Hi everyone - the linked script doc has disappeared so here is the script you can copy/paste into notepad: TASKKILL /F /IM OUTLOOK.EXE TASKKILL /F /IM WINWORD.EXE ROBOCOPY "" %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM ROBOCOPY "" %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates NORMALEMAIL.DOTM
Thank you for the video and explanation - i have followed the steps but the message that pops up on another computer says "The specified text is not a valid building block name" - what have i done wrong?
If you are able to, can you flick me an email on the address on my about page with a screenshot of the file name, and the location it's on on the pc that's having the issue?
In that case you can use the same process with the script, or manually drag and drop them from your %appdata% folder into a shared or flash drive, and then into the %appdata% folder on the new system
Hi, thank you for your tutorial first and foremost. I followed your exact instructions but when I open out Outlook after running the batch file, the Quick Parts templates are not there. Am i doing something wrong?
Hey there. I can't actually recall how to share building blocks, as they are separate to quick parts. But if you want to just share quick parts in word only, you'd follow these instructions for just the normal.dotm file, and leave out any lines for normalemail.dotm
Hey bro, thats a really good question. I haven't done any testing on it, but i believe it *could*. Ideally the script would just read as: Robocopy "C:\Users\(host username - you will be able to copy this by checking the files properties in the OneDrive folder)\OneDrive\(File name and .format)" %appdata%\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates The issue with using this method is that if the one drive directory is not set up well enough - it may not direct to the right one drive (for instance if all users do not log in under unique usernames, the file path will always point to the own users OneDrive) and of course there is the problem of turn-over - the file will sit in an individuals folder, and will eventually need to be moved if that person moves on. Might be better to consider a sharepoint site as a location, but again, i have not explored that either.
I'm still yet too see a tutorial video on this subject that's easy to follow and works. I have an autotext document, I want to use it in a new pc without typing it all out again. But cant find a tutorial that works, only long winded stuff that drifts off the topic and doesnt work.
Go to %appdata%> microsoft> templates. Copy the normal and normal email files onto a USB stick Insert the usb stick onto your new computer and move the files to the same folder. When asking for help, remember to use "please" and "thank you" instead of just complaining about free advice.
Are you changing the name to preserve the quick parts? If the name is changed, word and outlook won't recognise the file. If you want to keep the old files, the best advice is to get the person with the historical quick parts to create the new ones and make a master file with everything
Hey Nik, this tutorial was extremely helpful, fun, and intuitive. I've been trying to use quickparts and cannot seem to get them to share with my coworkers after following your step by step guide. Please see the code that I have below for what I am typing in the Notepad: TASKKILL /F /IM OUTLOOK.EXE TASKKILL /F /IM WINWORD.EXE ROBOCOPY "T:\TFC - Templates\Quickparts\Templates" C:\Users\llamar\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM ROBOCOPY "T:\TFC - Templates\Quickparts\Templates" C:\Users\llamar\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates NORMALEMAIL.DOTM Also, when I open the Normal.dotm file in the Roaming-> Microsoft -> Templates folder, a blank word document shows up. Is this supposed to happen? Any of your help is much appreciated.
Hi Luke - it appears that the destination in the script is specific to your username, rather than a general user. Try replacing that portion or the line that is not in parenthesis from: C:\Users\llamar\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates to %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates and yes - it is completely normal for the normal.dotm file to open up a blank word document. trying to open that file will launch word.exe, as that is the only programme that you can use to view your gallery Hope this helps
@@unOrigiNik Wow Amazing! It worked! Thank you so much, this will be such a huge time saver for us. Additionally, is there a way for others on the team to create their own Quickparts and then be able to share them with the team by using the same .bat file? In other words, could we create a communal Quickparts gallery that anyone could update at any time?
Good to hear it. Yes there is a way. You could make a script that reverses the robo copy script to take from a users %appdata% directory and then send it back to the shared drive. I did play with it but didn't trust my colleagues to use the correct one and then inadvertently overwrite the dotm file with an outdated version when they are trying to update theirs. To play it safe, we would just get users who updated quickparts to drag and drop theirs into the shared folder
Hi Luke and Nik, I'm running into the same issue, except our team doesn't use a Share Drive. Instead, we use SharePoint to share documents. I sync'd the SharePoint docs to my File Explorer, so I can use the filepath for this bat file. What should I change it to so it's not user specific (see below)? Thank you!! "C:\Users\galvezt\Company Name\Central Monitoring - Documents\CMN Communication Toolset\CMN Outlook Quickparts"
Hey Tatiana, unfortunately the batch script doesnt allow for you to download a file from sharepoint to a specific location. you are probably better to change batch file move from the users download file location (it should be pretty generic, like "C:/Downloads" rather than using the %appdata% line) and instructing your users to download the .dotm files from sharepoint before running the script. as long as they are downloading the files to their download folder, and not their desktop, it should run pretty smooth. otherwise, you might just have to deal with manually moving the .dotm file into their templates folder and do away with using the script all together?
