Configure Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in
Posted by Nishi on 24 January 2025
Zoho Mail users can now experience enhanced email security and have better control over their preferences with the new Outlook Add-in while using their favourite email client. Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in is a VSTO (Visual Studio Tools for Office) add-in which can be installed on a Windows Outlook (desktop) client.
Methods to install the Outlook Add-in
Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in can be installed by both the individual user and by the admin for the whole organization.
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The individual user can download and install the Outlook Add-in on his machine and the plugin will be added to his Outlook client. Refer to this help page for detailed instructions.
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The admin can perform a Silent Install for all users in the organization using a Group Policy Object through which the add-in will be automatically installed in the user's machine at startup.
Advantages of Silent Install
Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in silent install by admin option is available for organizations for the following reasons.
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Each user need not manually download and install the Add-in, the admin can perform that for all the users at once.
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For security reasons, it is not advisable to download and install software from the internet. Performing such actions may even be blocked in some organizations.
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There is more control over the Add-ins as the admin governs it.
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In this silent install by the admin, further upgrades are automatically updated to all users.
Prerequisites
Before continuing with the provisioning and configuration of the Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in, it is recommended for all the users of the Plug-in to have:
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Microsoft Outlook (2013, 2016 and above)
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Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
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.NET Framework 4.6.2
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Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime
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Configured Zoho Mail in Outlook for Windows - IMAP and ActiveSync (for desktop)
Note:
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To install or learn more about the .NET Framework 4.6.2, click here
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In case, you haven’t configured the Zoho Mail account; you can do it either of the two ways given below:
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IMAP AccountTo Configure the Zoho Mail account as IMAP in Outlook for Windows, click here.
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ActiveSync for desktopTo Configure Zoho Mail account as ActiveSync in Outlook for Windows:In the Add Account window, select Manual setup or additional server types and then click Next.Select Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service and then click Next.Enter the required information, specifying msync.zoho.in as your server name.Click Next, wait for the connection to complete, then click Finish.
Download and Installation
To install the Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in, you need to first download and share the MSI installer across your network, then create a Group Policy Object (GPO) and then install the Zoho mail Outlook Add-in for all the users. Follow the steps below to perform the installation in silent mode for your organization.
Steps to share the MSI across the network:
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Download the MSI installer to your system using one of the following links.MSI installer 32-bit versionMSI installer 64-bit version
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Create an empty folder in your system and copy the MSI installer into that folder.
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Right-click on the folder and click on Properties, and a dialogue box will open.
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In the properties dialogue box, select Sharing from the top menu and click on Share under Network file and Folder sharing.
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In the file sharing window, Add the users or groups to whom you want to deploy the add-in and click Share.
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Now your folder will be shared across the chosen network, Click Done.
Steps to create the GPO:
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To open the Group Policy Management console, open the run command window, type 'gpmc.msc' and click Ok / Browse.
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In the Group Policy Management console, right-click on your organization's unit and select ' Create a GPO in this domain and Link it here '. Now a new GPO dialogue box will pop up.
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In the new GPO dialogue box, provide a name to the GPO and click Ok to create a new GPO.
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Right-click on the new GPO created and select Edit. This will open the Group Policy Management Editor.
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In the Group Policy Management Editor, Select User configuration >> Policies >> Software settings.
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Under Software settings, right-click on software installation and select New and click on Package. An open dialogue box will pop up.
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In the open dialogue box, browse to the shared folder on the network containing the MSI installer. In that select the file ZohoMailOutlookAddinSetup.msi and click Open.
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In the deploy software dialogue box, select Advanced under the deployment method and click on Ok.
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Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in properties dialogue box pops up. In the deployment tab, select Assigned under deployment type, Install the application at logon under deployment options, select Basic under Installation user interface options and Click on the Advanced button.
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In the Advanced deployment options, check 'Ignore language while deploying this package' and click on Ok.
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Click on Ok again Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in Properties box.
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The software installation setup will start to show in the right panel of the Group Policy Management Editor.
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The GPO set-up is now completed and Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in will be deployed to the users in their next log-in.
Features of the Outlook Add-in
You can use the Zoho Mail Outlook Add-In to do the following:
Anti-spam control
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Report Spam - Helps you move the current or selected set of emails to Spam folder.
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Report Phishing - It reports the mail as Phishing and moves it to Spam folder.
