# Creating Templates

Build and edit reusable email templates.

You can build as many templates as you need in SendBeam. Templates are created and managed from the **Templates** section in the main navigation. This page walks you through the full lifecycle: creation, design, saving, editing, and deletion.

## Create a new template

Follow these steps to create a brand new template:

1. In the left-hand navigation, click **Templates**.
2. Click the **New Template** button in the top-right corner of the page.
3. Under **Template Details**, enter a name. Choose something descriptive — for example, "Monthly Newsletter — Brand v2" rather than "Template 3".
4. Pick a **Category** (Welcome, Newsletter, Promotion, Transactional or Custom) to keep your library organised.
5. Optionally enter a default **Subject**. Automations that send the template use it as the email's subject.
6. Design the email in the **Visual** view, or switch to **HTML** to paste your own markup, then save.

> If you paste HTML from another tool, use the **HTML** view. It is kept exactly as written; the visual editor is for emails built from blocks. A template's HTML may hold up to 500,000 characters; anything larger is refused when you save.
> 

## Designing with the email builder

The visual editor is the same drag-and-drop builder used for campaigns. Changes made here are saved with the template and used by any automation that sends it.

Key builder features available when editing a template:

- **Starter layouts** — the editor opens with a choice of pre-built layouts (Welcome Email, Newsletter, Product Announcement, Sale / Promotion, Event Invitation, Simple Text) or a blank canvas.
- **Blocks panel** — add Header, Text, Image, Button, Divider, Spacer, Columns, Social Links and Footer blocks by clicking or dragging them onto the canvas.
- **Block properties** — click any block to edit its content, alignment, colours and links in the properties panel.
- **Merge tags** — the **Insert** buttons above the HTML view add `{{first_name}}`, `{{last_name}}`, `{{email}}` and `{{unsubscribe_url}}` at the cursor. You can type any merge tag by hand in either view.
- **Preview** — the **Preview** view renders the email as recipients will see it, with a desktop and mobile toggle.
- **Undo and redo** — the toolbar keeps a history of block changes.

> Add placeholder instructional text in brackets — such as *[Replace with campaign headline]* — to signal to yourself and teammates exactly which parts of the template should be updated for each new send.
> 

The Footer block includes an unsubscribe link out of the box. If an email has no `{{unsubscribe_url}}` anywhere, SendBeam appends a plain unsubscribe link at the bottom when it sends, so recipients can always opt out — but designing your own footer looks better.

## Saving and naming best practices

Click the save button to store the template. There is no auto-save, so save before leaving the page. Your most recent save is what appears on the Templates page.

Tips for keeping your template library easy to navigate:

- Include the email type and version in the name, for example "Welcome Series — Minimal v1".
- Use categories to group related templates (see [Template Categories](https://sendbeam.io/docs/templates/categories)).
- Prefix retired templates with an underscore or label them "Archive —" so they are easy to spot.
- Avoid generic names like "New Template" — they make it hard to pick the right design in an automation step.

> Automations reference templates by ID, so renaming a template is safe. Editing its content changes every automation email sent from it afterwards.
> 

## Editing and deleting templates

You can edit a template at any time. Edits affect automation emails sent after the change; campaigns keep their own copy of the HTML and are not affected.

To edit an existing template:

1. Go to **Templates** and locate the template you want to change. Use the category chips to narrow the list.
2. Click the template's name (or **Edit** in the **⋯** menu at the end of its row). A template built in the visual editor reopens there, block by block; one that was pasted or written as HTML opens in the HTML view, because the visual editor cannot take bare HTML apart. Switch views as needed.
3. Make your changes.
4. Save to apply the updated design.

To delete a template:

1. Open the template and click **Delete** at the top of the editor.
2. Confirm the deletion in the dialog that appears.

> Deleting a template is permanent and cannot be undone. Check that no automation's **Send Email** step still uses it — those steps would have nothing to send.
>

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Source: https://sendbeam.io/docs/templates/creating