---
schema_version: "1"
id: 726642d67f5c655b880530502514f9d7edfbb91e6c45fa99a91ed422a7a92c35
title: Send Email Activity
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/mktg/264-0-0/mc_as_send_email_activity.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_as_send_email_activity.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: ff6849503eb65290791c9a3992ffbe00ffdbf0e7fb88ceb82e6f66b4141ae55b
description: Choose and configure an email message to be sent on its own or as part of one or more automations. You can put it in sequence with other Automation Studio activities and schedule it for a particular date and time.
products:
  - Marketing
  - Marketing Cloud Engagement
release: "264"
---
# Send Email Activity

Choose and configure an email message to be sent on its own or as part of one or more automations. You can put it in sequence with other Automation Studio activities and schedule it for a particular date and time.

![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/images/icon_tip.png)

Tip Configuring the Send Email Activity creates a Send Definition that can be used in one or more automations.

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/images/icon_note.png)

Note Send Email activities that were created with classic email editor inside an automation are no longer editable. To edit the activity, you must replace it. The send definition that each Send Email activity uses for sending is still valid.

1. Click **Activities**.
2. Click **Create Activity**.
3. Select **Send Email**.
4. Click **Next**.
5. Select a classic or Content Builder email. Use sorting options to change the order in which emails display.
    
    ![Select an email.](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/mc_journeys_and_automations/images/mc_as_send_email_send_flow_1.png)
6. Click **Next**.
7. Complete the define properties section:
    
    - Activity Name - Enter a name for this email send definition.
    - External Key - This unique key is for the API. If a unique key isn’t assigned, the system auto-assigns one.
    - Folder - Select a folder in which the send definition resides.
    - Description - Enter a brief explanation of the email's content or purpose for your internal use.
    - Subject - The subject of the email message sent by this activity. Any changes made to the subject are reflected only in this send.
    - Preheader - The text displayed after the subject when an email is previewed.
    - From Options:
        - **Saved Send Classification** - Sets a send classification to use for this activity.
        - **Sender Profile** - Determines whether the send uses a different sender profile than indicated in the send classification.
        - **Overwrite Delivery Profile** - Determines whether the send uses a different delivery profile than indicated in the send classification.
8. Click **Next**.
9. Complete the select audience section. Audience folders are displayed in the left pane where the root folders represent different audience types. When you select a folder on the left, individual audience objects appear in the grid. From there, drag your audiences into the Targeted, Excluded, or Suppressed drop areas.
    
    ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/images/icon_note.png)
    
    Note Test audiences for user-initiated emails aren’t supported in Automation Studio. Editing a user-initiated email with a test audience in Automation Studio automatically removes the test audience. This removal doesn’t affect the content of the email. To perform a test send, navigate to Email Studio.
10. Click **Next**.
11. Complete the configure delivery section.
    
    - To use Send Time Optimization, select **Einstein Send Time Optimization**. If your Einstein Send Time Optimization isn’t optimized yet for your business unit or enterprise, you could have to wait up to 72 hours. If you don’t see information that the content isn’t optimized, you’re ready to use Einstein Send Time Optimization.
        
        ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/images/icon_note.png)
        
        Note If your organization uses send throttling, you must choose either send throttling or Einstein Send Time Optimization. You can’t use both. If you check the Einstein Send Time Optimization box, send throttling is automatically turned off for this send.
    - Delivery Window - Select a range of hours during which you want to send your email. A start and end time are required.
    - Hourly Threshold - You can also specify how many emails you want to send per hour during that time.
        
        ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-mktg-mc_journeys_and_automations-264-0-0-production-enus/e08cdd71-c1c1-4ae5-a5e9-8a6dad583ad4/images/icon_note.png)
        
        Note To mitigate performance issues, take processing time into account when you choose your time frame. Estimate approximately 20 minutes processing time for every million subscribers. For example, if you’re sending to 6 million subscribers, allow about 2 hours for Einstein to process the best send time for each subscriber.
    - Track Clicks.
    - Suppress From Send Report.
    - Multipart MME - The system sends both HTML and Text version (including the text version you’ve created). The version that the subscriber's email client accepts is delivered.
12. Click **Next**.
13. In the Activity Summary section, review configurations from the previous tabs and confirm that the information is correct and ready to send.
14. Click **Finish**.

- **[Edit an Inline Email Activity](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_as_edit_an_inline_email_activity.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    You cannot edit Send Email activities that were created with classic email editor inside an automation, but you can replace them. After replacing the email send definition, you can edit it within an automation.
- **[Edit Emails in a Running Automation](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_as_edit_emails_in_a_running_automation.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    To edit the subject line or content of a user-initiated email send in a running automation, update or recreate the Send Email activity.

#### See Also

- [Email Messages](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_es_email_messages.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Select Audience](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_es_select_audience.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Configure Delivery](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_es_configure_delivery.htm&type=5&language=en_US)