Neither Gmail nor Outlook can send a recurring email. Both let you schedule one message for one future time, and neither offers a repeat option. To send the same email on a schedule you need a third-party extension, Microsoft Power Automate, or Google Apps Script.

Think of a recurring email as a standing order. You want to tell your mail provider to send this one every Monday, then walk away.

Gmail and Outlook won’t take the standing order. They’ll accept a single post-dated instruction and nothing more, which is the whole reason this page exists.

Does the Recurring Emails for Gmail Extension Still Work?

Yes. Google’s Chrome Web Store shows it live and maintained at version 1.6.1, last updated 1 August 2026. The listing shows 20,000 users and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 262 ratings.

That answer needs a warning attached, because the store itself may tell you otherwise.

The Chrome Web Store serves a stale copy of this listing

Checking the listing twice returned two different answers. One fetch showed version 1.6.0, last updated 4 November 2024, with 252 ratings. Two live renders showed version 1.6.1 and 1 August 2026.

The 2024 figures are a caching artefact. Anything reading the cached copy, an AI summary included, will report a maintained extension as abandoned.

Check a listing yourself before believing an abandonment claim about any Chrome extension, this one included.

Google publishes three different install counts for the same extension

Google lists this extension in two of its own stores, and the numbers disagree.

Source	Installs	Listing updated
Google Chrome Web Store	Google shows 20,000 users	Google shows 1 August 2026
Google Workspace Marketplace	Google shows 36,000-plus installs	Google shows 10 December 2023
The listing copy on both stores	The developer claims more than 70,000 professionals	Carries no date

The permission disclosure disagrees across those same two stores, which matters more than the counts do.

The Chrome listing says the only sensitive permission required is sending email on your behalf. Google’s Workspace Marketplace panel for the same product also lists viewing your email messages and their metadata while the add-on runs.

That extension markets itself on not requiring email access. Read the Marketplace permissions panel before you install it.

Which Recurring Email Tools Still Work? Four Checked on 12 August 2026

Tool	Status	Listing updated	Price
Recurring emails for Gmail	Live and maintained	Google shows 1 August 2026	The developer prices Pro at 35 usd a year, after a free tier
Recurring Email, same developer, non-Gmail	Live	Google shows 19 October 2024	The developer states it is free
Mail Boss Scheduler for Gmail	Live but stale	Google shows 15 August 2022	Free
Email Studio for Gmail	Live, with user reports of failures	Google shows 12 June 2026	Free tier, then paid

One caveat on Email Studio, which bundles Digital Inspiration’s recurring scheduler. Its two most recent Marketplace reviews are dated 8 and 12 June 2026, and both report an error saying the Rhino runtime is deprecated.

Those are user reports rather than a vendor statement, and the listing shows 560,000-plus installs. Test it on a low-stakes message before trusting it with a weekly report.

Mail Boss is the odd one out. Google still shows it a Featured badge four years after its last update. That badge describes review status rather than maintenance.

Boomerang Pricing for Recurring Messages, Checked 12 August 2026

Boomerang lists Recurring Messages as a feature on its own subscriptions page and prices four tiers. Earlier versions of this page quoted a single 15 usd figure, which described only one of them.

Plan	Price Boomerang publishes	Message credits
Basic	Boomerang says free	Boomerang says 10 per month
Personal	Boomerang says 4.98 usd a month, billed annually	Boomerang says unlimited
Pro	Boomerang says 14.98 usd a month, billed annually	Boomerang says unlimited
Premium	Boomerang says 49.98 usd a month, billed annually	Boomerang says unlimited

Recurring Messages sits among Boomerang’s advanced features rather than in the free tier. Note also that Boomerang’s pricing lives at its subscriptions page, because the pricing URL many articles link to now returns a not-found page.

What Is a Recurring Email and Why Should You Use One?

Quick Answer: A recurring email is an automated message that sends at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly) without manual input. Use cases include personal reminders, team report requests, automated invoices, payroll coordination, and meeting agenda notifications. They save time and prevent important communications from being forgotten.

A recurring email is an automated message configured to send at regular intervals without requiring you to manually compose and send it each time. Once set up, the email goes out on its predetermined schedule until you cancel or modify it.

