A list of the 51 best plugins and add-ins for Microsoft Outlook
The 51 best Outlook email add ins and plugins are listed below. They're categorized based on what a user might need in terms of additional functionality. Outlook has many versions and not all plugins may work with the version you're using. Some add-ins are paid, so we've listed the top free plugins as well. (Many tools not listed in this group are free, too.)
Numerous other articles and resources were consulted and reviewed to create this list and we feel based on popularity, ratings and user reviews that our readers will find these Outlook email add-ins incredibly useful.
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51 Best 2007-2016 Outlook Email Add-Ins and Plugins
The following Outlook email tools are geared toward making your email experience faster, secure, productive and efficient. They are organized into four groups:
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Third party integrations with popular websites and tools
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Productivity and efficiency
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Top free add-ons and plugins
Outlook Plugins That Connect to Other Devices, Systems & Software
51. Google Apps Sync: The Google marketplace provides tons of products that can help your business or personal email use. Without Google Apps sync, there would be no access to this marketplace for Outlook users.
GApps Sync is a great way to maintain the environment your employees are familiar with while giving them the advantages of an entirely different set of tools. This resource provides installation help and information for email administrators.
50. Mail2Cloud: Cloud Storage Integration Mail2Cloud Save & Share allows you to save email to popular clouds like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, OneDrive to collaborate, organize and save important emails just like you can files.
49. GoToMeeting Plugin: GoToMeeting lets you video chat and collaborate audibly with other people anywhere in the world. The connection is usually very solid and each person can be made a presenter and share their screen.
This plugin lets you schedule and update meeting details directly from Outlook, meaning you don't have to take the extra time to login to your GoToMeeting account.
48. Microsoft SMS: This add-in brings Outlook messaging to your mobile phone. You can send texts from your Outlook email via mobile, message entire groups and even save text messages as email drafts.
Note, only works with Outlook 2010 or older. Microsoft removed the feature in Outlook 2013 and later.
47. Hotmail Connector: Still using two email providers? If you have a Hotmail and Outlook email account you can use this connector to view Hotmail from your Outlook interface. This saves time and limits the back and forth between logging in to both providers. Stay on top of your emails from just one account with this great add-in.
46. Hightail for Outlook: We've talked a lot on this website about the issues that occur from sending large email attachments. With this add-in you can exceed two gigs and your attachments will automatically be stored. It provides similar functionality and benefits as mail2Cloud.
45. Outlook Social Connector: For better contact management and information, Microsoft's Social Connector will pull photos of your friends from Facebook and add them to their corresponding Outlook email address in your contacts. Note, only works for Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010. This capability is now part of later versions of Outlook.
44. TwInbox: Start tweeting from email! With TwInbox you can update your Twitter status from Outlook and even save tweets from people you follow as emails. You can also search tweets and receive Twitter updates.
43. Skype Toolbar: Pretty much everything you get from having Skype open on your desktop you can have with this Outlook add-in. Know when a contact is online, make calls to phone numbers and friends, and stay on top of your Skype account with this easy to use toolbar.
42. Evernote: Sometimes emails make good reminders, references or notes. With the Evernote add-in you can save an email in Evernote, which can then be shared with other users. This significantly helps archiving and organization. The convergence of both products help save time and improve efficiency.
Outlook Email Add Ins That Enhance Security and Privacy
41. SpamBayes: Yesterday my buddy told me that his parents go through new computers every year because they keep clicking on emails and links that they think are legitimate. SPAM can destroy your computer and capture your personal information. SpamBayes works with almost all versions of Outlook (except Express).
SpamBayes using statistical analysis to determine what email is legitimate. It's a unique and advanced tool that will fight to keep your inbox clean.
40. Outlook Password (Add-On): What is the maximum number of passwords a human being can keep in their head? With Outlook Password you don't have to know. This tool will store your passwords in a protected PST file. You can retrieve passwords to your email account without needing a backup email in place in case you get locked out. Set up is simple and it works on most versions of Outlook. Cons include not being able to export data set up in the PST files.
39. Send Secure: Email encryption is all the rage these days, with growing privacy concerns around our virtual lives. With encryption, your email is protected from hackers who may pick off sensitive information you include in your messages. Encryption can also result in less SPAM emails being sent from your account.
Send Secure protects any message you send from Outlook. The message passes through the Edgewave Gateway where it is encrypted and sent along to the recipient. As a user, all you have to do is hit the Send Secure button in your Outlook email instead of the normal send button.
38. Move and Delete Watchdog: Accidentally deleting something? Ahh! It's the reason I've saved this article twice since I started writing. It's the worst feeling in the world. But if you're an Outlook email user you can avoid it and save yourself time, stress and worry in the process. Move and Delete Watchdog applies a pop up window that warns you as soon as you're about to delete or move a folder. The chances of misclicking twice are exponentially less making this quite a helpful tool.
