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Insightly Sidebar for Outlook Guide

Updated

The Outlook Sidebar brings Insightly data into your Outlook inbox: view records, save emails, create new records, and send tracked messages through Insightly.

On this page:

Requirements

All of the following are needed:

  • An Outlook client that supports add-ins: Outlook online, Outlook 2013 or later for Windows Desktop, or Outlook 2016 for Mac.
  • An Office 365 business plan subscription that is not provided through a third party such as GoDaddy or Rackspace.
  • Businesses using Microsoft Exchange are supported.

Installing and logging in

Each user installs the Sidebar themselves. Open an email, choose Get Add-ins from the three-dot menu, search for Insightly, and add it. Customers on the older Outlook add-in can turn it off and back on to update to the Sidebar.

Outlook Email Menu With Get Add-ins Option — A dropdown menu in Outlook.com is open on an email from the Outlook Team, showing various message actions with “Get Add-ins” highlighted at the bottom. This option is used to access and install add-ins such as the Insightly CRM sidebar directly within Outlook.

1 Outlook Email Menu With Get Add-ins Option

 Adding Insightly Sidebar Add-In to Outlook — The image shows the Microsoft Outlook Add-Ins store with search results for “Insightly,” highlighting the Insightly Sidebar add-in that integrates CRM data directly into your inbox. This is relevant for users who want to access and manage Insightly CRM information without leaving Outlook.

2 Adding Insightly Sidebar Add-In to Outlook
Adding the Insightly Sidebar Add-In — This image shows the installation screen for the Insightly Sidebar add-in, with an arrow pointing to the blue “Add” button. Users would click this button to install the add-in and integrate Insightly with their email client.

3 Adding the Insightly Sidebar Add-In

 Insightly Sidebar Add-In Successfully Added — The screenshot shows the Insightly Sidebar add-in page in Microsoft Outlook’s add-in store, displaying a blue checkmark confirming the add-in has been added, along with options to Get Started or Remove it. This confirms the installation was successful and shows users where to find next steps after adding the add-in.

4 Insightly Sidebar Add-In Successfully Added

To log in, open an email, click the three-dot menu, then Insightly > Open Sidebar, and sign in to your Insightly account. The login path differs when SAML is enforced.

Opening Insightly Sidebar in Outlook Menu — The image shows a right-click context menu in Microsoft Outlook with the Insightly add-in option expanded, highlighting the “Open Sidebar” button with a red arrow. This helps users understand how to access the Insightly sidebar directly from an Outlook email using the built-in add-in menu.

Opening Insightly Sidebar in Outlook Menu

⚠️ Existing installations from before May 23rd, 2025 need updating. Microsoft changed how Outlook connects to third-party add-ins, so Sidebars added before that date require a manual update. New installations are unaffected. Two symptoms of an installation that needs updating:

Insightly Add-In Error Dialog in Outlook — A popup error message in the Insightly Outlook add-in states the add-in could not be started, offering options to Restart or Close. Behind the dialog, a “resource not found” error is visible, indicating the add-in failed to load its content.

1 Insightly Add-In Error Dialog in Outlook

 404 Server Error in Insightly Sidebar — The image shows a 404 “File or directory not found” error appearing in the Insightly CRM sidebar panel. This error indicates that a linked resource is missing or unavailable, which could prevent users from accessing certain features or content within the application.

2 404 Server Error in Insightly Sidebar

To update an existing installation:

  1. Log in to your Insightly account.
  2. Go to User Settings > Email Accounts, then click the trash icon next to your Outlook/Office email to remove it.
  3. Open the Sidebar, click the three-dot menu, then Settings > Sign out of sidebar.
  4. Sign back in using Continue with Microsoft, then accept the Authorize with Outlook request.
Insightly Outlook Authorization Permission Screen — After a successful Insightly login, a dialog box appears requesting permission to send email through Outlook, with a blue “Authorize with Outlook” button. Users must click this button to grant Insightly the necessary access to send emails via their Outlook account.

