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Productivity Activities

Last updated May 21, 2025

New Outlook impact on UiPath Outlook Desktop activities

Starting with August 1, 2024, Microsoft has made available the new Outlook as a replacement for classic Outlook. Switching to the new Outlook application breaks compatibility with the UiPath Outlook Desktop activities and the Use Outlook 365 activity.

The issue occurs because Microsoft, as a third-party service provider, has removed the Outlook Desktop COM API from the new Outlook. While the COM API is still available in the classic version of Outlook, UiPath Outlook Desktop activities depend on it to work.

Important: Upgrading to the new Outlook will disrupt your automations that use the UiPath Outlook Desktop activities and the Use Outlook 365 activity. To avoid this issue, you are advised to keep using the classic Outlook version with your automations. For any questions or issues regarding the new Outlook application, contact Microsoft.

Impacted activities

The change impacts the following activities:

  • Use Outlook 365
  • Delete Outlook Desktop Mail Message
  • Get Outlook Desktop Mail Messages
  • Mark Outlook Desktop Mail Message As Read/Unread
  • Move Outlook Desktop Mail Message
  • Outlook Desktop Mail Message Trigger
  • Reply To Outlook Desktop Mail Message
  • Save Outlook Desktop Mail Message
  • Send Outlook Desktop Mail Message
  • Set Outlook Desktop Mail Message

The following Gmail and Outlook activities also work with O365, and are only impacted when used inside the Use Desktop Outlook App activity:

  • Archive Email
  • Delete Email
  • For Each Email
  • Forward Email
  • Get Email By Id
  • Mark Email As Read/Unread
  • Move Email
  • Reply To Email
  • Save Email
  • Save Email Attachments
  • Send Calendar Invite
  • Send Email
  • Use Desktop Outlook App
  • Use Gmail
  • Use Outlook 365

Timeline

According to Microsoft, classic Outlook is expected to remain functional until around August 2027. As a result, you can still use the classic version until Microsoft plans to completely remove it. For more details, check Communications between stages.

Figure 1. Diagram with stages of the Microsoft new Outlook timeline until cutover

Workaround

As a temporary solution, you are advised to keep using classic Outlook with your automations, and not upgrade to the new Microsoft Outlook version.

If you want to use the new Outlook, you must manually migrate your existing Outlook Desktop activities to the Microsoft 365 activities.

Reverting to classic Outlook

If you accidentally upgrade Outlook, you can still revert to the classic version by disabling the new Outlook. For more details, check Toggle out of the new Outlook for Windows.

For questions or issues with toggling out of the new Outlook, contact Microsoft.

Migration recommendations

Microsoft 365 activities automate Outlook through the Microsoft Graph API, which is the recommended approach to automate Outlook moving forward.

If you decide to migrate your Outlook Desktop activities to Microsoft 365 activities, follow these recommendations:

General recommendations

  • If you use Studio Web, use the Outlook activities that also use the Integration Service connection. Make sure you have access to Integration Service.
  • If you use Studio Desktop and:
    • have access to Automation Cloud, use the Integration Service connection. Make sure you have access to Integration Service.
    • cannot use Automation Cloud, use Automation Suite version 2024.10, which supports Integration Service.
  • If you use Studio Desktop with either a standalone Orchestrator or an Automation Suite version older than 2024.10, and cannot upgrade to Automation Cloud or Automation Suite 2024.10, it is recommended to use the Outlook activities together with the Microsoft 365 Scope activity. For more details, check How to use Microsoft 365 activities without Integration Service connections.
  • If the Outlook application is connected to a different server than Microsoft 365, alternatively, you can use one of the following activities:

    • Exchange
    • SMTP, IMAP, or POP3
    • Google Workspace, if you are connected to a Gmail server.
Note: Make sure you use the new activities from the Microsoft 365 package, instead of the classic Outlook activities.

Authentication recommendations

Use the OAuth 2.0 Authorization code, because it impersonates a user, and allows the connection to have access only to that particular user. For more details, check Microsoft identity platform and OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow.

Alternatively, you can use the OAuth 2.0 client credentials authentication method. This is also referred to as a service account that can have access to a wide range of mailboxes.

  • For Integration Sservice, use the OAuth 2.0 client credentials. To restrict the service account, specify in the Account field of the connection configuration page the mailbox it should access.
  • For Microsoft 365 Scope, use the Application ID and Secret or Application ID and Certificate. To restrict the service account to a particular mailbox to impersonate, specify the account in the Impersonated User Email Address field of the Microsoft 365 Scope activity.

Mapping Outlook activities to Microsoft 365 activities

The following table shows which Microsoft 365 activities correspond to Outlook activities:

Outlook Desktop activitiesMicrosoft 365 activitiesNotes
  • Outlook: Send Outlook Mail Messages
  • Gmail and Outlook for Desktop: Send Email

Send Email or Forward Email

Microsoft 365 does not support sensitivity labels.
  • Outlook: Save Outlook Mail Message
  • Gmail and Outlook for Desktop: Save Email
Download Email and Move File, to specify the location. Download Email does not support specifying the mail message format, such as .msg, .oft, .html, .mht.
  • Outlook: Reply to Outlook Mail Message
  • Gmail and Outlook for Desktop: Reply To Email
Reply to Email

N\A

  • Outlook: Get Outlook Mail Messages
  • Gmail and Outlook for Desktop: For Each Email
Get Email List, For Each Email , or Get Email by ID.

The filters may differ, as the Microsoft 365 activities use a different filter mechanism. For example, you cannot sort by date.

Outlook: Delete Outlook Mail Messages

Delete Email

N\A

Mark Outlook Mail As Read/UnreadMark Email as Read or Unread

N\A

Mark Email as Read or UnreadMove Email

N\A

Set Outlook Mail CategoriesSet Email Categories

N\A

Outlook Mail Message trigger Email Received
  • The trigger uses a different mechanism, and may behave the same as the Outlook trigger, but it offers the same main functionality.
  • The filters may differ, as the Microsoft 365 activities use a different filter mechanism.
Note: Triggers work only if you have access to Integration Service.
Save AttachmentsDownload Email Attachments and Move File, to specify the location.

N\A

Benefits of using Microsoft 365 activities

Microsoft 365 activities enhance the user experience by providing intuitive design-time tools like folder pickers, filter builders, and dynamic dropdowns. These features make it easier even for users with limited technical knowledge to build automations.

In addition, you can manage out-of-office settings or create more complex long-running workflows with the help of Wait for Events and Email Sent triggers.

Microsoft 365 activities are compatible with cross-platform projects, enabling a seamless transition to cloud and serverless environments. This can lead to reduced infrastructure costs and lower dependency on Microsoft Office licenses.

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