37. Cactus Spam Filter: An alternative to SpamBayes, Cactus gets to know your inbox and contacts to better prevent dangerous messages from appearing in your email interface. The tools work with a number of email programs, requires very little customization on the users part, and also tags subject lines that are spammy. Cactus is an intelligent spam fighting add-in built by Codeode, which has created a number of popular Outlook tools.
36. Outlook Fix: Outlook Fix is an add-in for that unique situation where you need to undelete something or repair a file. Whether you're looking for emails, contacts, calendars, tasks or attachments, Outlook Fix can recover your data in just a few minutes. Settings and controls for what to recover and when are customizable by the user. This tool is compatible with every version of Outlook.
35. Patient Information Management: The passage of HIPAA rules and regulations make securing medical information a high priority for businesses in the health industry. This add-in places new custom forms and tool bars relative to the health care field (like appointments, illnesses, balance due, etc.) in your Outlook interface, allowing you to manage a patients health information from the Windows environment. So as long as your email account is secure, PIM is a good tool to use.
34. Auto BCC/CC: This add-in lets you configure rules that will automatically bcc or cc contacts of your choosing. When you regularly need to send important emails and need to conceal the identity of a recipient for security or privacy reasons, this tool gets the job done and lets you add a little bit of speed and cleverness to your email workflow.
33. SendShield: This tool is as interesting as they come. If you were sending a powerpoint, PDF, contract or other document that contained personal information in it, this tool will give you the opportunity to remove it from the attachment before you hit send. Hidden information in attachments is not something people really think about but this tool brings the issue to light and provides a safe solution.
Top Microsoft Outlook Add-Ins for Productivity and Efficiency
32. Message & Attachment Save: mail2Cloud has worked hard at making email message & attachment management easier for Outlook email users, and it's one reason we created Save & Share, which moves any email and attachments from your email account to cloud storage for free.
31. Lookeen: For better discovery of folders, files, documents, conversations and more try using Lookeen. It's an add-in all about improving searches in your Outlook interface. It can be quite frustrating when you're in a rush and can't find an important email or conversation thread that you need to reread to take appropriate action. Lookeen really speeds up the discovery process.
30. SimplyFile: If you've set up more folders in Outlook than you can keep track of, SimplyFile will make suggestions to you so new emails and files get to the right location. It works just in one click and can even take new emails and convert them to tasks.
29. Duplicate Email Remover: If you have the same message from the same person, it can be a nightmare trying to keep track of the conversation. By setting very specific criteria, this add-in can go through your inbox and clear out messages that have the exact same content. As a side benefit, you free up some storage space. Eliminating the clutter from your inbox is always a huge benefit.
28. Evercontact: Wouldn't it be nice to be able to concentrate on your work knowing your Outlook address book will automatically keep up to date. You, and anyone on your team if you use a shared system, will never have to search through old emails again to get the right address or phone number, nor waste valuable time trying to reach someone with outdated information.
27. Polite Mail: PoliteMail for Outlook gives enterprise internal communications and HR teams the necessary data to help improve messaging and prove results to the C-suite. Beyond simple opens and clicks, PoliteMail provides more actionable metrics including: read-timing and read rates, ignore and attention rates and effective & engagement rates. With PoliteMail’s templating tools, users gain responsive HTML design and maintain brand standards easily. Simply select a template and add content right within Outlook—no coding required.
26. Mail Alert: Some emails are more important than others. With Mail Alert, you can have a pop-up appear any time a specific email comes through or is added to a folder. The beauty of this tool is in the configuration and setup. You can apply filters and custom criteria so you're only getting alerts when it matters. You can also edit the style of the alerts and limit the number of pop-up windows that appear at one time.
25. EmailTags: Tagging emails is essentially categorizing them - and in this case you can label these categories anything from customer name to project. EmailTags will suggest what to tag an email based on past tags and email contact info. Its smart search screen lets you fill in different fields to find past tagged emails, so you can basically create as many tags as you want and you don't have to worry about remembering all the labels.
24. SignatureSwitch: It's convenient to have different signatures for different recipients, but it's an incredible timewaster if you have to add them each time you email. SignatureSwitch takes the pain out of this process by automating your email signature based on the recipient. Just craft your signatures one time and use the SignatureSwitch place holder when sending your messages. Added value from SignatureSwitch comes from its ability to brand the signatures and customize the HTML.
23. InsertText: Speaking of saving time, InsertText does exactly that. A lot of occupations require the drafting and sending of very similar emails and it's convenient to have all that copy ready to go.
More than just text, this add-in will also auto-populate attachments, email subject lines, recipient names and email templates.
22. Save As PDF Add-In from SperrySoftware: By default, to save an Outlook email as a PDF you need to export it to word and work from there. This software streamlines the process and lets you take any email message or attachment and turn it into a PDF without any added steps. Other tools to complete this task include having a PDF printer - Sperry's Save As PDF works without needing this tool.
21. Reply All Reminder: At least once a week someone in my email circle forgets to hit reply all when responding to an important message. This often causes others to jump in on the email thread prematurely. They don't see the original response because they weren't included.
