Sending email from Command-line via outlook without having to click send

Question

I need to send email via command-line without any human interactions for automation.

I know we can use mailto command but that would compose email, subject,body and everything but it wouldn't send it unless I click send.

I read online we can use blat but I cannot use anything other than outlook.

This is closed post I have found Link to SOF post.

just for your information: I am looking into some telnet commands to send email haven't gotten success in that yet either. telnet commands to send email

Answer 1

Option 1
You didn't say much about your environment, but assuming you have it available you could use a PowerShell script; one example is here. The essence of this is:

$smtp = New-Object Net.Mail.SmtpClient("ho-ex2010-caht1.exchangeserverpro.net")
$smtp.Send("[email protected]","[email protected]","Test Email","This is a test")

You could then launch the script from the command line as per this example:

powershell.exe -noexit c:\scripts\test.ps1

Note that PowerShell 2.0, which is installed by default on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008R2, includes a simpler Send-MailMessage command, making things easier.

Option 2
If you're prepared to use third-party software, an option is something like this SendEmail command-line tool. It depends on your target environment, though; if you're deploying your batch file to multiple machines, that will obviously require inclusion (but not formal installation) each time.

Option 3
You could drive Outlook directly from a VBA script, which in turn you would trigger from a batch file; this would let you send an email using Outlook itself, which looks to be closest to what you're wanting. There are two parts to this; first, figure out the VBA scripting required to send an email. There are lots of examples for this online, including from Microsoft here. Essence of this is:

Sub SendMessage(DisplayMsg As Boolean, Optional AttachmentPath)
    Dim objOutlook As Outlook.Application
    Dim objOutlookMsg As Outlook.MailItem
    Dim objOutlookRecip As Outlook.Recipient
    Dim objOutlookAttach As Outlook.Attachment
    
    Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
    Set objOutlookMsg  = objOutlook.CreateItem(olMailItem)
    
    With objOutlookMsg
        Set objOutlookRecip = .Recipients.Add("Nancy Davolio")
        objOutlookRecip.Type = olTo
        ' Set the Subject, Body, and Importance of the message.
        .Subject = "This is an Automation test with Microsoft Outlook"
        .Body = "This is the body of the message." &vbCrLf & vbCrLf
        .Importance = olImportanceHigh  'High importance
        
        If Not IsMissing(AttachmentPath) Then
            Set objOutlookAttach = .Attachments.Add(AttachmentPath)
        End If
        
        For Each ObjOutlookRecip In .Recipients
            objOutlookRecip.Resolve
        Next
        
        .Save
        .Send
    End With
    Set objOutlook = Nothing
End Sub

Then, launch Outlook from the command line with the /autorun parameter, as per this answer (alter path/macroname as necessary):

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe" /autorun macroname

Option 4
You could use the same approach as option 3, but move the Outlook VBA into a PowerShell script (which you would run from a command line). Example here. This is probably the tidiest solution, IMO.

Answer 2

Send SMS/Text Messages from Command Line with VBScript!

If VBA meets the rules for VB Script then it can be called from command line by simply placing it into a text file - in this case there's no need to specifically open Outlook.

I had a need to send automated text messages to myself from the command line, so I used the code below, which is just a compressed version of @Geoff's answer above.

Most mobile phone carriers worldwide provide an email address "version" of your mobile phone number. For example in Canada with Rogers or Chatr Wireless, an email sent to <YourPhoneNumber> @pcs.rogers.com will be immediately delivered to your Rogers/Chatr phone as a text message.

* ^{You may need to "authorize" the first message on your phone, and some carriers may charge an additional fee for theses message although as far as I know, all Canadian carriers provide this little-known service for free. Check your carrier's website for details.}

There are further instructions and various compiled lists of worldwide carrier's Email-to-Text addresses available online such as this and this and this.

---

Code & Instructions

1. Copy the code below and paste into a new file in your favorite text editor.
2. Save the file with any name with a .VBS extension, such as TextMyself.vbs.

That's all!
Just double-click the file to send a test message, or else run it from a batch file using START.

Sub SendMessage()
    Const EmailToSMSAddy = "[email protected]"
    Dim objOutlookRecip
    With CreateObject("Outlook.Application").CreateItem(0)
        Set objOutlookRecip = .Recipients.Add(EmailToSMSAddy)
        objOutlookRecip.Type = 1
        .Subject = "The computer needs your attention!"
        .Body = "Go see why Windows Command Line is texting you!"
        .Save
        .Send
    End With
End Sub

---

Example Batch File Usage:

START x:\mypath\TextMyself.vbs

Of course there are endless possible ways this could be adapted and customized to suit various practical or creative needs.