Errors when emailing documents and reports from Sage 50cloud Pastel Accounting

Question

Good day

I get this message when trying to email documents from my Sage Accounting program. 'A Program is trying to access your email address information stored in Outlook. If this is unexpected, click Deny and verify your antivirus software is up to date.

Allow access for ........."

How do I fix this?

Thank you.

Marita

Answer 1

Hi @Marita van Staden

Based on the information provided, I understand that you are receiving a "Programmatic Access" warning in Outlook whenever you attempt to email documents directly from your Sage Accounting software.

Outlook triggers this warning when it detects a third-party application attempting to access your address book or send mail via the Outlook object model. Usually, only trusted COM add-ins are permitted to bypass this without a prompt.

-If you trust the program (Sage): You can click Allow and select a time duration (e.g., 1 minute or 10 minutes) to allow Sage to finish sending your documents.

-If the prompt is unexpected: Click Deny to protect your security.

The most effective long-term fix is to ensure you have a valid, up-to-date antivirus program installed. Outlook checks the status of your antivirus; if it is active and reported as "Valid," these prompts are often suppressed for trusted programs.

Go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Programmatic Access > Check the Antivirus status. It should say "Valid." If it says "Invalid" or "Not Detected," update your antivirus software or check its connection to Windows Security.

If you are an administrator on your machine, you can manage these levels in the same Programmatic Access menu:

• Warn me about suspicious activity... (Recommended)
• Never warn me... (Not Recommended)

However, if your computer is managed by an IT department, these settings might be locked. In that case, I highly recommend sharing this technical article with your IT Administrator so they can apply a global policy to trust the Sage application:

I get warnings about a program accessing email address information or sending email on my behalf

I hope this helps you resolve the interruption in your workflow! Please let me know if you have any further questions.

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Answer 2

The message appears because Sage 50cloud Pastel is trying to access Outlook to send email, and Outlook’s security feature is warning about it. To fix or reduce these prompts, use the following steps in classic Outlook:

1. Verify antivirus status in Outlook
   1. In Outlook, select File > Options.
   2. Select Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.
   3. Select Programmatic Access.
   4. Check Antivirus status:
      • If it is anything other than Valid, enable, update, or repair the antivirus so Windows Security Center reports it correctly.
      • Once antivirus is active and up to date, Outlook will usually stop showing these prompts when trusted programs (like Sage) access it.
2. Make sure antivirus is correctly configured
   1. Open the antivirus program installed on the computer.
   2. Confirm it is:
      • Installed and active (real-time protection on).
      • Updated to the latest virus definitions.
      • Configured to share its status with Windows/other applications (this is usually on by default; check the program’s preferences or options).
   3. If the antivirus subscription is expired or inactive, renew or replace it. Outlook may continue to show warnings if the subscription is not current.
3. Handling the prompt when sending from Sage
   • If the email action was started intentionally from Sage and Sage is trusted:
     1. When the warning appears, choose Allow.
     2. If prompted, select Allow access for and choose the shortest time that still allows Sage to complete sending (for example, 1 or 5 minutes), then click Allow.
   • If the prompt appears when nothing was started in Sage, click Deny and investigate, as this may indicate another program trying to use Outlook.

These prompts are by design to prevent malicious software from sending mail through Outlook without consent. Ensuring a valid, up-to-date antivirus that reports correctly to Windows Security Center is the main way to prevent them from appearing repeatedly.

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References:

• "A program is trying to send an e-mail message on your behalf" warning in Outlook
• I get warnings about a program accessing email address information or sending email on my behalf