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How To Schedule Email Delivery By Date and Time in Apple Mail Application

Scheduling email delivery in Apple Mail allows you to compose emails whenever it’s convenient for you, while controlling precisely when those emails get sent out. This gives you more flexibility in managing your communications.

As someone who uses Apple Mail daily across my Mac, iPhone, and iPad devices, scheduling email delivery has become an indispensable tool for me. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to leverage this powerful capability based on my experience.

Overview of Email Scheduling in Apple Mail

The ability to schedule email delivery is available in Apple Mail on Macs running macOS Ventura or later, as well as on iPhones and iPads running iOS 16 or later.

With scheduled send enabled, you can specify the exact date and time for an email to be delivered when you are composing it. Apple Mail will then automatically send out the email at the scheduled time, even if your devices are asleep.

Some key things to know:

  • Set custom delivery schedule: When composing an email, you can set a specific date and time for delivery, down to the minute. This works for delivery times in the future as well as in the past (up to 1 hour back).
  • Preset options available: For convenience, preset delivery options like “Send Tonight” and “Send Tomorrow Morning” are also available.
  • Visible in “Send Later” mailbox: Emails scheduled for future delivery appear in the “Send Later” mailbox and can be edited or deleted before they are sent out.
  • Syncs across Apple devices: Scheduled emails sync across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad via iCloud, so you can manage them from any device.

Scheduling Email Delivery on Mac

Scheduling email delivery on your Mac running macOS Ventura is straightforward using the Apple Mail app. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

  1. Launch the Mail app and begin composing a new email as usual. Fill in the recipient(s), subject, and email body.
  2. When ready to schedule delivery, click the downward arrow next to the Send button in the upper right.
  3. In the drop-down menu, select one of the preset delivery options like “Send at 8 AM Tomorrow” or choose “Send Later” to pick a custom date/time.
    • If selecting a custom delivery time, use the date picker and time selector to choose when you want the email sent.
  4. Confirm your selection by clicking “Schedule” in the lower right when finished.
  5. The email will now appear in your “Send Later” mailbox, awaiting its scheduled delivery time.

And that’s all there is to it! The steps are very similar on iPhone and iPad as well.

Handy Tips for Scheduled Emailing

Here are some tips to help you become a master at scheduling email delivery in Apple Mail:

Schedule emails at optimal times

  • For business emails, early morning (before 10 AM) is often best as that’s when most people start their workdays.
  • Mid-week days like Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays tend to have higher open rates.

Use suggested delivery times

  • Take advantage of the suggested delivery times when available, like “Send Tomorrow at 8 AM”. This saves you clicks.

Sync scheduled emails across devices

  • Scheduled emails will automatically sync across your Apple devices via iCloud, allowing you to manage them anywhere.

Edit a scheduled email

  • If you need to make tweaks to a scheduled email before it sends, find it in your “Send Later” mailbox and click “Edit”.

Cancel a scheduled email

  • Also in the “Send Later” mailbox, you can delete or cancel any scheduled emails if you change your mind about sending them.

Key Scenarios for Scheduled Emailing

There are lots of situations where scheduling email delivery makes sense and can simplify your communications. Here are some of the most common scenarios:

1. Writing Emails During Down Times

For many people, early mornings or late nights tend to be less hectic times when they have time to plan and write. With scheduled sending, you can draft non-urgent emails whenever you have pockets of free time rather than feeling pressure to constantly respond.

2. Scheduling Monthly Newsletters

If you send out a monthly newsletter to customers or an email update to colleagues, scheduled send takes the work out of remembering to send it manually each month. Just schedule it once to go out automatically on the same day and time each month.

3. Coordinating Across Time Zones

If you frequently work with people in very different time zones, scheduling email delivery for business hours in the recipient’s location is a thoughtful convenience for them.

4. Sending Late Night Inspiration

Creative types often get their best ideas late at night when working in solitude. With scheduled send enabled, capture those ideas via email when they strike, scheduling them to be sent the next morning.

5. Avoiding Overwhelming Mondays

For teams that start new work weeks with full inboxes of emails from over the weekend, scheduling some messages to be sent on Tuesday instead prevents Monday from feeling quite so overwhelming.

Maximizing Scheduled Email Productivity

Here are some best practices to maximize how scheduling email delivery through Apple Mail boosts your productivity:

Use Templates

Create email templates with your common communications like newsletters, status updates, meeting follow ups, etc. When you need to send something, personalize the template and schedule delivery in just a few clicks.

Build Routines Around It

Get in the habit of checking your “Send Later” mailbox at the beginning and end of each workday. Process any messages already sent and schedule new ones to go out the next day during optimal times.

Schedule Recurring Email Digests

Stay on top of key contacts by automatically emailing yourself a regularly scheduled digest pulling in all recent messages with those VIPs. Review conveniently in one place.

Create Reminders to Follow Up

Leverage scheduled emailing to create reminders for yourself. Schedule follow up messages to send in a week, month, or by a certain date to prompt your future self.

Conclusion

The ability to precisely schedule email delivery is an easy-to-use but powerful feature now available right in Apple’s Mail app. Take advantage of it to work more efficiently, improve your communications, and alleviate email stress. Just be careful not to over schedule to the point that your “Send Later” mailbox becomes overwhelming!

Hopefully this guide gives you lots of ideas for how to effectively apply scheduled sending based on your individual needs. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!

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