Save/attach from emails in MS Outlook 2016 to SharePoint site

[Angus Hamilton]

Hi there

Appreciate this has been discussed before, but are there any updates planned to the interaction between Outlook and SharePoint?

We're rolling out SharePoint as a file store for our documents, but a common issue is saving to/attaching from emails direct to SharePoint. 

Options are:

1.  Use the File Sync tool - but we've had some bad experience with files not updating/syncing so there's some resistance to this

2. Use a third party tool - harmon.ie or OnePlace

3.  Use the 'Sites' weblocation in Outlook - but this only shows 'recent sites' which is pretty useless.

If the Sites option in Outlook had a selection/browse capability it would resolve all our requirements - any plans to do this ?

thanks

Angus

[#2]

@Angus Hamilton 

Sorry to bump this old thread but I'm hoping to find out why a feature that used to work is still broken after about a year. Attaching files as SPO link rather than local file.

Angus you mentioned in your post 4 years ago that when you wanted to attached a file from SPO and you couldn't see the option to view others sites:

2. Attaching from SharePoint Online gives me the option to attach from 6 recent folders, but not the option to select a different site to attach from.

It appears I'm having the same problem, I only see recent folders but I have multiple sites in my organisation and showing only 6 recent ones does not allow me to attach a SPO file into an email, it only attaches the file as a local version when I drag & drop or choose insert from PC.

I've found a way around it by copying the SPO URL into an email but for end users the option to choose to share as a link or local version no longer works, and I've changed default setting within Outlook settings which makes no difference:

I have raised this with Microsoft  through our partner support but 2 weeks in they've got no fix.

Does anyone have a suitable simply solution at all that I can share with end users.

[#3]

@Angus Hamilton 

Granted

(1) you can already drag an email to SharePoint today and it will be saved 

(2) you can copy an email to Teams using a Microsoft Add-in

The methods above don't meet the robust requirements of customers that need to be able to search and review that email later in M365. We find customers need more than simple copying of emails which goes beyond what Microsoft typically offers in their native functionality. For example

1. Extract metadata from the email that you will use to Filter/Search later e.g. Sender, Recipient, Date/Time Received, Subject, etc. 
2. Some intelligence about where to save it, like predictive filing suggestions
3. Ability to apply retention labels 
4. Ability to add other metadata that can be used for a workflow or lifecycle purpose. e.g. Status, Next Actions, Comments, etc. 
5. Some centralized control where you can file things in SharePoint/Teams/Onedrive that makes it simple for the user
6. The ability to look at previously filed emails without needing to leave Outlook
7. The ability to get file from SharePoint and attach or link to your fully formatted outgoing emails without having to leave Outlook. 
8. Same functionality as above wherever you are using Outlook: desktop, tablet, phone, browser mail. 
9. All the functionality above made available automatically without the need to install software on your computer, which just needs to be updated every 2 months. 

For this and others, I think you will need to look at third party tools. Yes, I work for Colligo. SharePoint Microsoft 365 Integration | Mobile & Desktop (colligo.com)

[#4]

I do not see a way to drag and drop an email in the modern view, only the classic. Have you had a different experience? It does look like we would need a 3rd party add-in to make this work, but doubt that we will be authorized to bring on a vendor just to save email to a SharePoint list.

[#5]

From all that I read on this, the functionality of it in SP 2013 was unintentional and undocumented. It looks like they have 'fixed' the problem and aren't really excited about putting it back in after so long. It may benefit some 3rd party companies, but it is making us look at other platforms which hurts Microsoft's bottom line.

[#6]

@Ghostbuster007 

You drag the email from Outlook and drop it into a library (not a list). This results in an MSG file in SharePoint (works with modern too). But another downside is that the filename will the same as the subject so it will likely conflict if you add other emails especially from the same thread. 

Yes, its not free to use a third party add-in, but it comes down to the value. Customers find it pays for itself in compliance with regulations (certain industries), knowledge management (keep all related files together including emails), and for business processes. We can make a business case to loosen the purse strings because we can show the ROI. 

Roland 

[#7]

Third party doesn't hurt Microsoft's bottom line. In fact they partner with us, because add-ins add value to your M365 investment and increases adoption and value

[#8]

@Angus Hamilton 

The problem(s) persists but alternatives have become available. There are SharePoint Apps that act when a user adds one or more emails to SharePoint. See e.g., here and here.

The Apps automatically extract email metadata like From, To, Subject, ... during uploading and populate the corresponding SharePoint columns. This then allows for sorting, filtering and searching. For example, users can search for emails in SharePoint using the familiar Outlook syntax like From:microsoft. This is fully transparent for end-users and requires no training/instructions: all they need to do is upload the emails via drag and drop from Outlook or use the standard SharePoint "Upload" button.
Some tools even provide additional functionality such as generate a unique name for the email based on the email metadata, show email previews in the browser, allowing viewing of email attachments (pdf, docx, jpg, ...) directly shown in the browser, ...