For PCs with an installation of Outlook, users can manage the mailboxes of their accounts with the Outlook group of actions.
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. In the figure below, the action retrieves all the email messages from the folder Tickets which is in a subfolder of the Inbox. The filters have been configured to search for email messages from a specific address, further specifying the contents of the subject with a previously defined variable. Any attachments are also saved.
The Process email messages in Outlook action processes email messages retrieved by the Retrieve email messages from Outlook action. The Outlook instance, account, and retrieved emails variable are required to use this action. Select whether to Move, delete or mark as read as the operation to perform.
Store Outlook email messages locally by using the Save Outlook email messages action. Specify the Outlook instance, account, and messages to save via variables, as well as the format and location to save in.
To close the instance of Outlook opened with Power Automate, use the Close Outlook action.
Outlook actions
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, Do not save attachments
Do not 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
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 (e.g., 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 are 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