Send Messages Later

Kirk asks:

You may find this question odd but here I go. Is there a way to keep outgoing e-mail to an individual in queue or folder or something and then send it all at one time? The example I would like to use is if someone is on vacation and I have e-mail to send them that is not important I do not want to bother them while they are away but do want to send to them when they return. With all of the PDA devices now you really can not get away from it so I view this as a courtesy. Let me know if there is a solution.

Nothing odd about this question, delayed sending is actually a common request.

You have at least three options:

You can save them as drafts and send them when you want to.
Set outlook to send some messages later (options dialog when composing new mail). It doesn't work for all mail servers, so test it first. Naturally, you need to have Outlook open at the appointed time for this to work.
The third option is to create a meeting request for an online appointment to pop up the email at the appointment time. Save the email to the hard drive and the option for online meetings using media player. Enter the file path in the url field. When the appointed time arrives, you'll need to respond to the dialog and click send. You could also use Task scheduler to open the saved messages in much the same manner. If you don't keep Outlook open all the time and need it sent as close to the scheduled time as possible, Task scheduler is the better option.

Please note that method 3 does not work with Outlook 2007 and up. It may not work in earlier versions due to security updates.

Published January 26, 2006. Last updated on January 11, 2014.