What is the first thing you do when you reach your workplace? You likely check your Microsoft Outlook when you sit down to work like a ritual.
It is one of the popular enterprise email services, garnering favor because of its integration with other useful Microsoft tools and productivity tools, such as Evernote.
To make your life easier, I tried out 10 Microsoft add-ins for my Outlook account to help me keep track of emails, events, meetings, and other aspects of my busy schedule.Â
In this blog, we’ve compiled a list of these Outlook integrations—maybe they can help you too!
10 Most Useful Outlook Integrations For 2024
- What Should You Look for In Outlook Integrations?
- The 10 Best Microsoft Add-Ins to Use in 2024
- 1. ClickUp(Best for inbox and email management)
- 2. Dropbox(Best for sharing files across emails)
- 3. Zapier(Best for connecting third-party apps to Outlook)
- 4. Salesforce(Best for email marketers for consolidating leads and emails)
- 5. Zoom(Best for team collaborations and meetings over Outlook)
- 6. DocuSign(Best for quick digital signatures and approvals)
- 7. ClearContext(Best for organizing emails into files)
- 8. Evernote(Best for syncing notes and Outlook email)
- 9. OneDrive(Best for email backup and storage)
- 10. Grammarly(Best writing assistance within Outlook)
- Enhance Your Productivity By Consolidating Your Workspace
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Should You Look for In Outlook Integrations?
Before you can go on plugging in your favorite Microsoft add-ins to your Outlook account, make certain of a few things first:
- Compatibility: Look for Outlook integrations that are compatible with not only Outlook.com and Microsoft Exchange email servers but also IMAP and POP3 servers. It helps with better email syncing
- Authentication: Check the types of authentication methods the add-ins provide. It is best to leave no stone unturned regarding email security. I prefer extensions with multifactor authentication
- Data syncing: Look for automatic data syncing for added convenience; I prefer that my Outlook integrations have automatic syncing with Microsoft systems available as a feature. It takes some workload off my hands–particularly things like updating my calendar for events on Outlook
- Document integration: Give preference to easy integrations if you are considering plugging in a documents app to Outlook. You should ensure that a document integration option is available. It will help you keep track of the journey of the document between people
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 10 Best Microsoft Add-Ins to Use in 2024
In my quest to enhance work productivity, I have tested ten distinct and uniquely functional Outlook integrations over the past few months.
Below is a list curated to summarize the most helpful features, limitations, and price points.
1. ClickUp(Best for inbox and email management)
Organize your email workflows and do more using ClickUp email management for Outlook
With ClickUp’s Outlook integration, you can easily convert your Outlook emails into tasks and keep track of important messages.
I recommend ClickUp for Email Management because it gives me over 15 customizable views to track and organize my work. This way, I can visualize, monitor, and even track my inbox data effectively.
Additionally, ClickUp email templates come in handy to draft responses quickly and enhance my productivity. The templates are a quick way to draft my outreach and campaigns or to reply to my clients. I could also quickly generate email summaries, outlines, threads, and other content using ClickUp Brain. The best part is that you can also use ClickUp with Gmail.
Overall, I found ClickUp to be an excellent inbox and email project management tool to track and organize all my work in one place.
ClickUp best features
- Create tasks from Outlook emails without using copy-paste
- Send and receive full email communications from within the task thread
- Integrate all your Outlook accounts on ClickUp to consolidate email conversations on one interface
- Customize your notifications and reminders according to priorities to help minimize distractions
- Schedule your meetings and tasks using the built-in ClickUp Calendar View that shows team availability
- Generate email summaries, text, and other text using ClickUp Brain, ClickUp’s AI assistant
ClickUp limitations
- Service requires a paid account for all members
- The free version does not include upgrades
- The learning curve may be a little more difficult to handle for starters
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp Brain: Add to any paid plan for $7 per Workspace member per month
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)
2. Dropbox(Best for sharing files across emails)
Working with Dropbox was easy in Outlook, especially when sharing email attachments. This service is a boon for people who frequently share heavy files or a high volume of email attachments and struggle to keep their inbox capacity-free.
Dropbox Outlook integration allows you to save and share files directly from your Dropbox account.
Dropbox best features
- Share any file—there are no limitations on file size when sharing
- Access Dropbox files from any device through apps or browsers
- Keep your recipients updated with the latest version of a file. Dropbox links always link to the latest version of your files
Dropbox limitations
- Free users get limited storage of 2GB
- Dropbox doesn’t offer zero-knowledge encryption for free plans
- It is complex to share email attachments with people who don’t have a Dropbox account
Dropbox pricing
- Basic: Free
- Plus: $11.99/month per user
- Essentials: $19.99/month per user
- Business: $18/month per user
- Business Plus: $30/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Dropbox ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (27,624 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (21,592 reviews)
3. Zapier(Best for connecting third-party apps to Outlook)
Zapier has made its name in the niche of connecting apps together. It made my Outlook work easier—I could choose from thousands of popular apps to augment my workspace, such as Microsoft Excel, Facebook Lead Ads, Typeform, etc.