A simple email thread can have twice as many messages to follow because of this common error. The Reply All Reminder delivers a pop up that alerts you of who you're sending to when there are multiple people on an email thread and gives you the chance to make up for a misclick.
20. Bells and Whistles: This all-in-one solution gives the Outlook email user quite a bit to choose from. There are predefined templates, canned responses and BCC features on bulk email messages. The coolest feature is probably the tracking - you can create custom id's and view a reply counter.
19. SalesHandy: Track and schedule unlimited Emails in Outlook like a pro with SalesHandy. It is an all in one Email productivity tool. The tool comprises of features like Email Tracking, Email Scheduling, Mail Merge with Automated Follow-ups, Document Tracking, and Detailed Analytics. Get more done with Emails using SalesHandy.
An alternative called Attachment Save will remove email attachments and put them on your hard drive, but they will not be accessible by keep stakeholders, nor can you use cloud sharing features.
18. easy2sync: One of the big disadvantages of Outlook email is solved by easy2sync, which connects all your contacts, calendars, notes, tasks and emails across PC's. When you're traveling, vacationing or using a secondary computer in your home, you can still get access to essential information stored in your Outlook email by using this cool add-in.
17. Email Reminders (SperrySoftware): Email reminders that only alert you when you're logged into your PC aren't much help. In today's world, we need these alerts sent to our mobile device, which we always have in hand. Email Reminders from Sperry Software allow you configure alerts sent as email to your mobile device. Get updates on upcoming calendar events more.
16. Print Tools for Outlook: Have you ever wished you could print incoming or outgoing emails without even having to open them? That'd sure save time.
With Print Tools for Outlook you can not only accomplish that, but you can print tasks and reminders as well. Even the attachments of an email can be automatically printed. Some configuration on the users part is required. It's a great tool for invoices.
15. Incoming Email Organizer: This smart Outlook tool knows how to contextualize your emails for you. When new messages hit your inbox, Incoming Email Organizer will group them with other messages from the same contact, or with messages about the same subject. It will also guide you on what folder you should save an email to.
Highly Rated, Popular, and Free Outlook Add-ins
14. Grammarly: This useful tool improves usage of words, spelling, punctuation & more. Eliminate grammar errors. Easily improve any text. Detect plagiarism. Services: Advanced Grammar Rules, Contextual Spell Checker, Vocabulary Enhancement, Plagiarism Checker, Corrects Writing Mistakes.
13. Genius Connect: Syncs Outlook folders with SQL databases. A great tool for technical users.
12. CodeTwo Catman: Centralized management of Outlook categories. With a properly configured file, other Outlook users on your network (think office mates) can collaborate with you on different categories. It's almost like being in the cloud.
11. CodeTwo Outlook Sync: Similar to the above add-in, you can sync all Outlook data between two computers. When collaboration and sharing with a colleague is essential, try using this tool to speed up the process and keep everyone on the same page
10. Advanced Security: We all want our email accounts to be safe and secure, but a common complaint among Outlook users is that alerts can be incessant and annoying. Advanced Security gets rid of these pesky alerts by putting you in charge of how to handle security threats. It does this all while maintaining the safety of your email account.
9. PocketKnife Peek: This add-in will screen incoming messages without viewing them - great for email security and warding off the possibility of SPAM disrupting your computer or email account.
8. Taglocity: Easily add tags to new messages, tasks, calendar events and more with Taglocity. Keep your inbox life organized with the ability to categorize just about everything in Outlook.
7. Maps for Outlook: This add-in is like having MapQuest in your email account. It will provide you directions and estimate your travel time wherever you are going. Since it's in your user interface, there's no need to fire up your browser.
6. Text Lightning: Text Lightning was made with sales and support professionals in mind. It can add often used email snippets, scan your email by product keyword, and permanently delete an email with just one click.
5. Outlook StatView: Data, data data. It's what drives our behavior and helps us adjust in ways that make our work more efficient. This cool add-in shows you how much you communicate with different contacts. The emails are separated by date, bcc or cc, and include the volume of emails by you and them. Hopefully the data shows you that you're making the most of your outgoing emails.
4. Outlook on the Desktop: Having access to certain features in your Outlook email while offline is incredibly useful, specifically your calendar. Stay on top of appointments and tasks with Outlook on the Desktop, and worry less about where you're going to find internet while you're on the go.
3. Sender's Time Zone: Do you find yourself having to communicate via email with people overseas or on different coasts? If so, having their time zone on hand could increase response rates. It definitely could stop you from sending an email at a time that's not conducive to the recipients schedule.
2. Advanced Folders Watch: Advanced Folders Watch streamlines your email response efficiency by organizing your most important emails automatically. Simply set criteria and keywords you want used and AFW will categorize and group new messages in your inbox.
1. MailWasher: Fighting SPAM shouldn't cost the user a thing. This tool allows you to preview an email before it's downloaded to your inbox, giving you a safe look at the contents before it can do any damage. Scripts or viruses that could wreak havoc on your computer are kept at bay with this free Outlook add-in.