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Block Sender - Select and add the sender of the current mail to the Rejected list by clicking on Block Sender. It also moves the mail to the spam folder
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Manage Sender - It opens the Manage Sender dialog box. This helps you to add and categorize senders under the Trusted / Rejected and Allowed / Blocked Email List. You can also manually add a new sender list or even shift a sender from Trusted to Rejected and vis-à-vis. Similar actions can also be taken under the Allowed/Blocked Emails option. You can also delete or search emails here.
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Unblock Sender - Select and remove a sender from the Rejected list, if any, by clicking on the Unblock Sender button. It also moves back the mail from the spam folder to the inbox
On-click Alerts
When you click on an email in your inbox, it is opened in the Reading pane. If the email is suspected of spam with a low spam score, an alert or warning message is displayed below the email to alert you about the nature of mail. This helps you to be careful while clicking any links or opening attachments in the email and it prompts you with context-sensitive action buttons, like "Block sender" or "Trust the sender", allowing you to take immediate action. Some of the Time-of-click alerts are shown below.
Accounts
It is quite common that you might have configured multiple mailboxes in your outlook client. The Authenticated account(s) will be listed under Accounts. As there can be multiple accounts under a profile, the accounts group shows the account currently active mailbox or account.
For instance:
Assuming you have multiple accounts, say, rebecca@outlook.com & rebecca@zohocorp.com and you want to enable Anti-spam filters for both. In that case, you will have first to configure both accounts with Outlook. As you configure, the accounts will be listed under the Accounts section of the ZohoMail ribbon. You can now individually choose from the listed accounts and customize the settings available including managing senders.
Let's say, if rebecca@zohocorp.com is the active account, then rebecca@zohocorp.com will be displayed in the ribbon and the ZohoMail anti-spam functions will work for rebecca@zohocorp.com account. And, if we switch to mail folders of rebecca@outlook.com, rebecca@outlook.com will be displayed in the ribbon and the ZohoMail anti-spam functions will work for rebecca@outlook.com account.
Note:
The add-in will work only for Zoho Mail accounts. For other accounts, the ZohoMail tab will not be visible.
Settings
Selecting Data Centre (DC) and enabling Proxy Setting are the options available under Settings.
In order to select the DC:
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Click on Settings in the Accounts section of the ribbon.
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By default, DC shows US. To set the DC, click on the drop-down option for the list to appear and select one of the following i.e. United States, India, Europe, China or Australia.
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In order to know your DC, you can go to accounts.zoho.in and click the profile icon in the top right corner. Your Zoho Mail Data Centre will be mentioned there.
In some Outlook versions, users may find it difficult to remove the POP mailbox. For eg., there may be cases when the user does not want to continue using the Add-in for any of the mailboxes or when the user wants to temporarily disable the Add-in features instead of completely uninstalling the Add-in. In such situations, the users can opt for the Sign Out button in order to sign out of the add-in. You will have to re-authenticate in order to start using the add-in again.
Follow the steps to configure these settings if your organization uses a proxy server to connect to the Internet:
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Click on Setting.
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Select the Use Proxy option available under DC.
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In the Proxy Setting, mention the Host, Port, Username and Password.
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Click Save to apply the setting.
Note:
Contact your sysadmin for proxy details.
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Index / Admin Guide
Zoho Mail provides extensive control panel for the administrators to manage their organization users, email accounts and policies.
Email hosting setup
Zoho Mail Suite provides enterprise features for email hosting to satisfy the needs of organizations of all types and sizes. Zoho Mail provides custom domain-based email address for all members of your organization in no time.
Troubleshooting Domain Verification
When you register the domain with one provider, but point the Nameservers to another provider, then the CNAME/ TXT/ MX/ SPF records added in your Domain Registrar is not considered valid.
Zoho Mail plugin for cPanel
cPanel provides a control panel for domain owners to manage the different aspects of web hosting. Zoho Mail Plugin for cPanel helps you sign up for email hosting with Zoho Mail from within cPanel. This plugin is available under the Email section.
Zoho Mail for Plesk
Plesk is a web hosting platform with a control panel that allows domain owners to manage the different aspects of web hosting. Zoho Mail Plugin for Plesk helps you sign up for email hosting with Zoho Mail from within Plesk.
Searching Admin Console
Zoho Mail Admin Console provides a centralized interface from where you can manage critical aspects of an organization - the different domains, users, groups, organizational spam control, email policies, to name a few. However, this wealth of information might make navigating through the Admin Console slightly challenging.
