Apply Outlook Theme to All New Messages

Stationery and themes are two interrelated tools that provide a global design to an email message. Stationery contains background color and pattern whereas theme includes other elements such as fonts, list styles, effect along with background.  If you are using a theme or stationery it does not mean that message formatting is fixed. You can change the theme formatting according to your needs.

There are number of sources to get a theme:

• MS Word themes installed with Outlook.
• Themes you customize by yourself
• Themes download through Office Online.
• Themes defined that are built into Outlook.

The main difference between a Word theme and Outlook theme is that, you can customize a Word theme according to your needs but you cannot modified an Outlook theme. There is also a difference between both themes in applying them.

Steps to Apply an Outlook Theme to all New Messages

If you select a default theme it will automatically use all new HTML email messages.

1. Click on Tools then Options from the Outlook menu. And Options dialog box will appear.
2. If needed select the mail format tab.
3. To display the Stationery dialog box, click the Stationery & font button.
4. Click on Theme button to display the Theme or stationery.
5. To see the preview in sample area, click on your desired theme.
6. More than one options which depends on the selected theme are available in the bottom left corner of the popup box:

• Vivid Colors: It uses a bright color scheme.
• Active Graphics: It determines the active graphics in use contain by the theme.
• Background Image: If you want to use the theme without background image, turn off this feature.

To exit from the dialog box click OK three times.

Note: If you want to create a new message without a theme, remove the default theme by following the preceding step and select No theme in step 5.

Steps to Apply Theme to a Single New Message

By overriding the default theme you can apply a theme to a single new message:

1. Choose the Action after that click on New Mail Message from the Outlook’s main menu.
2. In next menu, click on the More Stationery option. A Theme or Stationery popup box will appear on the screen.
3. Select the theme of your choice.
4. And click on OK.

Applying a Word Theme to a Message

First create a new HTML message to apply the Word theme to an email message:

1. Click the body of the message.
2. Click on the “Theme” button from the Options ribbon and again click on the Themes from the menu. A menu will be shown by the Outlook. All Built-in themes are listed in the Built-in section of the menu. And Customs themes are listed in the Custom Section of the menu.
3. Choose your desired theme.

If you noticed that, there are several commands given at the bottom of the Theme menu. Their functions are described as follows:

• Reset to Theme from Template: If you have customized any selected theme, it reset to its original settings.
• More Themes on Microsoft Office Online: Its feature is to look for an additional theme on Microsoft Office Online.
• Browse for Theme: This feature provides you an additional theme available on your local network or computer.
• Save Current Theme: If you have customized the selected theme and want to save it. Through this feature you can save your customized theme into the disk.