File Sharing Problems

How to Share an Outlook Form Template with Your Organization

WPS Content Manager Oct 7, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user wants to make a custom Outlook form template (.oft) accessible to everyone in their organization instead of being restricted to the template's creator.

How to Share an Outlook Form Template with Your Organization

Product: Microsoft Outlook
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Distributing a standardized Outlook form template across an entire organization for team use.
Observed behavior: By default, Outlook templates saved under 'User Templates in File System' are stored locally on the creator's device and are not accessible to other users in the organization.

Before you start

Ensure you have a designated shared network folder, network drive, or SharePoint document library where all intended users have at least read permissions.

Solution 1Recommended

Save the Template to a Shared Network Location or SharePoint

Save your Outlook template (.oft) directly to a shared directory so that all authorized members in your organization can navigate to it and use the form.

Because Outlook natively saves custom templates to a local folder on your hard drive, you must manually choose a universally accessible location for team sharing.

Open the template

Open the custom form template that you have created in Microsoft Outlook.

Initiate Save As

Click on the 'File' tab in the top left corner and select 'Save As'.

Navigate to the shared location

In the file explorer window, browse to the shared network drive, folder, or SharePoint library that your organization uses.

Select the correct file type

Click the 'Save as type' dropdown menu and select 'Outlook Template (*.oft)'.

Save the file

Name your template appropriately and click 'Save'. Your colleagues can now access it by selecting 'New Items' > 'More Items' > 'Choose Form', selecting 'User Templates in File System', and browsing to this shared location.

Save the Template to a Shared Network Location or SharePoint

Verify Permissions: Confirm that all users who need to use the form have the necessary network permissions to access the folder where the template is stored.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't my colleagues see the Outlook template I created?

By default, Outlook saves templates in a local, hidden folder called 'User Templates in File System' on your computer's hard drive. To share it, you must manually save the .oft file to a network location or SharePoint site that everyone can access.

Can I share an Outlook form template by emailing it as an attachment?

Yes, you can attach the .oft file to an email and send it to your team. The recipients can double-click the attachment to open the form directly, or save it to their own local 'User Templates' folder for future use.

How do my colleagues open a shared Outlook template from a network drive?

They need to open Outlook, click 'New Items', then 'More Items', and select 'Choose Form'. In the dialog box, change the 'Look In' dropdown to 'User Templates in File System', click 'Browse', and navigate to the shared network directory where the .oft file is saved.

Document & File Issues