Outlook actions

For machines with an installation of Outlook, you can manage your mailboxes with the Outlook actions.

![IMPORTANT] Outlook automation actions don't support the new Outlook for Windows application. Make sure you are using the Outlook desktop application.

After creating an Outlook instance with the Launch Outlook action, use the Retrieve email messages from Outlook action to get the messages from a specified account and mail folder.

Important

When you filter the retrieved results by modifying the From contains or To contains argument in the Retrieve email messages from Outlook action, using email addresses in plain display format (SMTP) won't yield any data if the email addresses are stored in x.500 format.

The following example retrieves all the email messages from the folder Tickets, a subfolder of the Inbox. The specified filters limit the results to messages from a specific sender that contain particular words in their subject and body.

The Process email messages in Outlook action processes email messages retrieved by the Retrieve email messages from Outlook action. To use this action, you must provide an Outlook instance, an account, and a variable with retrieved emails. Then, you can select whether to move, delete or mark as read the selected messages.

Store Outlook email messages locally using the Save Outlook email messages action. Specify an Outlook instance, an account, a variable with the messages to save, and the format and location for the created files.

To close an open Outlook instance, use the Close Outlook action.

Launch Outlook

Launch Outlook and create a new Outlook instance.

Input parameters

This action doesn't require any input.

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
OutlookInstance	Outlook instance	The specific Outlook instance for use with later Outlook actions

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to launch Outlook	Indicates a problem launching Outlook

Retrieve email messages from Outlook

Retrieve email messages from an Outlook account.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Outlook instance	No	Outlook instance		The Outlook instance to work with. Specify this variable in a 'Launch Outlook' action
Account	No	Text value		The name of the Outlook account (data file name) to work with
Mail folder	No	Text value		The name of the folder to retrieve messages from. Enter the full folder path for subfolders (ex: Inbox\Work)
Retrieve	N/A	All email messages, Unread email messages only, Read email messages only	All email messages	Specifies whether to retrieve all messages in the folder or only the unread ones
Mark as read	N/A	Boolean value	True	Specifies whether to mark as read all the unread messages retrieved
From contains	Yes	Text value		The full email address of the sender whose messages to retrieve. Leave this attribute blank to retrieve all messages regardless of the sender
To contains	Yes	Text value		The full email address(es) of the recipient(s) (separated by space or semicolon if more than one) for the messages to retrieve. Leave this attribute blank to retrieve all messages regardless of the recipient(s)
Subject contains	Yes	Text value		The key phrase to find within the email subject. Leave this attribute blank to retrieve all email messages regardless of their subject
Body contains	Yes	Text value		The key phrase to find within the email body. Leave this attribute blank to retrieve all email messages regardless of their content
Attachments	N/A	Save attachments, Don't save attachments	Don't save attachments	Specifies whether to save the attachments of the email messages retrieved or not
Save attachments into	No	Folder		The path to save the attachments of the retrieved emails into

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
RetrievedEmails	List of Outlook mail messages	The retrieved email messages for later processing. The variable contain a list of Outlook message objects

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to find Outlook account	Indicates that the specified Outlook account doesn't exist
Mail-folder specified not valid in Outlook	Indicates that the specified mail folder isn't valid
Directory for saving attachments not found	Indicates that the directory to save the attachments into doesn't exist
Failed to retrieve email messages from Outlook	Indicates a problem retrieving the email messages from Outlook

Send email through Outlook

Create and send a new email message through Outlook.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Outlook instance	No	Outlook instance		The Outlook instance to work with. Specify this variable in a 'Launch Outlook' action
Account	No	Text value		The name of the Outlook account (data file name) to work with
Send email from	N/A	Account, Other mailbox	Account	Specifies whether to send the email using the specified account or a different one, for example from a shared mailbox
Send from	No	Text value		The name of the Outlook account to send the email from; for example, a shared mailbox.
To	No	Text value		The email address(es) of the recipient(s). To enter more than one email address, separate the list of addresses by spaces or semicolons
CC	Yes	Text value		The email address(es) of the CC recipient(s). To enter more than one email address, separate the list of addresses by spaces or semicolons
BCC	Yes	Text value		The email address(es) of the BCC (hidden) recipient(s). To enter more than one email address, separate the list of addresses by spaces or semicolons
Subject	Yes	Text value		The subject of the email
Body	Yes	Text value		The text of the body
Body is HTML	N/A	Boolean value	False	Specifies whether to interpret the body of the email as HTML coding
Attachment(s)	Yes	List of Files		The full path of any attachment(s). Enclose multiple files in double quotes (") and separate them by a space character

Variables produced

This action doesn't produce any variables.

