How to Create a Custom Form in Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook allows you to create a form. easily Typical examples of Outlook forms as features include business cards, meeting requests, appointments, and email messages. All of these forms are stored in a location known as the Standard Forms Library.

You can customize some of the sections of these standard forms by adding, replacing, or hiding certain parts. Customizing forms is especially important if you need to send emails with certain information requests. Here are the steps to follow to customize a single form in Outlook.

Configuring the Developer tab

The first thing to note is that you can only create a custom form in Outlook using the Developer tab. This is how it works:

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Outlook.

2nd step: Right-click the ribbon, then select Customize Ribbon from the list of options.

Step 3: In the new dialog box under the group labeled Choose commands from, select the drop-down menu and choose Primary Tabs.

Step 4: Select Developer from the options listed and click Add located in the center of the dialog box.

Step 5: Under the group labeled Customize Classic Ribbon, check the box next to Developer, then click OK to close the dialog box.

Design of a custom form

With Developer now available on your Ribbon, you can access the Design Form feature to create your new From.

Step 1: On the Find menu, type Design Form. You can also go to the Developer tab on the ribbon, click the Custom Forms group, and then click Design Form.

2nd step: In the new dialog box, select the drop-down list and choose Standard Forms Library.

Step 3: Select the form you want to customize (we have chosen Appointment) from the options listed and click Open.

Step 4: To add a new field or region to the open form, select New Form Region from the ribbon.

Step 5: From the list of displayed fields, select a new field and click New.

Step 6: Enter the details of the name of your new field, the type of data to enter, the data format and select OK.

Step 7: In the tab next to your form name, select option P.2.

Step 8: On the ribbon, select the Page button.

Step 9: From the drop-down list, select Rename Page.

Step 10: Enter the name of the new page and click OK.

Step 11: Select the field selector in the ribbon

Step 12: From the Field Chooser, drag the newly created fields to the new page.

Save and publish a form in Microsoft Outlook

Now that you’ve created your custom form, you need to save and distribute it. You can either save the form as a template or publish it directly to a folder. This is how it works:

Save a form in Microsoft Outlook

To save the new form as an Outlook template, here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: On the Ribbon tab, select File.

2nd step: Click Save As.

Step 3: Enter the file name and save the file type as an Outlook template.

In the future, you will still be able to access the form by selecting Choose Form from the Developer tab.

To note: By choosing Outlook Template, the file is saved as .ost. However, on Microsoft Outlook 2013, users are not allowed to save some forms as templates.

Publishing a form to Microsoft Outlook

Another way to save a custom form is to publish it. This is how it works:

To note: This does not work in the Office 2013 version.

Step 1: On the Ribbon tab, select Publish.

2nd step: Select Publish Form As.

Step 3: In the new dialog box, select the drop-down list next to Look in to choose a location for the new form.

Step 4: Enter a display name for the form.

To access the form, select New Items in your Outlook Ribbon, More Items, and then choose a form.

Creating voting buttons in Microsoft Outlook

Creating forms in Microsoft Outlook allows you to customize the type of information you collect or send. Another feature of Microsoft Outlook that allows you to collect data is the vote button. With the vote button, you can create a poll and track the responses received.