Insightly Outlook Authorization Permission Screen

  1. Once signed back in, accept the additional permissions request. Most users see the standard Microsoft permissions screen below; if so, you’re done.
Microsoft Permissions Request Dialog for Insightly — A Microsoft OAuth permissions dialog is asking the user to grant Insightly CRM access to their Microsoft account, including the ability to read/write mail, send mail, and access profile information. Users must click “Accept” to complete the integration between Insightly and their Microsoft/Outlook account.

Microsoft Permissions Request Dialog for Insightly

ℹ️ If a different screen appears noting that separate admin approval is required, the standard steps above won’t complete. Your Azure or Entra admin needs to update the organization’s consent settings first.

Microsoft Admin Approval Required for Insightly App — A Microsoft permissions dialog shows that Insightly, Inc. requires admin approval to access user mail, send mail, and read user profiles. Users who are not admins must enter a justification and submit a request for approval before they can connect their Microsoft account to Insightly.

Microsoft Admin Approval Required for Insightly App

Admin steps for the approval-required case: in the Azure or Entra admin panel, go to Enterprise Applications > Consent and permissions, and update the setting to allow user consent for this app.

Azure AD User Consent Settings Configuration — This screenshot shows the User Consent Settings page in Azure Enterprise Applications, with arrows highlighting two consent options: allowing consent only for verified publishers with low-impact permissions, or allowing consent for all apps. This setting matters because choosing the correct option determines whether users can connect Insightly to their Microsoft account without requiring an administrator to manually approve the application.

Azure AD User Consent Settings Configuration

The change takes about an hour to take effect. Once it has, repeat the update steps above starting from step 1. Once every affected user has regained access, the admin can revert User Consent Settings back to “Do not allow user consent.”

Viewing records

Open a message, click the Insightly icon, and select Open Sidebar. The Sidebar immediately shows records matching the message’s participants, and you can navigate between them from there.

Insightly Plugin Dropdown Menu in Outlook — The screenshot shows the Insightly plugin menu open in Microsoft Outlook, displaying options such as Save to Insightly, Save and Add Link, Save as, and Open Sidebar. A red arrow highlights the Open Sidebar option, indicating this is the action being demonstrated in the support article.

1 Insightly Plugin Dropdown Menu in Outlook

 Insightly Sidebar Panel in Outlook Email — The screenshot shows an email open in Microsoft Outlook with the Insightly CRM sidebar panel displayed on the right, identifying recognized contacts from the email. The sidebar shows that the sender can be added to Insightly or linked to an existing contact, demonstrating how users can manage CRM contacts directly from their inbox.

2 Insightly Sidebar Panel in Outlook Email

 Contact Record Found in Insightly Sidebar — The Insightly sidebar displays a matched contact card for “Mr. Frederick Peanut,” showing his title as Nut Affairs Representative at Planters Inc. and his email address. This helps users understand how a recognized contact appears in the sidebar and how to click through to view the full contact record.

3 Contact Record Found in Insightly Sidebar

Creating records

When an incoming email is saved, or an outgoing email is sent through Insightly, you’re offered the option to save new contacts or leads automatically. The Sidebar also has tools for adding tasks, opportunities, projects, events, and additional leads. Both routes open a new Insightly window for entering details.

Adding a New Lead in Insightly CRM — The image shows the “New” button menu expanded in the Insightly sidebar, with an arrow pointing to the “Lead” option among choices like Task, Organization, Opportunity, Project, and Event. This illustrates how to create a new lead record directly from the Insightly panel, which is relevant for users learning to add leads without leaving their current workflow.

1 Adding a New Lead in Insightly CRM

 Save Email Contact to Insightly from Outlook — A dialog box in Microsoft Outlook’s Insightly add-in prompts the user to save an email sender, Kourtney Stuthard, as a Contact, Lead, or to not add them at all. This feature allows users to quickly add new email contacts directly into Insightly without leaving their inbox.

2 Save Email Contact to Insightly from Outlook

Saving emails

A saved email is automatically linked to contacts and organizations whose email addresses and domains match. You can save a copy of any message, link it to other records, and control what gets linked.

Insightly Plugin Dropdown Menu in Outlook — The screenshot shows an email in Microsoft Outlook with the Insightly add-in icon clicked, revealing a dropdown menu with options to Save to Insightly, Save and Add Link, Save as, or Open Sidebar. This helps users understand how to save emails directly from Outlook into their Insightly CRM account.

