Schedule an Email in Outlook Monthly with Power Automate

Outlook does not have a built-in option to send the same email on a monthly repeat. To automate it, create a scheduled cloud flow in Microsoft Power Automate, set it to run every month, and add Outlook’s Send an email action. You will need a Power Automate account connected to the mailbox you want to send from; the exact connector and available options can depend on your account and organization.

What You’ll Need

A Microsoft account with access to Power Automate at make.powerautomate.com. A work or school account may be subject to your organization’s policies or licensing.
Permission to connect Power Automate to the mailbox that will send the message. For a work or school mailbox, this is usually the Office 365 Outlook connector; an Outlook.com mailbox may use the Outlook.com connector if it is available for your account.
The recipient address, subject, message text, monthly send date, time, and time zone. Choose a date from the 1st through the 28th if you want a reliably occurring date in every month.

Step-by-Step

Decide what the recurring email should contain. Write down the recipients, subject, and body before building the flow. A simple monthly notice can use fixed text. If the message must change each month—for example, to include a new report or amount—you will need to add a suitable data source or update the flow’s content; a recurring schedule by itself sends the same configured message each time. Confirm that every recipient should receive the email on every run.
Open Power Automate and start a scheduled flow. In a browser, go to make.powerautomate.com and sign in with the account you intend to use. Select Create, then choose Scheduled cloud flow. If the page layout differs, look for the option to create a flow with a recurrence or schedule trigger. Give the flow a recognizable name, such as Monthly account reminder, so it is easy to identify later.
Set the first run and monthly frequency. In the creation panel, enter the date and time for the first send and set the repeat interval to 1 month (sometimes displayed as a frequency of Month and an interval of 1). Select the correct time zone rather than assuming the displayed time is local. The date of the first scheduled run determines the monthly day in many configurations. If the designer exposes a specific day-of-month setting, set it to the date you want. Dates from 1 through 28 avoid the short-month problem. Review the next scheduled run shown by the flow when possible, then select Create or continue to the flow designer.
Add the Outlook email action. In the flow designer, select New step, search for Outlook, and choose the appropriate email action. For a Microsoft 365 work or school mailbox, choose Office 365 Outlook and then Send an email (V2). For a personal Outlook.com mailbox, use its matching connector if offered. If Power Automate asks you to sign in or approve a connection, use the account that has permission to send from the intended mailbox.
Fill in the message fields. Enter the recipient in To, then add the subject and body. You can add more than one recipient, and use Cc or Bcc when appropriate. Keep the message clear about its recurring nature if that will help recipients understand why they receive it each month. Avoid putting confidential information in a message unless your organization’s email and data policies allow it. If the action offers a From or shared-mailbox field, use it only when you have the required send permissions.
Save the flow and check its schedule. Select Save. Review the flow’s recurrence trigger and confirm the interval, start date, time, and time zone. In the flow details, make sure the flow is turned on. A saved flow that is switched off will not run on its schedule. If the designer shows a warning about an invalid connection or missing required field, resolve it before relying on the flow.
Test carefully with an address you control. Before leaving the real recipient list in place, replace it temporarily with your own address or another consenting test recipient. Use the designer’s test option if available, and understand that testing the flow can send a real email. Check that the received message has the expected sender, subject, formatting, and content. Then restore the intended recipients, save again, and verify the final To, Cc, and Bcc fields. Do not assume a successful test means the next monthly run has already happened; check the recurrence date in the flow details.
Monitor the first scheduled run. After the first due date, open the flow’s details and inspect its run history. A successful run should show that the recurrence trigger and email action completed. Check the recipient’s inbox and junk folder as well. Keep the flow enabled and periodically confirm that its connection has not expired or been revoked.

Common Mistakes

Looking for a monthly repeat in Outlook’s one-time schedule feature. Outlook’s Schedule send feature is for a particular message scheduled to send once; it does not create a monthly series. Likewise, classic Outlook for Windows has a Delay Delivery option for an individual message, not a monthly recurrence. Use a recurring Power Automate flow when you need automatic repeats.

Choosing a date that does not exist every month. A schedule set for the 29th, 30th, or 31st may not behave the way you expect in February or other shorter months. Do not assume it will move to the last day of the month. Use a day from the 1st to the 28th for a consistent monthly date, or design and test a more specific schedule if the requirement is the last day or a particular weekday.