With Zapier, you can automate all those pesky email management tasks. Need to add a new email contact to your CRM? Create a Zap. Want to create to-do lists based on an emails? Zap can help there too. You get the idea.
The best part about Zapier integrations is that you don’t need to know the code.
Zapier best features
- Automate Outlook integrations with Zapier’s powerful, no-code connections
- Work with triggers and actions using Zaps workflows to automate repetitive tasks. For example, set trigger events when your calendar registers a new event
- Leverage email templates to automate and mobilize Outlook integrations quickly. For example, use Email by Zapier to automatically forward new emails
- Utilize the Actions feature to copy your events from one calendar to another automatically
Zapier limitations
- Currently, there is no support for Outlook.com addresses or Home 365 accounts. You can only use it with Business or Enterprise versions.
- The tool lacks a quick guide to help get around the features, so it is a little difficult to learn
Zapier pricing
- Free
- Professional: $29.99/month per user
- Team: $103.50/month, unlimited users
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Zapier ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (1,275 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,834 reviews)
4. Salesforce(Best for email marketers for consolidating leads and emails)
With Salesforce integrated into my Outlook, I stopped switching between platforms and spent more time selling.
It allows me to manage tasks, schedule meetings, and log emails and calls, all directly from my familiar Outlook environment. This eliminates manual data entry in both systems, saving valuable time.Â
I found it handy to view all my email outreach efforts for contacts, accounts, leads, opportunities, and cases inside Outlook.Â
With its sales-specific features, the tool can help you track whether your emails have been opened, clicked, or bounced. These insights can help email marketers unlock patterns in customer behavior.
Salesforce best features
- Browse all your Salesforce records from within Outlook – no need to switch apps
- Create and manage new Salesforce records, like Custom Object Records, directly from Outlook
- Leverage Salesforce templates in Outlook to draft emails quickly
- Manage your Salesforce tasks from the Outlook interface
- Fix your customer and client appointments more efficiently
- Schedule your email campaigns to be sent at a preset time and date
Salesforce limitations
- You may find the mobile app a bit stubborn to personalize
- The API integration may sometimes return a fault
- It is a heavy solution and, therefore, demands more CPU and memory to run, which may slow things down
Salesforce pricing
- Starter Suite: $24/month per user
- Professional: $80/month per user
- Enterprise: $165/month per user
- Unlimited: $330/month per user
- Einstein 1 Sales: $500/month per user
Salesforce ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (74,830 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (18,381 reviews)
5. Zoom(Best for team collaborations and meetings over Outlook)
I found the Zoom for Outlook extension quite handy. It lets me schedule a Zoom meeting from within Microsoft Outlook, which saves me a lot of time. Additionally, using this Microsoft add-on, you can easily add Zoom meetings to new or existing calendar events.
You do need to have either a Basic or a Pro account on Zoom.us—you can sign up for free. Having all your in-person and virtual meetings in one central location (your Outlook calendar) makes it easier for me to keep track of my schedule and avoid double booking.
Zoom best features
- Schedule and add Zoom meetings to your Outlook calendar events easily
- Get free unlimited meetings for one-to-one meetings and 40 minutes for group meetings
- View to see up to 49 video streams simultaneously with the Video Gallery function
- Leverage features like annotations and share controls for audio, mouse, and keyboard for a better online meeting experience
Zoom limitations
- The extension does not support group calendars, so you have to manually add meeting details directly on Zoom and then copy-paste them into the shared calendar on the invite
- The extension may require frequent log-ins
- You can’t run the plugin and add-in both on your Outlook—adding the extension will disable the Zoom plugin
Zoom pricing
- Basic: Free for up to 40 minutes
- Pro: $15.99/month per user
- Business: $21.99/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Zoom ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (55,323 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (13,842 reviews)
6. DocuSign(Best for quick digital signatures and approvals)
Improve your documentation and approval process using DocuSign for Outlook. This Microsoft add-on helps you streamline your workflows and enhance productivity by providing prompt eSignatures to emails and documents.
I particularly appreciate the automatic generation of an audit trail for each agreement, which complies with the latest global security standards. Furthermore, signers and customers can return the signed documents to the original sender.
DocuSign best features
- Sign emails and email attachments effortlessly using DocuSign in Outlook directly
- Forward documents to concerned parties for eSignature
- Get a headstart with templates to send documents for eSignatures quickly
DocuSign limitations
- You may find the knowledge-based authentication a bit inconsistent and bothersome
- The monthly plans are a bit costly
- It gets difficult to manage different signatures by different signatories For example, for QA or Testing departments where multiple signatures are required to okay a product
DocuSign pricing
- Personal: $15/month per user
- Standard: $45/month per user
- Business Pro: $65/month per user
- Enhanced Plan: Custom pricing
DocuSign ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (2,387 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.8/5 (8,553 reviews)
7. ClearContext(Best for organizing emails into files)
ClearContext is a hit-or-miss for many. This Outlook integration is useful because it provides one-click filing and allows me to convert my emails to actions. This tool is an indispensable asset for Outlook, especially for users who like to save important emails (like me).
