The 12 Best Microsoft Outlook Add-ins You Didn't Know You Needed

Best Outlook Add-Ins For… Productivity

1. Grammarly

Free your emails from easily-overlooked mistakes.

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps ensure communications are accurate and error-free.

You may already use Grammarly to check your written work, but might not know they also provide a downloadable Outlook add-in.

Installing the Outlook add-in enables you to check spelling, grammar, and punctuation and hone and refine the tone of your email messages.

Pro: Doesn’t just spell and grammar check but suggests alternative phrasing to improve sentence structure.

Con: AI grammar suggestions are never entirely accurate, so additional human-level proofreading is needed.

Pricing: Limited free version, plus paid premium subscriptions costing from $11.66 a month.

2. Boomerang

Schedule emails to be sent at a later time or date.

Outlook already allows you to schedule messages, but Boomerang is an alternative that comes with a host of extra features.

You can inset tracking links into emails to see if they’ve been opened and quickly and easily share your meeting availability.

Pro: Allows flexibility between when you write your emails and when they are sent, and caters to the schedules and time zones of recipients.

Con: Boomerang may be a little difficult to navigate for a first-time user but I quickly got used to the user interface.

Pricing: Limited free version, plus 3 different paid subscriptions, costing between $4.99-14.99 a month.

3. SimplyFile

Clean and organise your email inbox.

SimplyFile uses AI to learn your habits and predict your actions, enabling messages to be moved into separate folders with just a click.

It also supports the easy deletion of message threads, inbox task creation, and send delays on emails.

Pro: Saves a significant amount of time on manual organisation, leaving you more time to work.

Con: Predictive folder organisation feature is not 100% accurate.

Pricing: 3 paid plans, costing between $3.99-9.99 a month.

4. EverContact

Automatically create and update contacts.

When an email arrives in your inbox, EverContact extracts any information included in the sender’s signature to update existing contacts in your address book or to create new ones.

It also offers a one-off service, ContactRescue, that recovers contact information from archived emails received as far back as 5 years.

Pro: If you use a shared system, contacts will be shared with your team.

Con: Limitation on the number of devices you can use under one account.

Pricing: 3 different paid subscriptions, costing between $7-13 a month.

5. Shared Email Templates

Create custom templates for your emails.

Template Phrases offers a selection of pre-made and custom templates for common questions you receive through email, removing the need to type the same thing again and again.

You can arrange your snippets by category or by favourites, with a handy search bar to quickly find your required response. Templates can be shared with friends and colleagues.

Pro: Templates can be used for meetings and appointments you schedule using Outlook.

Con: The user interface is simple but getting in the habit of using the templates takes a while.

Pricing: Limited free version, plus 3 different paid subscriptions, costing between $3-15 a month.

6. DocuSign

Legally and securely sign and return documents.

Remove the need to manually print and sign important documents with DocuSign. Simply add your signature using your cursor.

Using the DocuSign Outlook add-in streamlines your communications, and reduces your company’s carbon footprint by removing the need to print off endless pages of contracts and files.

Pro: By connecting your DocuSign account with your Office365 credentials, you can automatically save documents to OneDrive.

Con: I found the interface to be quite unintuitive.

Pricing: 3 different paid plans, costing between $10-40 a month.

Best Outlook Add-Ins For… Collaboration

1. Zoom

Add a Zoom meeting to any Outlook calendar event.

Zoom is renowned for being the go-to company for online meetings, offering users video conferencing and screen sharing capabilities.

The Zoom add-in allows you to easily add Zoom meetings to new or existing events in your Outlook calendar and insert the URL and dial-in information into the body of invitations.

Pro: Streamlines and connects your two primary methods of office communication (if you use Zoom).

Con: Users report that the add-in doesn’t work for recipients of your calendar invitations who use Mac.

Pricing: Free if you have a Zoom subscription.

2. MeisterTask

Turn work that arrives by email into structured tasks.

MeisterTask is a secure project and task management software enabling teams to digitise and automate workflows, allowing for greater visibility and keeping productivity high.

The MeisterTask Outlook add-in allows users to capture task requests directly from emails and turn them into actionable to-dos.

Pro: Intuitive design with a high level of security to protect your data.

Con: Free version has limited functionality.

Pricing: Limited free version, 3 paid plans from $4.19 a month.

3. FindTime

Find a meeting time that works for all attendees.

Trying to find a date and time for a meeting when multiple people need to be available can be a nightmare.

This is why we love FindTime, an Outlook add-in that allows meeting attendees to vote on their preferred time slots, providing a visual summary to help organisers make the best choice.

Pro: FindTime will send out meeting invites on your behalf once a decision has been made, leaving one less job for you.

Con: Users report issues with the initial set-up, though I had no problem installing the add-in and starting to use it.

Pricing: Free!

Best Outlook Add-Ins For… Security

1. Mailock

Secures your emails with encryption and ID checks.

Mailock is a secure email solution, offering businesses and individuals end-to-end encryption and recipient ID checks for their messages.

The Mailock Outlook add-in is designed to protect highly sensitive information by ensuring it can only be accessed the right people.

Pro: Protects against both cybercrime and human error, with a revoke option in case you accidentally send an email to the wrong person.

Con: The Mailock Outlook add-in is available only on Windows.

Pricing: Free up to 5 sends each month, then £9.30/user/month.

2. Move and Delete Watchdog

Get alerts about risky Outlook folder actions

We've all been guilty of accidentally moving or deleting items and folders that we shouldn’t have.

Move and Delete Watchdog prevents this with warnings if you attempt to drag and drop or delete a folder within Outlook.

Pro: Quick to install and no configuration needed.

Con: The user interface feels a bit outdated.

Pricing: Free!

Best Outlook Add-ins For… Fun!

GIPHY

Find GIFs and stickers for your messages

GIPHY is the best known online source of GIFs and animated stickers, and now you can integrate it directly with Outlook.

Browse what’s currently trending or use the search bar to find a specific GIF and drop it into your email message.

Pro: GIFs and stickers can be inserted easily in a click.

Con: Probably don't overuse in formal email threads...

Pricing: Free!

The Best Outlook Add-Ins

The best Microsoft Outlook add-ins are those that meet your specific needs. Do you need to be more productive, collaborate better, or increase the security of your emails?

Outlook can't offer a one-size-fits all solution that meets everybody's requirements. By using some of the add-ins I cover in this list, you might just make your life a little easier.