Using the wrong time zone or mailbox connection. A flow can run at a different local time if its time zone is wrong, and an action connected to a different account can send from an unexpected mailbox. Check both the recurrence settings and the connection shown on the Outlook action.

Forgetting that the email repeats unchanged. The flow sends the configured content again on each run. A date, amount, attachment, or announcement that should change monthly will not update automatically unless you build that logic into the flow or edit the message before the next run.

Tips

Use a specific flow name that includes the purpose and frequency. If you later create other scheduled messages, clear names make it easier to pause or edit the right one.
Write the date and time zone in your setup notes. This is useful when another person takes over the flow or when daylight-saving changes affect the local time you expect.
Keep the recipient list as small as practical and use Bcc when recipients should not see one another’s addresses. For large or sensitive distribution lists, follow your organization’s approved mailing practices.
For a reminder that should arrive on the first of every month, schedule the first run for the next appropriate first day, at the desired local time. Check whether the flow’s start date is in the future; a past start date may not produce the first send you intended.
Consider adding a short note such as “This is a recurring monthly message” when it is useful to recipients. If the message should stop after a particular month, set a review reminder for yourself or turn off the flow after its final run.

Troubleshooting

The flow did not send. Open Power Automate, select the flow, and review its run history. If there is no run at the expected time, verify that the flow is turned on and inspect the trigger’s start date, frequency, and time zone. If a run is listed as failed, open it and read the error on the failed step. A recurrence trigger can succeed while the email action fails, so check the action itself rather than only the overall run label.

The Outlook connection needs attention. If the email action reports an authentication or connection error, use the flow’s connection or connection-reference controls to sign in again. If your organization requires multifactor authentication or has restricted Power Automate, ask the Microsoft 365 administrator whether the connector and flow are allowed. Reauthenticate only with the account that should send the message.

The email went to the wrong person or came from the wrong address. Edit the Outlook action and check To, Cc, Bcc, and the connected account. If sending from a shared mailbox, confirm that you have permission to send from it and that the action is configured for the shared mailbox where required. Test again using a controlled address before restoring the full list.

The message arrived late or at an unexpected hour. Compare the run’s timestamp with the recurrence time zone. Check whether the schedule was created in UTC or another zone, and whether a daylight-saving transition affected the displayed local time. Update the trigger and verify the next run shown in the flow details; do not rely only on the time originally typed into the setup panel.

The flow skipped a month or ran on an unexpected date. Check the scheduled start date and any day-of-month options. A date such as the 31st cannot occur in every month, and monthly recurrence behavior can depend on the trigger configuration. If the requirement is “last day of every month,” “last business day,” or a weekday-based rule, use a more deliberate flow design and test it across short and long months instead of assuming a simple monthly interval will meet it.

You cannot find the connector or create the flow. Confirm that you are signed in to the intended Power Automate environment and account. Work or school administrators can disable connectors or restrict flow creation, and account plans can affect available features. If the required Outlook connector is unavailable, check with your administrator or use an approved account and connector. Do not substitute an unrelated connector that sends from a different mailbox without checking the sender and permissions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Outlook schedule the same email to send every month by itself?
No. Outlook’s built-in Schedule send and classic Outlook’s Delay Delivery handle one-time messages. For automatic monthly repetition, use a recurring Power Automate flow with an Outlook email action.

Does my computer need to stay on?
A scheduled cloud flow runs in Power Automate’s cloud, so your computer does not need to be on or Outlook desktop open. The flow still needs to be enabled, and its connections must remain valid.

Can I send it on the 31st of every month?
Not every month has a 31st, so a simple schedule may not match your intention in shorter months. For a dependable date, choose the 1st through the 28th. If you mean the last calendar day, configure and test a flow specifically for that rule.

Can the email have a different message each month?
Yes, but not by entering fixed text alone. You can edit the flow before a run or build steps that retrieve monthly information from an approved source and insert it into the email. Test any dynamic content carefully so the flow does not send blank or outdated details.

Can I stop or change the monthly emails later?
Yes. Open the flow in Power Automate to edit its schedule, recipients, or message, or turn the flow off to stop future runs. Save changes and check the flow status afterward. Turning it off does not recall messages that have already been sent.

Will recipients see the email as a normal Outlook message?
It arrives as a regular email sent by the connected mailbox or configured shared mailbox. The actual sender depends on the connection and permissions used by the flow, so verify it with a test message before the first scheduled delivery.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

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