Hi Nick - thank you for this. So very informative! I tried to copy the code script for our company shared drive to access Templates from Word but it didn't work. Are you able to check that I have entered the code correctly? I did: ROBOCOPY "C:\Users\Myname\Company Name\Teams Channel Name\FolderName\Quickparts\Templates" %appdate%\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM. I had a colleague test it out for me but the quick parts didnt appear. Are you able to provide insight as to what I might be doing wrong?
Gidday mate. Thanks! It's hard to say without actually seeing the folder directory, but it appears correct. Walk me back a bit - are you putting the script in a note pad doc and saving it with a .BAT prefix?
@@unOrigiNik Thanks for coming back to me. Its appreciated! So its our company shared drive. And yes, definitely saved the note as a .BAT file and it saves as a windows batch file too. I was thinking maybe its because the part of the script that is in inverted commas and has my name, needs to be each user who needs accessing the folder's name?
@@unOrigiNik I went back into Word and had a look at the Templates. So the Quick Parts even though I have selected to save as 'Normal' files are defaulting back to Building Blocks US. Not sure why, and I don't know how to get around it :/
Hmmm, as i say, without being able to see screen shots, diagnosing the root cause will be hard to do. In principal - the segment of the script in inverted commas should be a shared drive that all users can access. The only reason this segment should have your name in it should be because you have a subfolder in that drive with your name. The segment without the inverted commas should be how the directory looks for all users. Generally I type it as %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM or NORMALEMAIL.DOTM In the video I can see i have used my direct C: directory, so if you are copying that word for word, that could be throwing you off. I'll put the correct script in a pinned comment because my linked document has also disappeared.
@@unOrigiNik Hi Nick - do you have an email address I can contact you on to provide screenshots? I can try edit the script so that my name comes out of it but then that is not a direct copy/paste of the file path.
Hi everyone - the linked script doc has disappeared so here is the script you can copy/paste into notepad:
TASKKILL /F /IM OUTLOOK.EXE
TASKKILL /F /IM WINWORD.EXE
ROBOCOPY "" %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM
ROBOCOPY "" %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates NORMALEMAIL.DOTM
Superstar, this is exactly what I have been looking for. Question: do you need to run the script every time you reboot your PC to load the Quickparts?
Thanks 😊 no that shouldn't be necessary, unless your work pc has some weird cleanup script too but I don't think that would be likely 😊
Thank you for the video and explanation - i have followed the steps but the message that pops up on another computer says "The specified text is not a valid building block name" - what have i done wrong?
If you are able to, can you flick me an email on the address on my about page with a screenshot of the file name, and the location it's on on the pc that's having the issue?
What if I need to copy my own QuickParts settings over to my new system using the same Outlook account?
In that case you can use the same process with the script, or manually drag and drop them from your %appdata% folder into a shared or flash drive, and then into the %appdata% folder on the new system
@@unOrigiNik
Hi, thank you for your tutorial first and foremost.
I followed your exact instructions but when I open out Outlook after running the batch file, the Quick Parts templates are not there.
Am i doing something wrong?
Hmm, that's strange. Do you mind copy/pasting your code into a comment here?
Thanks for the great video. If I only want to share the building blocks in Words, does that mean I only need Line 2, and delete 1? Thanks.
First
Hey there. I can't actually recall how to share building blocks, as they are separate to quick parts. But if you want to just share quick parts in word only, you'd follow these instructions for just the normal.dotm file, and leave out any lines for normalemail.dotm
hi Nik can we use one drive as a shared folder ?
Hey bro, thats a really good question. I haven't done any testing on it, but i believe it *could*.
Ideally the script would just read as: Robocopy "C:\Users\(host username - you will be able to copy this by checking the files properties in the OneDrive folder)\OneDrive\(File name and .format)" %appdata%\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates
The issue with using this method is that if the one drive directory is not set up well enough - it may not direct to the right one drive (for instance if all users do not log in under unique usernames, the file path will always point to the own users OneDrive) and of course there is the problem of turn-over - the file will sit in an individuals folder, and will eventually need to be moved if that person moves on.
Might be better to consider a sharepoint site as a location, but again, i have not explored that either.
I'm still yet too see a tutorial video on this subject that's easy to follow and works. I have an autotext document, I want to use it in a new pc without typing it all out again. But cant find a tutorial that works, only long winded stuff that drifts off the topic and doesnt work.
Go to %appdata%> microsoft> templates.
Copy the normal and normal email files onto a USB stick
Insert the usb stick onto your new computer and move the files to the same folder.
When asking for help, remember to use "please" and "thank you" instead of just complaining about free advice.
If someone has previous quick parts on their system can you change the name of the import from normal to another name or what do you suggest?
Are you changing the name to preserve the quick parts? If the name is changed, word and outlook won't recognise the file.
