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Create and Use Email Templates

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Overview

Email templates help you create, reuse, and share consistent email content with your team.

 
Email Template Permissions

Use permission profiles to control which team members can edit and create templates. Learn more in Create and Assign Permission Profiles.

Check out the following sections to create and manage email templates, add attachments and custom HTML, and use linked or cloned templates in sequence steps.

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Create a New Email Template

To create a new email template:

  1. Launch Apollo and click Emails > Templates.
  2. Click Create template.
Create a new template.
  1. Name your email template and assign an owner.
  2. To store the template in a folder, click Browse, then select a folder.
  3. Add tags to make the template easier to find in searches.
Name and assign template.
  1. Enter a subject line and body. To use custom HTML, edit the body in raw HTML mode.
Enter a subject line and body.
  1. Click { } to add dynamic variables to the subject line or body of your email. Dynamic variables help you reference contact information, like first names or job titles, so you can scale your email messaging.
  2. To attach files, click the paperclip icon, Attach Files, then select the files you want to upload. Apollo displays the number of uploaded files near the icon. Each file must be 25 MB or less, and the total attachment size can’t exceed 25 MB.
  3. To remove an attachment, click Delete Attachment for the file.
  4. Review the real-time preview of your email.
  5. Click Send Test Email to Me to receive a test version of the email in your inbox.
Preview the email.
 
Signature Preview

Did you know? When you preview or send a test email, Apollo uses your default mailbox and signature and sends the message to your login email address. If you need to preview your sending mailbox and signature, consider adding a test contact using a separate email address you own, then send a test email to the contact.

  1. Click Save.

Your email template is now ready to use.

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Use Custom HTML in an Email Template

Apollo supports custom HTML in email template bodies. Use raw HTML mode to add or edit HTML, then preview and test the template before you use it in a sequence. You can also use raw HTML mode when editing a sequence email step.

To use custom HTML in an email template:

  1. Launch Apollo and click Emails > Templates.
  2. Click the template you want to edit.
  3. Click <> in the email editor toolbar to open Edit Raw HTML.
  4. Paste or edit your HTML in the raw HTML text area.
Edit raw HTML in an email template.
  1. Click <> again to return to the normal editor.
  2. Preview the template to confirm how the HTML renders.
  3. Click Save.
  4. Click Send Test Email to Me to send yourself a test email.

You have now added custom HTML to the email template.

 
Keep It Email-Safe

To help your emails render safely, Apollo reviews custom HTML before saving or sending and removes code that could cause issues. Apollo supports common email-safe HTML and inline CSS, but removes scripts, iframes, forms, event handlers, class attributes, <style> blocks in <head>, unsupported CSS, and non-Apollo data-* attributes.

Keep your HTML simple: use inline styles and hosted images, and add dynamic variables or snippets from the normal editor when possible. Preview and send a test email before you use the template because the editor may adjust table or other formatting.

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Edit a Template

Edit an existing email template when you need to update reusable email copy, adjust template details, or keep linked sequence steps aligned with your latest messaging.

To edit an existing email template:

  1. Launch Apollo and click Emails > Templates.
  2. Click the template you want to edit.
  3. Make the necessary changes, then click Save.

You have now updated the email template.

 
Timing Is Everything

Apollo finalizes sequence email content when it drafts or schedules the message for a contact.

When you edit a linked shared template, Apollo can refresh messages that remain in Drafted or Scheduled with the updated content. Edits don’t change messages already marked Sent or Failed.

AI-generated step drafts don’t automatically regenerate from later template edits.

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Save Email Templates from Sequences

When you create or edit a sequence, you can save a manual or automatic email step as a template. This enables you and your team to reuse the email across Apollo.

To save an email in a sequence as a template:

  1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
  2. Click the sequence that contains the email step you want to save as a template.
  3. Open the manual or automatic email step you want to save as a template.
  4. Click Templates to open the template picker.
  5. Click Create new.
Create a template from a sequence email step.
  1. Enter a template name.
  2. Add a subject line.
  3. Add the email body.
  4. Click Save.

You have now saved the email template. Apollo creates the template under your current team, with you as the owner. Team members with template access can find and use it.

 
Template Trail

Click Emails > Templates to find templates you save from sequence email steps. To organize a saved template, open it from the Templates page and update the available template details.

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Add an Email Template to a Sequence

Use existing email templates in manual sequence email steps to streamline email content creation and share your most effective messaging tactics with your team.

 
Manual Email Templates

Saved email templates are available for manual sequence email steps. AI-written automatic email steps use prompt templates instead of saved email templates.

To add an email template to a manual sequence email step:

  1. Launch Apollo and click Sequences.
  2. Click the sequence you want to edit.
  3. Add or edit a manual email step.
  4. Click Templates.
  5. Select the email template you want to use.
Link or clone an email template in a sequence step.
  1. Choose how to add the template to the sequence step:
    • Clone: Click Clone to make a separate copy of the template for the sequence step. Changes to the step don’t affect the original template.
    • Link: Click Link to use the same shared template in the sequence step. Apollo displays a shared-template message, Unlink template, and Edit template in the step. Changes to the shared template apply everywhere it’s linked.
  2. If you linked the template, click Edit template to update the shared template everywhere it’s used. To detach the template and keep the current content as an independent copy, click Unlink template.

You have now added an email template to the sequence step.

A sequence step without the shared-template message uses a cloned or independently written copy. Changes to that step don’t affect the original template or other sequence steps.

 
Attached at the Hip

Files attached to the email template carry over to the sequence email step. Apollo supports up to 25 MB of attachments in total for each email.

Attachments don’t appear in the template preview. Check the uploaded-file count near Attach Files before you add contacts to the sequence.

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Next Steps

Keep building from your email templates with these resources for sharper copy, stronger personalization, and cleaner team organization.

Use Sample Outbound Email Templates Need a starting point? Use sample outbound email templates to shape cold email copy around your audience, voice, and campaign goals.
Use Basic Dynamic Variables Use basic dynamic variables to add contact and company details into template copy so emails feel more personal at scale.
Use Custom Dynamic Variables Use custom dynamic variables to pull custom-field or AI research context into emails when your team needs deeper personalization.
Create and Use Snippets Create and use snippets to give your team reusable email sections they can mix into templates and sequences without rebuilding every message.
Organize Sequences and Email Templates with Folders Organize sequences and email templates with folders to keep your team’s reusable outreach content easier to find, maintain, and scale.

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