Menu

How to Save Emails and Attachments to SharePoint

how-to-save-emails-to-sharepoint

How to Save Emails and Attachments to SharePoint using the SharePoint Explorer Outlook Add-In

This document describes how to save single and multiple emails & attachments to SharePoint using the SharePoint Explorer Outlook Add-In (drag & drop and context menu options).

Note: you need to configure the Add-In before it can be used to save emails.

Method I – Drag & Drop Emails to SharePoint

  1. Navigate to Konnect eMail tab on the Outlook application’s toolbar and click “Explorer”. This will open the Konnect eMail task pane – from here navigate to the SharePoint location when you want to save emails.
  2. Select 1 or more emails by holding down the Shift key and simply drag & drop the emails either on the desired library/folder or in the list view.
  3. Similarly for attachments – select 1 or more attachments by holding down the Shift key and simply drag & drop them either on the desired library/folder or in the list view.
  4. The user will be prompted to enter any custom SharePoint metadata and hit “Ok”.

Method II – Email and Attachment Context Menus

  1. Select 1 or more emails by holding down the Shift key and right click on it to access the context menu. Find “Konnect eMail” and select “Copy to SharePoint” OR “Move to SharePoint”.
  2. Similarly for attachments – select 1 or more attachments by holding down the Shift key and right click on it to access the context menu. Find “Konnect eMail” and select “Save Attachment to SharePoint” OR “Save All Attachments to SharePoint”.
  3. A modal will appear for you to select the desired save location from your SharePoint sites list or from users favourite locations.
  4. After selecting the save location – the user will be prompted to enter any custom SharePoint metadata and hit “Ok”.

What Information Is Saved With the Email?

When an email is saved to SharePoint, the information retained can depend on the method and tools used.

Depending on the workflow, the saved email may include information such as:

  • Email content
  • Sender and recipient details
  • Subject
  • Date and time
  • Attachments
  • SharePoint metadata
  • The selected SharePoint location

Metadata can be particularly useful when managing a large number of saved emails. Instead of relying only on folder structures, businesses can use relevant SharePoint metadata and search capabilities to help locate specific communications.

The Benefits of Saving Emails to SharePoint

SharePoint, Microsoft’s collaborative platform, offers a robust solution for managing and archiving emails. By integrating email storage with SharePoint, businesses can unlock numerous benefits:

  1. Centralized Document Management: SharePoint serves as a centralized repository for emails, documents, and other digital assets. Storing emails in SharePoint streamlines access, searchability, and version control, facilitating efficient collaboration and knowledge sharing.
  2. Compliance and Governance: SharePoint provides tools for enforcing compliance with retention policies, access controls, and audit trails. Administrators can configure retention policies to automatically archive emails according to regulatory requirements, ensuring compliance and mitigating legal risks.
  3. Enhanced Security: SharePoint offers robust security features, including encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention (DLP) policies. By storing emails in SharePoint, businesses can strengthen data security, protect against unauthorized access, and maintain compliance with regulatory standards.
  4. Integration with Office 365: SharePoint seamlessly integrates with Office 365, Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools, enabling seamless collaboration and workflow automation. Users can access emails stored in SharePoint directly from Outlook, enhancing productivity and efficiency.
  5. Advanced Search and Discovery: SharePoint’s powerful search capabilities enable users to quickly locate and retrieve emails based on keywords, metadata, or content. This facilitates compliance with eDiscovery requests, audits, and legal investigations, saving time and resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Will saving an email to SharePoint remove it from Outlook?
 No, saving creates a copy in SharePoint. The original stays in your Outlook mailbox unless you separately delete it.

Q. Can I save Outlook emails to Teams or OneDrive instead of SharePoint?
 Yes, in a sense, Teams channel files are actually stored in SharePoint behind the scenes, and OneDrive is meant for individual (not shared) files. For team or client records, SharePoint is generally the right destination.

Q. Is there a size limit on attachments I can save?
 This depends on your organization’s SharePoint storage limits and library configuration, not on Outlook itself check with your admin if you’re saving very large files.

Q. Can this be automated so I don’t have to save emails manually?
 Yes, depending on your Microsoft 365 setup and the tools available, rules or add-in automation can file certain types of emails automatically as they arrive.

Back to blog

Related Posts