 minutes, you need to create an “after sending” rule. This rule can apply to all messages or only to messages that meet the conditions you set.
Open the Rules Wizard and click New rule.- Select Apply rule on messages I send (at the bottom of the first Rules Wizard screen)
- Select any conditions you want and click Next or just click Next to apply it to all messages you send
- Choose Defer delivery by a number of minutes at the bottom of the Actions list.
- Click on the “a number of minutes” link to select the desired number of minutes to hold the messages.
- Click Next and set up any desired exceptions, then click Next again.
- Enter a name for your rule, turn the rule on and click Finish to finalize the rule.
Tools in the Spotlight
One of the utilities in the MAPILab Toolbox, Email Scheduler allows you to chedule messages to be sent at specific date/times or intervals by setting up a task for each message. MAPILab Toolbox is a set of 18 different add-ins for Outlook. | |
Sperry Software's Schedule Recurring Email Add-In for Outlook is being released out of beta. The tool sends emails to people on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This new version has support for sending from a different "From" account, support for sending future emails on random scheduled dates, and has a simple backup/restore capability for moving the schedules between computers. It also has support for Outlook 2010, both 32-bit and 64-bit. |
Tools
LBE Email Scheduler allows you to set up multiple mailing projects, each of which can be sent as a one-off or sent automatically at a schedule you decide. Emails can be personalized by including the recipient’s name, making them ideal for customer mailshots. You can send either in plain text or use HTML and attach files. | |
SendLater is a convenient e-mail scheduler allowing you to handle your e-mail correspondence in a timely manner even if you are away from your computer. Prepare all your email notifications and reminders, greetings in advance and schedule recurrence their delivery. As long as your computer is online, your important business or personal messages will be sent automatically even Microsoft Outlook is closed. Version 2.30. |
More Information
Scheduling a Recurring Message
Sending and Retrieval Tools for Outlook
Mass Mail Tools for Outlook
Compose Tools for Outlook
Duplicate Remover Tools for Outlook
Mail Tools for Outlook – Outlook mail tools that don’t fit in any of the above categories.
Content Control Tools
Security Tools – Some of these also provide message tracking.
Signature Tools — including random quotes
From Outlookcode.com
Using Microsoft Outlook to Schedule Report Transmissions
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Last reviewed on Dec 8, 2011
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