I have been using ClearContext to manage my bulk emails more efficiently by filing them aside for later.
ClearContext best features
- Save or archive your emails quickly with the one-click email filing function
- Create email workflows to help you stay on top of answering emails, setting tasks or appointments, snoozing messages, etc.
- Organize your projects with to-dos, statuses, contacts, attached files, and related items
ClearContext limitations
- You may find that the money you pay for this subscription provides you with only a slightly better way to organize your files
- You may want to do your ROI calculations before you subscribe to a long-term plan because the costs may outweigh the benefits
ClearContext pricing
- Monthly Plan: $8.95/month per user
ClearContext ratings and reviews
- G2: Not enough reviews
- Capterra: NA
8. Evernote(Best for syncing notes and Outlook email)
If you are a notetaker like me, you will find that Evernote for Outlook drastically eases your entire email composing process. Using this integration, I can easily move my notes to and from any email on Outlook.
It also allows me to save important emails from Outlook directly onto the Note app so I can access them from the app, too.
Evernote best features
- Clip any Outlook thread and related attachments and save them to Evernote
- Attach Evernote notes to Outlook email directly – whether to the body or as snippets for a visual representation of your ideas
- Access your notes and saved email from any device through the Evernote app, which drastically enhances the accessibility of your important emails
Evernote limitations
- Only 60MB of space per month is available with the Free version, which may be restricting
- You won’t be able to save your notes in any other format in case you want to secure them against future loss
- The desktop version is a bit heavy on the hardware and may slow your work down
Evernote pricing
- Free: $0 to create up to 50 notes
- Personal: $14.99/month per user
- Professional: $17.99/month per user
- Teams: $24.99/month per user
Evernote ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (2,008 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.4/5 (8,231 reviews)
9. OneDrive(Best for email backup and storage)
Manage your email attachments better using OneDrive for Outlook. This simple integration is a game changer for people who receive a high volume of email attachments.
It allows me to save multiple attachments to OneDrive in a single click, rather than downloading each one and then uploading it to the cloud storage.
OneDrive integration with Outlook helps me to be more collaborative and efficient at work by simplifying file sharing, promoting real-time documents, and ensuring accessibility across devices.
OneDrive best features
- Leverage the OneDrive premium version through Microsoft 365 to connect to various precious apps like Excel and PowerPoint for their premium features
- Backup your email attachments—whether photos or files—directly to OneDrive from your email
- Use OneDrive to collaborate in real-time through Office apps
OneDrive limitations
- OneDrive makes it difficult to share files stored on it with non-OneDrive users. The situation is similar to Dropbox
- You don’t get effective file management options in OneDrive, so managing your saved emails may get tough
- OneDrive has a limited backup functionality
OneDrive pricing
- OneDrive for Business (Plan 1): $5/month per user
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6/month per user
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50/month per user
OneDrive ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (9,540 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (11,956 reviews)
10. Grammarly(Best writing assistance within Outlook)
If you want to type professional-sounding emails without brainstorming too much, try Grammarly to save your time.
This tool flawlessly corrected all my hasty-typing spelling mistakes automatically and provided suggestions to make the sentences more impactful and direct.
The good part is that Grammarly Premium can identify passive voice and suggest an active voice alternative, an excellent way to write precisely and clearly.
Grammarly best features
- Get support for writing while typing your emails in Outlook
- Gain access to AI help for writing with high-quality suggestions or edited already-composed texts
- Check the grammar, punctuation, spelling, and readability of your email
- Shorten complicated sentences using Grammarly’s AI-generated suggestions for precise, crisp language—make your emails sound professional
Grammarly limitations
- There is no contact with any human on the other side, which may get problematic if you need specific assistance
- The Grammarly engine does not understand rhetoric
- Grammarly tools do miss the context of a paragraph occasionally, leading to nonsensical suggestions at times
Grammarly pricing
- Free
- Premium: $12/month
- Business: $15/month per user
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Grammarly ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (8,488 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (7,060 reviews)
Summarize this article for me pleaseEnhance Your Productivity By Consolidating Your Workspace
An organized workspace helps enhance productivity. My work efficiency has increased since trying out the 10 Outlook integrations I’ve reviewed above.
These 10 integrations provide endless functionality for working on Outlook, from managing emails to taking notes and safely storing important emails.
I especially recommend the ClickUp email management integration because of its handy capability of creating email tasks. You may miss out on your emails, but once they become a task and are automated for reminders, you will stay on track.
That is exactly what ClickUp has helped me achieve at work. Sign up on ClickUp today!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
