Outlook adds space between paragraphs in templates

Summer Shay 20 Reputation points
2026-08-27T16:50:58.7966667+00:00

In the My Templates function of outlook, it adds space between paragraphs. It wasn't originally like that in the text I entered. Is there a way to disable this? Otherwise I'm left with awkwardly spaced emails, or I'm manually reformatting the paragraphs for each email.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business
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Ivory 1,155 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-08-27T19:51:02.1366667+00:00

Hi Summer,

In this case, you can try using Quick Parts feature. Quick Parts can retain fonts, bold text, bullet lists, tables, hyperlinks, and paragraph spacing.

In classic Outlook for Windows, click New Email from the Home tab

In the body of the message, type the text exactly as you want it to appear in future emails. You can include formatting, links, bullet points, tables, and placeholders.

Note: Apply bullets and headings using the ribbon, not paste.

Highlight the text, table, image, or formatted content you want to save as a Quick Part. Be precise. Outlook saves only the selected content.

If you want to include paragraph spacing above or below the text, include those blank lines in your selection. If you do not, Outlook will insert only the selected text block.

With the content selected, go to the ribbon at the top of the message window and click the Insert tab. In the Text group, click Quick Parts. User's image From the Quick Parts menu, click Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery. Outlook opens a dialog box titled Create New Building Block.

Building Blocks in Word - Universal Solutions 4 Business

Please process to fill in the fields. The name matters because it appears in the Quick Parts gallery. If you create many Quick Parts, good names make them much easier to find.

For email management, Insert content only is usually the most flexible setting. It lets you place snippets exactly where you need them inside a message.

For refence: Create reuseable text blocks for email messages | Microsoft Support

After you create a Quick Part, inserting it is quick.

  1. Open a new email, reply, or forward in classic Outlook.
  2. Click in the body of the message where you want the saved content to appear.
  3. Select the Insert tab.
  4. Click Quick Parts.
  5. Choose the Quick Part from the gallery.

You can also start typing the name of a Quick Part in the message body. When Outlook recognizes it, it may show a small suggestion box. Press Enter to insert the Quick Part.

For more information, please consult Use Quick Parts and AutoText in Word and Outlook | Microsoft Support

I hope this points you in the right direction. If you run into any issues along the way, feel free to reply back with more details and I'll be happy to help further.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-08-27T16:51:12.07+00:00

    There is no supported setting in the provided material for turning off paragraph spacing specifically in My Templates in Classic Outlook.

    The supported workaround is to reduce the paragraph formatting in the message body or template content:

    1. Open a new email in Classic Outlook.
    2. Go to Format Text.
    3. Open the Paragraph dialog box from the Paragraph group.
    4. Set Before to 0 pt.
    5. Set After to 0 pt.
    6. Set Line spacing to Single.
    7. If available, select Set As Default for content based on the Outlook email template.

    For template text itself, using Shift+Enter instead of Enter creates a line break instead of a new paragraph, which avoids the extra paragraph spacing.

    If the template content was pasted from Word or a website, paste it into a plain-text editor first, then paste it back and reapply formatting. That removes hidden paragraph formatting that can cause extra spacing.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  3. Ivory 1,155 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-08-27T17:22:21.02+00:00

    Hi Summer,

    Since you're using Classic Outlook and it uses Word's editor under the hood, you can set 0pt paragraph spacing as a permanent default rather than working around it with line breaks.

    1. Open Outlook and start a New Email.
    2. Click into the body of the email and select the Format Text tab.
    3. Click the small dialog box launcher (arrow icon) in the corner of the Paragraph group.
    4. In the window that appears, set both Before and After spacing to 0 pt.
    5. Set Line spacing to Single.
    6. Click the Set As Default button at the bottom.
    7. Select "All documents based on the NormalEmail.dotm template" and click OK.

    User's image

    Delete the existing My Templates / Quick Parts entry and re-save it now that the compose window has 0pt spacing applied. If the template still shows extra space after this, it likely has paragraph tags baked into it from how it was originally created (e.g. pasted from Word or a webpage).

    If spacing still appears after re-saving, the customer may need to close Outlook, go to %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, and rename or remove NormalEmail.dotm so Outlook rebuilds it fresh with the new defaults on next launch. This resolves cases where the old template file is stuck overriding the settings.

    If you're using a different version of Outlook, please let me know so that I can provide a more targeted guidance.

    I hope this provides enough clarity and helps you stay inform with your current situation.

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.  

    If the answer is helpful, please click 'Yes' and kindly upvote it.

    Note: Please follow the steps in the forum documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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