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to find Outlook account	Indicates that the specified Outlook account doesn't exist. Power Automate doesn't throw this error for the email addresses populated in the Send from input parameter
Failed to send email	Indicates a problem sending the email
Attachment not found	Indicates that the specified attachment(s) don't exist

Process email messages in Outlook

Move or deletes an email (or a list of email messages) retrieved by a 'Retrieve emails from Outlook' action.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Outlook instance	No	Outlook instance		The Outlook instance to work with. Specify this variable in a 'Launch Outlook' action
Account	No	Text value		The name of the Outlook account (data file name) to work with
Email messages to process	No	List of Outlook mail messages		The email message(s) to process. Use a variable populated by a 'Retrieve email messages from Outlook' action
Operation	N/A	Delete email messages, Move email messages to mail folder, Mark as unread	Move email messages to mail folder	Specifies which operation to perform on the specified email messages
Mail folder	No	Text value		The name of the folder to retrieve messages from. Enter the full folder path for subfolders (for example, Inbox\Work)

Variables produced

This action doesn't produce any variables.

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to find Outlook account	Indicates that the specified Outlook account doesn't exist
Specified mail-folder doesn't exist	Indicates that the specified mail folder doesn't exist
Failed to process email messages in Outlook	Indicates a problem processing the specified email messages in Outlook

Save Outlook email messages

Save Outlook email messages given an account.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Outlook instance	No	Outlook instance		The Outlook instance to work with. Specify this variable in a 'Launch Outlook' action
Account	No	Text value		The name of the Outlook account (data file name) to work with
Email message(s) to save	No	List of Outlook mail messages		The email message(s) to save. Use a variable populated by a 'Retrieve email messages from Outlook' action
Save format	N/A	Text only (.txt), Outlook template (.oft), Outlook message format (.msg), Outlook message format - Unicode (.msg), HTML (.html), MHT files (.mht)	Outlook message format (*.msg)	Specifies the format to save the messages
File name	N/A	Default, Custom	Default	Specifies whether to save the messages using the default name (subject) or provide another
Save as	No	Text value		Specifies the custom name for messages' name, which differs from message to message by an automatically added suffix
Save email message(s) to	No	Folder		The folder to save the messages to

Variables produced

Argument	Type	Description
StoredMessagesFiles	List of Text values	The file paths of the saved email messages for later processing

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to find Outlook account	Indicates that the specified Outlook account doesn't exist
Directory not found	Indicates that the specified email message(s) couldn't be saved because the directory doesn't exist
Email message is deleted or moved to another folder	Indicates that the specified email message(s) couldn't be saved because they're moved or deleted
Failed to save email message(s)	Indicates a problem saving the specified email message(s)

Respond to Outlook mail message

Respond to an Outlook message, by replying, replying to all or forwarding it.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Outlook instance	No	Outlook instance		The Outlook instance to work with. Specify this variable in a 'Launch Outlook' action
Account	No	Text value		The name of the Outlook account (data file name) to work with
Mail message	No	Outlook mail message		The mail message to act upon. Use a variable populated by a 'Retrieve email messages from Outlook' action
Response action	N/A	Reply, Reply all, Forward	Reply	Specifies whether to reply (to sender or all) with a message or forward the received message
To	No	Text value		The email address(es) of the recipient(s). To enter more than one email address, separate the list of addresses by spaces or semicolons
CC	Yes	Text value		The email address(es) of the CC recipient(s). To enter more than one email address, separate the list of addresses by spaces or semicolons
BCC	Yes	Text value		The email address(es) of the BCC (hidden) recipient(s). To enter more than one email address, separate the list of addresses by spaces or semicolons
Body	Yes	Text value		The text of the body
Attachment(s)	Yes	List of Files		The full path of any attachment(s). Enclose multiple files in double quotes (") and separate them by a space character

Variables produced

This action doesn't produce any variables.

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to find Outlook account	Indicates that the specified Outlook account doesn't exist
Failed to send email	Indicates a problem sending the email
Attachment not found	Indicates that the specified attachment(s) don't exist

Close Outlook

Close a previously launched Outlook instance.

Input parameters

Argument	Optional	Accepts	Default Value	Description
Outlook instance	No	Outlook instance		The Outlook instance to work with. This variable is specified in a 'Launch Outlook' action

Variables produced

This action doesn't produce any variables.

Exceptions

Exception	Description
Failed to close Outlook instance	Indicates a problem closing the Outlook instance