How to Use Shapes in Outlook Online

Have you tried using shapes in Microsoft Outlook? This tutorial takes you to the methods of using shapes in Outlook Online.

Shapes in Outlook Online can be used to enhance our emails and make them more visually attractive. Adding shapes to the email makes the user pay attention to the emails.

I tried using different types of shapes available in Microsoft Outlook and here I am sharing what I have used practically. Let’s get started to know more about this.

Table of Contents

Types of Shapes in Outlook Online

There are varieties of shapes in Outlook Online desktop application. Each shape has a different specific feature that can be used in the Outlook email application namely,

Lines
Rectangle
Basic Shapes
Block Arrows
Flow charts
Stars and Banners
Equation shapes
Call outs

How to Use Shapes in Outlook Online Desktop Application

Follow the below points to use shapes in the Outlook Online desktop application.

Step-1: Open Microsoft Outlook in the desktop application.

Step-2: Click New Email from the Home page of the Outlook Online desktop application.

Step-3: Click the Insert option and click Shapes to add the shapes in Outlook Online.

Step-4: Now add the shapes as per your needs. Here I am using a rectangle shape for the example.

Step-5: Once you click on this shape, the + shape icon will appear. We can drag for the rectangle shape.

This is the way we can add the shapes in the Outlook Online desktop application.

Change the Shade of the Shape in Outlook Online

Once the shape is created, it will come with the shade. Follow the below points to remove the shade for the shape in Outlook Online.

Open Microsoft Outlook in the desktop application.

Click New Email from the Home page of the Outlook Online desktop application.

Make sure the shape has been created already. Right-click on the shape then click the Format Shape option.

Once you click Format Shape, it will show the options under the Fill column like

No fill – Shade will be removed from the shape
Solid fill – Color remains the same with shadow
Gradient fill – Partly shade appears
Picture or texture fill – Shade with the texture
Pattern fill – Filled with pattern

Once you click No fill, the shade will be removed from the shape in the Outlook Online application.

If you click the Gradient fill option then the shape will look like the below image.

If you click Picture or text, then the shape will be filled with Texture format.

Once you click the Pattern fill option, then Shape in Outlook Online will change with the pattern.

To delete or remove the shape, jus right-click on the shape then click the Cut option. So the shape will be removed from the Outlook Online desktop application.

Shapes in the Outlook Online application

These are all the options for using the shapes in the Outlook Online desktop application.

Insert Picture in Outlook Online

Additionally, we will see how to include pictures in the Outlook Online desktop application.

Open Microsoft Outlook in the desktop application.
Click New Email from the Home page of the Outlook Online desktop application.

Click the Insert option and click Pictures to add the pictures to the Outlook Online desktop application.

Click Pictures at the top of the page and click the Insert option to get picture in the Outlook Online desktop application.

Shape from the Outlook online desktop application

Once we click the Insert option, the picture will occupy in the body of the email.

By doing this, we can include the pictures in the Outlook online desktop application.

Symbol and Equation in Outlook Online

Similar to different varieties of shapes, we can also use symbols and equations in Outlook Online. Below are the different patterns of symbols and equations to use in Outlook to show the important expressions.

Open Microsoft Outlook in the desktop application.
Click New Email on the Home page of the desktop Outlook application.

Click the Insert option at the top to add the required symbols in Outlook Online.

Click the Symbol option at the top end of the page to add it to the body of the email.

Choose the required symbol you want to add in the Outlook body of the email application. Sometimes the requirement will be alpha, beta, or gamma we can go for this.

Click on More Symbols to add more symbols in the Outlook Online body of the application.

Click Symbols to include in the body of the email in the Outlook desktop application.

Once you click any symbol, click Insert to add to the email. Now the image will be added to the body of the email.

Click the Special Characters option to get more symbols using the shortcut key. If you use the below shortcut key the specific symbol will appear in the body of the email.

If you want to use the equation, you can click Equation to use any kind of equation in Outlook Online.

Here can use the mathematical equation in the Outlook body of the email.

This is how we have to use Equation and Shapes in the Outlook Online desktop application.

Advantages of Using Shapes in Outlook Online

There are several reasons to use the shapes in Outlook Online. Below are the main reasons.

Visual Communication – Shapes can enhance the visual communication of your emails and messages. They can be used to focus more on important points, create diagrams, or add visual elements to your emails, making them easier to understand.

Highlight Information – Shapes can be used to highlight specific information or give attention to key details within an email. For example, you can use an arrow shape to point to a particular section of a document or highlight important information.

Organization – Shapes can help us organize and structure our emails and messages. We can use shapes like rectangles and circles to create clear boundaries or group related content together.

Creativity – Shapes can add a creative touch to our emails and presentations. We can use them to create custom graphics, diagrams, or illustrations that help convey your message effectively.

Professionalism – Using shapes in our emails can give them a more professional look. This can be especially important for business emails and presentations.

Accessibility – Shapes can also enhance accessibility by providing visual cues and organization to the content of your emails, making it easier for recipients with visual impairments to understand the message.

Conclusion

In Outlook Online, we can easily add shapes to our emails and messages using the built-in drawing tools. These tools allow us to create, format, and customize shapes to suit our needs. For every email like project presentations or personal messages, we can use shapes in Outlook Online.