1 Insightly Plugin Dropdown Menu in Outlook

 Email Successfully Saved to Insightly CRM — A Microsoft Outlook email is shown with a success notification confirming that a copy of the email has been saved to Insightly CRM. This illustrates how the Insightly for Outlook integration confirms successful email logging, which helps users verify their email communications are being tracked in the CRM.

2 Email Successfully Saved to Insightly CRM
Linking an Email to an Insightly Record — A dialog box shows a user typing “Insightly, Inc” in the Add Link field, with a dropdown displaying matching results including an organization and two task reminders. This illustrates how to search for and select a CRM record to link to an email before saving it to Insightly.

3 Linking an Email to an Insightly Record

 Removing Automatically Linked Contact Records — The “Save and Link to Insightly” dialog shows two automatically linked contacts, with a delete (trash) icon highlighted next to “Outlook Test,” indicating how to remove an unwanted linked record. This is relevant for users who want to control which contacts get associated with a saved email before clicking Save.

4 Removing Automatically Linked Contact Records

Sending email through the Sidebar

Sending through Insightly rather than plain Outlook adds several capabilities:

  • Messages are saved and linked to records automatically.
  • Addressing to Insightly contacts and leads links the message to their records.
  • Open and click rates are tracked in Insightly.
  • Insightly email templates become available.
Insightly Add-in Button in Outlook Compose Window — The image shows a new email compose window in Outlook with a red arrow pointing to the Insightly CRM icon in the bottom toolbar. This button allows users to access Insightly CRM features directly from within an Outlook email, such as saving emails or contacts to the CRM.

1 Insightly Add-in Button in Outlook Compose Window

 Authorizing Insightly to Send Email via Outlook — A new Outlook email compose window is open with an Insightly sidebar panel appearing on the right, prompting the user to grant permission for Insightly to send emails through Outlook. A red arrow highlights the blue “Authorize with Outlook” button that must be clicked to complete the integration setup.

2 Authorizing Insightly to Send Email via Outlook

 Adding CRM Contact as Email Recipient — The screenshot shows how searching for a contact in the Insightly sidebar panel automatically populates their email address in the Outlook email “To” field. This helps users understand how to quickly add CRM contacts to emails without manually typing email addresses.

3 Adding CRM Contact as Email Recipient
Insert Template Option in Insightly Email Panel — The Insightly sidebar panel in an email client displays menu options including Add Recipients, Link, Send Later, and Insert Template, with Insert Template highlighted. This feature allows users to apply pre-built email templates when composing messages, saving time and ensuring consistent communication.

4 Insert Template Option in Insightly Email Panel

 Insightly Outlook Add-in Send Options Menu — The Insightly sidebar panel in Outlook displays email options including Add Recipients, Link, Send Later, and Insert Template, with a prominent orange “Send via Insightly” button at the bottom. This interface allows users to log and send emails directly through Insightly CRM from within Outlook.

5 Insightly Outlook Add-in Send Options Menu

Removing the Sidebar

In Outlook, click the settings icon, select Manage add-ins, then My add-ins > Insightly Sidebar, and click Remove.

Outlook Settings Panel with Manage Add-ins — The screenshot shows Microsoft Outlook’s Settings panel open on the right side, with a red arrow pointing to the “Manage add-ins” option at the bottom. This is relevant because users need to navigate to this option to install or enable the Insightly CRM add-in within Outlook.

Outlook Settings Panel with Manage Add-ins

Outlook Add-Ins Store with Insightly Sidebar — This screenshot shows the Add-Ins panel in Microsoft Outlook, displaying four installed store add-ins including Trello, Starbucks for Outlook, Boomerang, and the Insightly Sidebar. The Insightly Sidebar add-in is highlighted as requiring a “Get started” step, indicating it needs additional setup after installation to access CRM information directly from the inbox.

Outlook Add-Ins Store with Insightly Sidebar

Removing the Insightly Sidebar Add-In — The screenshot shows the Insightly Sidebar add-in detail page in Microsoft Outlook’s add-in store, with the “Remove” button highlighted in an orange box. This helps users identify where to click if they need to uninstall or disable the Insightly Sidebar from their Outlook application.

Removing the Insightly Sidebar Add-In

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