---
title: "Canned response"
canonical: https://replypen.com/glossary/canned-response
description: "A canned response, also called a reply template or saved reply, is prewritten text you paste into an email to answer a common question."
question: "What is a canned response?"
author: "ReplyPen team"
published: 2026-09-30
operator: ProBackup BV (Hasselt, Belgium)
---

# What is a canned response?

A canned response, also called a reply template or saved reply, is prewritten text you paste into an email to answer a common question. It saves typing and keeps answers consistent, but the same words sent to everyone can read as impersonal when the customer's situation is slightly different.

Gmail calls them templates, Outlook calls them My Templates or Quick Parts, and helpdesks call them
macros or saved replies. All work the same way: pick one, it drops into the reply, you adjust it and
send.

## Why it matters

Templates are the first tool most small teams reach for when [repeat questions](https://replypen.com/glossary/repeat-question.md)
pile up. They work best for answers that truly never change. They struggle when the right reply
depends on details in the customer's email, and customers notice copy-paste: a reply that ignores
half the question feels like nobody read it.

A good template leaves room to answer what was actually asked, and gets reviewed whenever a policy
or price changes, so an outdated answer is not sent a hundred times.

## An example

A "returns" template explains the 30-day window and links the returns form. A customer who writes
on day 34 about a damaged item needs a different answer, and the template alone gets it wrong.

See [reply templates that don't sound canned](https://replypen.com/blog/reply-templates-that-dont-sound-canned.md).

## Related

- [Repeat question](https://replypen.com/glossary/repeat-question.md): A repeat question is a customer question your business has already answered many times, such as "where is my order", "can I change my address" or "how do I cancel".
- [Tone of voice](https://replypen.com/glossary/tone-of-voice.md): Tone of voice is how a business sounds when it writes: formal or casual, brief or chatty, how it greets and signs off, whether it uses first names or jokes.
- [AI email reply tool](https://replypen.com/glossary/ai-email-reply-tool.md): An AI email reply tool reads an incoming email and writes a suggested reply, usually as a draft in your own inbox for you to check, edit and send.