Email alerts are created once and then reused by rules, approvals, and flows. Here is how to build one in Setup so a flow or approval can call it.
- Open Email Alerts
In Setup, enter Email Alerts in Quick Find and select it under Process Automation. Click New Email Alert.
- Name it and pick the object
Give the alert a clear description and unique name, then choose the object whose records will trigger it. The object decides which merge fields and recipient types are available.
- Choose the email template
Select an existing template that holds the subject and body. The template supplies all message content, so confirm its merge fields match the chosen object.
- Set recipients and From
Add recipient types such as user, role, owner, or a related contact, and up to five extra email addresses. Set the From address to the current user, the default workflow user, or an org-wide address.
- Save and wire it up
Save the alert, then call it from a record-triggered flow Action element (passing $Record) or from an approval process step.
The saved template that supplies the subject and body; the alert holds no text of its own.
How recipients are chosen: user, role, role and subordinates, public group, owner, or a related user/contact field.
Up to five free-form addresses, each counting separately against the daily email alert limit.
The sender identity: current user, default workflow user, or a verified org-wide email address.
- Each recipient and CC address counts as one email against the 1,000-per-license daily cap; large data loads can exhaust it silently with no retry.
- The alert stores no body text. If the referenced template is changed or deleted, every alert and flow using it is affected at once.
- Workflow Rules that trigger alerts are out of support since 31 December 2025; rebuild the trigger in a flow and reuse the alert rather than leaving it on a rule.