Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Automatic Text in an E-mail.

Automatic Text in an E-mail

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 19, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


8

Laura has an e-mail address that is a hyperlink in Excel. She edited the hyperlink so that the e-mail created when the link is clicked has a subject line. She wants to be able to have the e-mail automatically contain text, as well.

There is a way to do this rather easily in Excel. To see the way to do it, put the address of the e-mail recipient in A1, the desired message subject in A2, and the desired message body text in A3. Then, in a different cell, use this formula:

=HYPERLINK("mailto:" & A1 & "?subject="
& A2 & "&body=" & A3, "Linking text")

This results in a hyperlink that users can click and have both the subject and body filled in. The downside to this is that your message body can't be terribly long. The total length permissible for any hyperlink is 255 characters, including the words such as "mailto," "subject," and "body." Thus, if the length of the address in cell A1 is 16 characters, the length of the subject in cell A2 is 25 characters, and the "overhead" ("mailto," "subject," etc.) take 22, then that means your message in cell A3 cannot be over 192 characters. (That's a relatively short message.)

You can also create the appropriate hyperlink using the Insert Hyperlink dialog box. Follow these steps:

  1. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the Hyperlink tool. Excel displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.
  3. Make sure the E-mail Address option is chosen in the Link To area. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box.

  5. In the Text to Display field, enter the text you want to appear in the worksheet.
  6. In the E-mail Address field, enter the address to be used in the link.
  7. In the Subject field, enter the text you want used for the subject line.
  8. Immediately after the subject text (in the Subject field), type an ampersand and the word "body" followed by an equal sign (as in "&body=" without the quote marks).
  9. Continue typing your desired body text, after the equal sign.
  10. Click on OK.

You should note that this approach will work for most mail clients. If it doesn't work for yours, then try replacing the spaces in the subject and the body with the characters %20.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11785) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Automatic Text in an E-mail.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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Comments

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What is 2 + 8?

2023-10-01 16:30:29

J. Woolley

My Excel Toolbox's ToggleOutlookEnvelope macro makes it easy to send a sheet's content in the body of an email message. See my recent comment here: https://excelribbon.tips.net/T008508


2023-08-22 20:58:34

Peter

@J.Wooley
I had not set a default email app because I only use Gmail. I have now set the default mail app to my browser and will see what happens.


2023-08-22 04:20:57

Enno

It works. Thank you.


2023-08-21 10:33:36

J. Woolley

@Peter
The Tip's hyperlink should send via the default email app;
see Windows Settings > Apps > Default Apps > Email
My ScheduleEmail macro sends via the default email app, too;
see https://excelribbon.tips.net/T000474

@Enno
To insert a line-feed (new-line), add %0A; zero-A is hex for line-feed.
For example, "&body=This is line one.%0AThis is line two."


2023-08-21 03:21:53

Enno

How can I insert a linefeed in the body-text?


2023-08-20 19:40:14

Peter

When I try to send an email from Excel, I'm asked to set up Outlook. Is there a setting in Excel to allow the email to send via Gmail. I have found a code example online to set up and send using VBA. Is that the easiest way forward? I'd like to be able to send personalised emails from Excel - or at least to explore the option.


2023-08-19 15:36:28

J. Woolley

For related discussion, see https://excelribbon.tips.net/T000474_Sending_an_E-mail_when_a_Due_Date_is_Reached.html


2023-08-19 06:10:50

Philip

Does this approach via the HYPERLINK function also allow to include e.g. attachments or pasted graphics?


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