If you want to keep the old files, the best advice is to get the person with the historical quick parts to create the new ones and make a master file with everything
mate this was useful ripper ta- is it still a great solution in 2021? seems to be
Thanks! Yes absolutely still a good solution with office 365. It hasn't changed since I published this 🙂
@@unOrigiNik many thanks indeed
You are awesome. Thank you!!
You are so welcome!
You got a discord?
Nah I'm kinda bad at keeping up with stuff like that :) plus I don't have the following to keep it alive yet...
@@unOrigiNik
Bummer
Hey Nik, this tutorial was extremely helpful, fun, and intuitive. I've been trying to use quickparts and cannot seem to get them to share with my coworkers after following your step by step guide. Please see the code that I have below for what I am typing in the Notepad:
TASKKILL /F /IM OUTLOOK.EXE
TASKKILL /F /IM WINWORD.EXE
ROBOCOPY "T:\TFC - Templates\Quickparts\Templates" C:\Users\llamar\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM
ROBOCOPY "T:\TFC - Templates\Quickparts\Templates" C:\Users\llamar\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates NORMALEMAIL.DOTM
Also, when I open the Normal.dotm file in the Roaming-> Microsoft -> Templates folder, a blank word document shows up. Is this supposed to happen?
Any of your help is much appreciated.
Hi Luke - it appears that the destination in the script is specific to your username, rather than a general user. Try replacing that portion or the line that is not in parenthesis from:
C:\Users\llamar\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates
to
%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates
and yes - it is completely normal for the normal.dotm file to open up a blank word document. trying to open that file will launch word.exe, as that is the only programme that you can use to view your gallery
Hope this helps
@@unOrigiNik Wow Amazing! It worked! Thank you so much, this will be such a huge time saver for us.
Additionally, is there a way for others on the team to create their own Quickparts and then be able to share them with the team by using the same .bat file? In other words, could we create a communal Quickparts gallery that anyone could update at any time?
Good to hear it. Yes there is a way. You could make a script that reverses the robo copy script to take from a users %appdata% directory and then send it back to the shared drive.
I did play with it but didn't trust my colleagues to use the correct one and then inadvertently overwrite the dotm file with an outdated version when they are trying to update theirs.
To play it safe, we would just get users who updated quickparts to drag and drop theirs into the shared folder
Hi Luke and Nik,
I'm running into the same issue, except our team doesn't use a Share Drive. Instead, we use SharePoint to share documents. I sync'd the SharePoint docs to my File Explorer, so I can use the filepath for this bat file. What should I change it to so it's not user specific (see below)? Thank you!!
"C:\Users\galvezt\Company Name\Central Monitoring - Documents\CMN Communication Toolset\CMN Outlook Quickparts"
Hey Tatiana, unfortunately the batch script doesnt allow for you to download a file from sharepoint to a specific location. you are probably better to change batch file move from the users download file location (it should be pretty generic, like "C:/Downloads" rather than using the %appdata% line) and instructing your users to download the .dotm files from sharepoint before running the script. as long as they are downloading the files to their download folder, and not their desktop, it should run pretty smooth.
otherwise, you might just have to deal with manually moving the .dotm file into their templates folder and do away with using the script all together?
Hi Nick - thank you for this. So very informative! I tried to copy the code script for our company shared drive to access Templates from Word but it didn't work. Are you able to check that I have entered the code correctly? I did: ROBOCOPY "C:\Users\Myname\Company Name\Teams Channel Name\FolderName\Quickparts\Templates" %appdate%\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM. I had a colleague test it out for me but the quick parts didnt appear. Are you able to provide insight as to what I might be doing wrong?
Gidday mate. Thanks!
It's hard to say without actually seeing the folder directory, but it appears correct. Walk me back a bit - are you putting the script in a note pad doc and saving it with a .BAT prefix?
@@unOrigiNik Thanks for coming back to me. Its appreciated! So its our company shared drive. And yes, definitely saved the note as a .BAT file and it saves as a windows batch file too. I was thinking maybe its because the part of the script that is in inverted commas and has my name, needs to be each user who needs accessing the folder's name?
@@unOrigiNik I went back into Word and had a look at the Templates. So the Quick Parts even though I have selected to save as 'Normal' files are defaulting back to Building Blocks US. Not sure why, and I don't know how to get around it :/
Hmmm, as i say, without being able to see screen shots, diagnosing the root cause will be hard to do.
In principal - the segment of the script in inverted commas should be a shared drive that all users can access. The only reason this segment should have your name in it should be because you have a subfolder in that drive with your name.
The segment without the inverted commas should be how the directory looks for all users. Generally I type it as %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates NORMAL.DOTM or NORMALEMAIL.DOTM
In the video I can see i have used my direct C: directory, so if you are copying that word for word, that could be throwing you off. I'll put the correct script in a pinned comment because my linked document has also disappeared.
@@unOrigiNik Hi Nick - do you have an email address I can contact you on to provide screenshots? I can try edit the script so that my name comes out of it but then that is not a direct copy/paste of the file path.