Common use cases for recurring emails include personal reminders (monthly report deadlines, task notifications), report collection (automated requests for team status updates), invoice management (regular invoices sent to clients automatically, learn more about automated invoice processing), payroll coordination (timesheet or payment information requests from contractors), and meeting management (agenda reminders and meeting notifications).

What Are the Best Practices for Recurring Emails?

Quick Answer: Four best practices: obtain recipient permission first, set clear end dates and review automations periodically, triple-check content before activating (errors multiply with each send), and build flexibility into your system to accommodate schedule and contact changes.

1. Obtain permission first. Always get consent before adding recipients to recurring emails. Notify partners, clients, and coworkers about the automated messages they will receive, what the messages will contain, and how frequently they will arrive.

2. Set clear end dates. Configure end dates for recurring emails when possible. Set calendar reminders to review and update these automations periodically so they do not continue sending after the original purpose has expired.

3. Triple-check your content. Proofread recurring emails carefully before activating them, errors multiply with every send. Follow proper email etiquette rules for professional communication, especially for messages that will be sent repeatedly.

4. Plan for updates. Build flexibility into your system. Meeting times change, deadlines shift, and contact information updates regularly. Make sure you can easily access and modify your recurring emails when adjustments are needed.

How Do You Set Up Recurring Emails in Gmail?

Quick Answer: Gmail has no built-in recurring email feature. The most reliable method is Boomerang for Gmail (paid, 14.98 usd a month on the Pro plan, billed annually): install the extension, compose your email, click “Send Later,” select “Schedule recurring message,” set the frequency and dates, and click “Schedule.” Free alternatives include Gmail Templates, Gmail Filters, and Google Calendar email notifications.

Gmail does not offer native recurring email functionality. The most reliable solution is Boomerang for Gmail, a third-party browser extension. Here is how to set it up:

1. Install the Boomerang extension for your browser.

2. Compose your email message in Gmail.

3. Click the red “Send Later” button that Boomerang adds to the compose window.

4. Select “Schedule recurring message.”

5. Configure your schedule: start and end dates, specific days and times, and frequency (daily, weekly, monthly).

6. Click “Schedule” to activate.

Access your recurring messages at any time through Boomerang’s dashboard to make adjustments or cancellations. Boomerang lists Recurring Messages on its Pro and Premium plans only. Pro starts at 14.98 usd a month billed annually, and each account needs its own subscription.

What Are the Free Alternatives for Recurring Emails in Gmail?

Quick Answer: Three free alternatives: (1) Gmail Templates for manually reusing pre-written messages, (2) Gmail Filters for trigger-based automatic forwarding and responses, and (3) Google Calendar email notifications for recurring reminders. None are fully automated like Boomerang, but they cover many common use cases.

Method 1: Gmail Templates. Templates work well for irregular but repeated messages. Enable them by opening Gmail Settings, clicking the “Advanced” tab, finding “Templates,” clicking “Enable,” and saving. To create a template, compose your message, click the three-dot menu in the bottom-right of the compose window, and select Templates > Save draft as template. To reuse it, open a new compose window, click the three-dot menu, and select Templates > choose your saved template. For ideas on effective templates, see our guide to customer service email templates.

Method 2: Gmail Filters. Gmail filters enable automatic forwarding and responses based on incoming email criteria. Filters work best for trigger-based automation (automatically responding to or forwarding certain messages) rather than scheduled outbound sends. For detailed setup, see the complete guide to Gmail filters.

Method 3: Google Calendar integration. Google Calendar provides a simple free recurring notification system. Create a Calendar event, set the recurrence pattern (daily, weekly, monthly), enable email notifications, and you will receive automated reminders at each interval. This does not send an email to others, but it works well as a personal prompt to send a recurring message manually.

Where Outlook Stores a Scheduled Email Before It Sends

The answer depends on which Outlook you run, and Microsoft’s own article gives two different answers on one page.

Client	Where the message waits
New Outlook for Windows	Microsoft says the message remains in the Draft folder
Classic Outlook for Windows	Microsoft says the message remains in the Outbox folder
Outlook on the web	Microsoft says the message remains in the Draft folder
Outlook.com	Microsoft folds this into its web answer, the Draft folder

Earlier versions of this page said recurring emails are not stored in your Outbox. That is wrong for Classic Outlook, where Microsoft says delayed messages wait in exactly that folder.