Dashboard
The Admin Console Dashboard is the first thing you will see as soon as you login to the Zoho Mail Admin Console. It is a culmination of important data your admin might need at their disposal. You can enable or disable widgets in your dashboard including data on your organization's Email Traffic Stats.
Users
The user details section, provides the list of users already added to the organization. When you click on each user, you can have a detailed view about the particular user. The Admin can also perform a set of actions on the user. The primary email address of the users are listed in the section.
Roles and Privileges
The roles available in Zoho Mail are Super Administrator, Administrator, and User roles. The members of the organizations can assume different roles in Zoho Mail, based on the requirement. The Super Administrator can provide Administrator privileges to other users.
Groups
Groups or Distribution Lists are common email addresses, shared by a set of users for a specific purpose. When an email is sent to the group account, a copy of the email gets delivered to the mailbox of all the members of the Group.
Organization Settings
The administrator can control organization-wide parameters under the Organization section. Settings for the entire organization such as the org name, logo, templates for the welcome email and signature, format for the display name and email address.
Domain Options
Zoho Mail allows organizations to add domains to their organization accounts or even buy domains through Zoho. Your organization members will further be able to send and receive emails using their custom domain-based email addresses in Zoho.
Autodiscovery Settings
The Autodiscovery service ensures that email accounts can easily be configured using the IMAP protocol or on mobile devices using ActiveSync. The procedure varies depending on whether you want to configure it for IMAP or ActiveSync.
Email Policies/ Rules
Email Policies help the administrators control the organization's email sending and receiving parameters. In Zoho Mail, you can define multiple email policies and apply them to various sets of users and groups.
Advanced Delivery Options
With Zoho Mail, you can redirect or send a copy of an email automatically by configuring Email Routing. Email Routing is helpful in many situations like if you want to automatically send a copy of one user's email to another.
Security and Compliance Dashboard
The security and compliance dashboard in the Zoho Mail Admin console provides an overview of all the recommended security configurations. It displays the overall compliance score.
Organization Security
Organization accounts hold a lot of sensitive data and there's a need for certain security rules to make sure your data stays safe and is not compromised. The administrator can protect their user and organization data with the help of email security features.
Organization Spam Control
Zoho Mail is a secure email service with a spam control system that provides multiple options to customize the settings such that they suit your organization's needs.
Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in
Zoho Mail users can now experience enhanced email security and have better control over their preferences with the new Outlook Add-in while using their email client.
Export User Accounts
The Zoho Mail Admin Console provide options to export or backup users' emails, recover any deleted emails and also retry sending of emails that have failed delivery.
Migration to Zoho Mail
Zoho Mail offers a very simple solution to migrate data from your previous email provider to the respective user accounts in Zoho Mail directly. These user accounts need to be created in Zoho Mail before adding the migration.
Zoho Exchange Migration Wizard
Zoho user and email migration wizard can be used to discover users and migrate their emails from the Active Directory/ Exchange environment to their accounts in their Zoho Mail organization accounts.
Application Settings
The administrator can control the settings for other Zoho apps and third-party applications and integrations from the Other App Settings section in the Zoho Mail Admin Console.
Email Retention and eDiscovery
Email retention is the process of retaining emails in an organization for a specific period in an organized manner based on the policies of the organization.
Email Backup and Recovery
Email backup processes and stores emails in a safe, centralized location that can be retrieved at any point in time. It helps prevent data loss by enabling users to restore email content that has been accidentally deleted or lost.
Reports & Statistics
Zoho Mail has a separate Admin Reports section which comprises of statistics on various aspects of your organization's emailing experience. As an administrator, these reports will help you gain information on all aspects of your organization.
Zoho Toolkit
Zoho Mail provides easy-to-use diagnostic tools to troubleshoot some services. There are options to check the domain and registry details. You can run some basic DNS configuration checks for a specific domain, and analyze message headers.
Subscription
Zoho Mail offers different plans to accommodate different users. One can choose the subscription that would suit their organization from the array of available plans. You can also opt for the mix and match plan to have a tailor-made subscription.
Firewall settings
Configure your firewall settings and allow your organization members to access Zoho Mail without any restrictions. All of the below-mentioned domains have to be whitelisted even if you don't see activity at those addresses.
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