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Is it the end of OFTs?

Email Outlook OFT

What is an OFT and why does it matter?

An OFT (Outlook File Template) is basically an Outlook email template file. For email developers, it has been a valuable “secret” tool: it allows us to code an email in HTML, open it in Outlook, and save it as an .oft.

The big advantage? It can be sent with a single click. You don’t need to configure an SMTP server, or use a third-party platform like Mailchimp or SendGrid for quick internal sends. It is ideal for internal corporate communications where the sender is a real human sending from their own Outlook.

Common Use Cases

  • Internal Corporate Communication: HR newsletters or management announcements.
  • B2B Sales: Executives sending standardized but customizable proposals before sending.
  • Support: Predefined rich-format responses that agents can open and send.

Pros and Cons

While useful, OFTs are not perfect.

👍 The Good

  • Ease of sending: Double click the file, it opens in Outlook, type the recipient, and send.
  • Real Sender: It goes out from your personal/professional mailbox, not “on behalf of”.
  • No extra costs: Does not require paying for Email Marketing services for sporadic sends.

👎 The Bad

  • Unpredictable Rendering: When saving an HTML as OFT, Outlook “rewrites” the code. It adds tons of proprietary VML and MSO styles, which sometimes breaks complex layouts.
  • Hard to Maintain: You cannot easily edit the OFT code once saved.
  • Windows Only (mostly): Full support has always been tied to Outlook desktop for Windows.

The Future: Will they go extinct?

All signs point to yes, or at least they will remain as relics.

Microsoft is pushing the “New Outlook”, which is essentially a Progressive Web App (PWA) wrapped in a desktop shell. This new version seeks to unify the experience between web and desktop, but along the way, it is ditching many “legacy” functionalities.

The Evidence

  1. Incompatibility: The new Outlook has limited or no support for creating and using OFT files in the traditional way.
  2. Web Philosophy: Microsoft is betting on web-based add-ins and cloud templates, moving away from proprietary local files like .pst or .oft.

You can read more about the limitations of the new Outlook in this official Microsoft comparison article.

Also, for those still clinging to older versions to keep these features, remember that support for Office 2016 and 2019 ended in October 2025.

Conclusion

If your workflow critically depends on OFTs, it is time to look for alternatives. “Classic” Outlook will be with us until 2029, but the future is web, and on the web, .oft files have no place.

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