The reason so many guides get this wrong is mechanical. Microsoft’s article tabs between clients, and a plain page fetch returns only the first tab. The Classic Outlook answer stays invisible unless you click it.

Microsoft documents one more behaviour elsewhere. In Cached Exchange Mode a delayed message sits in your local Outbox and won’t send unless Outlook is running at the scheduled time.

Two limits are worth knowing before you rely on any of this. Microsoft says schedule send in New Outlook isn’t available for IMAP or POP accounts, and that its rules-based deferral caps at 120 minutes.

How Do You Set Up Recurring Emails in Outlook?

Quick Answer: Outlook offers three methods: (1) Outlook Rules for condition-based automatic forwarding and responses, (2) Boomerang for Outlook plugin with scheduled recurring sends, and (3) Visual Basic (VBA) scripts for advanced custom automation. Boomerang provides the most user-friendly experience.

Method 1: Outlook Rules. Rules automate forwarding and responses based on conditions you set, for example, automatically forwarding emails from a specific sender to a team member. Rules work well for reactive automation (responding to incoming triggers) but are more limited for proactive scheduled outbound sends.

Method 2: Boomerang for Outlook. Boomerang provides the same scheduling interface for Outlook as it does for Gmail. Download and install the plugin, compose your message, click “Send Later” in the ribbon, choose “Schedule recurring message,” configure the timing and frequency, and click “Schedule” to activate.

Method 3: Visual Basic scripts. Advanced users can create custom VBA scripts in Outlook for recurring email automation. This method involves creating custom task forms, setting up recurring tasks, and marking tasks as complete to trigger the email send. It requires programming knowledge but offers the most flexibility. Find detailed VBA instructions in this technical guide to scheduling recurring emails in Outlook.

The Two Methods Microsoft and Google Support Themselves

Both vendors document a way to send email on a repeating schedule. Neither lives in the mail client, and both are free at typical business licence levels.

Microsoft Power Automate

Microsoft documents a scheduled cloud flow that runs “once a day, an hour, or a minute” and can send a report by email. The trigger is called Recurrence and the action is “Send an email (V2)”.

That action sits on the Office 365 Outlook connector, which Microsoft classes as Standard. Standard connectors come with seeded Microsoft 365 licences, so many business users already have this.

One oddity to expect. Microsoft’s connector reference page for the Recurrence trigger returns a 404. Its own instructions still tell you to configure a trigger by that name.

Google Apps Script

Google documents time-driven triggers that run “as frequently as every minute or as infrequently as once per month”. You pair one with MailApp.sendEmail or GmailApp.sendEmail to send on a schedule.

Google warns that the timing is approximate. It says a 9 AM recurring trigger fires somewhere between 9 and 10, then holds that time consistently from day to day.

Apps Script limit	Consumer Gmail	Google Workspace
Google says email recipients per day	100	1,500
Google says recipients per message	50	50
Google says triggers per user per script	20	20
Google says total trigger runtime per day	90 minutes	6 hours

There’s a trap buried in that table. Google’s Workspace mailbox allows 2,000 messages a day while Apps Script caps the same user at 1,500 recipients. Neither Google page mentions the other.

Where Google and Microsoft Disagree With Themselves

Five contradictions surfaced while checking this page. All five were live on 12 August 2026.

1. Outlook’s waiting folder. Microsoft says Drafts on its New Outlook and web tabs, and Outbox on its Classic tab, inside one article.
2. Gmail’s daily send limit. Google publishes 500 a day on its consumer limits page, 2,000 on the Workspace admin page, and 5,000 as its bulk-sender threshold.
3. Gmail’s scheduled-email cap. Google publishes the 100 limit only as a tip on the schedule-send article. Its own Gmail limits page omits it.
4. A dead Google URL that misinforms. The old schedule-send article now returns an error saying the feature may no longer exist. Schedule send still works.
5. The Scheduled label. Google’s page on missing sent mail tells you to check Sent Mail and Drafts, and never mentions the Scheduled label its own feature created.

What Google and Microsoft Document About Recurring Email, and What They Don’t

Question	Status	What the vendor publishes
Native recurring send in Gmail	Does not exist	Google documents schedule send for one future time and no repeat option.
Native recurring send in Outlook	Does not exist	Microsoft documents schedule send and delayed delivery, both single-shot.
Gmail scheduled-email cap	Documented	Google says you can have up to 100 scheduled emails.
Is recurring email good practice	Not documented	Neither Google nor Microsoft publishes guidance recommending or discouraging it.
A separate limit on automated email	Not documented	Every published limit is a volume limit, indifferent to how the send was triggered.
What happens if a scheduled send fails	Not documented	Google publishes nothing about scheduled mail when an account is suspended.
Editing a scheduled Gmail message	Documented	Google says cancelling a scheduled email turns it back into a draft.

Recurring email adds to the pile everyone else has to answer. Our benchmark of 21.9 million received emails found inbound volume up 14.3% in a single quarter.

Ask whether a weekly all-hands email earns its slot before you automate it forever. A standing order nobody cancels is how inboxes get heavy.

Frequently Asked Questions About Recurring Emails

What is a recurring email?

A recurring email is an automated message configured to send at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly) without manual input. Common uses include personal reminders, team report requests, automated invoices, payroll coordination, and meeting notifications.

Does Gmail have a built-in recurring email feature?

No, Gmail offers no native recurring email feature. You need a third-party tool such as Boomerang, whose Pro plan starts at 14.98 usd a month billed annually. Free workarounds include Gmail Templates, Gmail Filters and Google Calendar notifications.

How do you set up recurring emails with Boomerang in Gmail?

Install the Boomerang browser extension, compose your email in Gmail, click the red “Send Later” button, select “Schedule recurring message,” configure the start date, end date, days, times, and frequency (daily, weekly, monthly), then click “Schedule.” Manage all recurring messages through Boomerang’s dashboard.

How do you set up recurring emails in Outlook?

Outlook offers three methods: Outlook Rules for condition-based automation, Boomerang for Outlook plugin for scheduled recurring sends (same interface as Gmail version), and Visual Basic (VBA) scripts for advanced custom automation using recurring task forms.

Is Boomerang free for recurring emails?

No, Boomerang lists Recurring Messages on its Pro and Premium plans only, and Pro starts at 14.98 usd a month billed annually. Boomerang’s free Basic plan and its Personal plan don’t include it. Google Calendar reminders remain a free alternative.

What is the difference between recurring emails and email templates?

Recurring emails send automatically on a schedule without intervention. Templates save composition time but require you to manually open, customize, and send each message. Templates suit irregular repeated messages; recurring emails suit fixed-schedule communications.

What happens to recurring emails if you are out of office?

Recurring emails continue to send on schedule regardless of your availability because they are managed by the scheduling tool. Pause or cancel them through the tool’s dashboard before extended absences if the messages should not go out while you are unavailable.

Where are scheduled recurring emails stored?

It depends on the method. Boomerang and similar tools manage upcoming sends in their own dashboard. Outlook’s native delayed delivery uses Drafts on New Outlook and the web, and the Outbox on Classic Outlook.

Does Gmail have a recurring email option in 2026?

No. Google documents schedule send, which delivers one message at one future time, and publishes no repeat or recurrence option anywhere. Sending the same email on a schedule needs a third-party extension or Google Apps Script.

Is the Recurring Emails for Gmail extension still maintained?

Yes. The Chrome Web Store listing shows version 1.6.1, last updated 1 August 2026, with 20,000 users and a 4.8 out of 5 rating. Some fetches return a cached copy dated November 2024, so check the live listing before believing it was abandoned.

How many scheduled emails can Gmail hold at once?

Google says you can have up to 100 scheduled emails. That figure appears only as a tip on Google’s schedule-send help page, and not on the page Google presents as its Gmail limits document.

Can Power Automate send a recurring email?

Yes. Microsoft documents a scheduled cloud flow using the Recurrence trigger and the “Send an email (V2)” action on the Office 365 Outlook connector. That connector is a Standard one, so seeded Microsoft 365 licences include it.