Connect Outlook
Connect Microsoft 365, Outlook.com, or Exchange Online with read-only OAuth, then pull in past invoices with a retroactive scan.
Connect Outlook
Admin+Connecting Outlook lets Inbox Ledger read invoices and receipts as they arrive. The connection is read-only. Inbox Ledger reads message metadata, downloads PDF attachments, and identifies the connected account, and it never sends, modifies, or deletes your email.
What you'll need
The admin or owner role in your organization, and a Microsoft account on one of these:
- Outlook.com (personal)
- Microsoft 365 or Office 365 (business)
- Exchange Online (Microsoft-hosted)
Connect your inbox
Open Sources
In the dashboard sidebar, open Sources and click Add Source.
Choose Outlook
Pick Outlook from the source types. You go to Microsoft's consent screen.
Approve the access
Microsoft asks you to grant read access to your mail and to confirm which account is connecting. Review it and click Accept.
Return to Inbox Ledger
Microsoft sends you back to the Sources page. Your inbox now appears in the list with a connected status.
What happens after you connect
Connecting does not scan your old mail. Inbox Ledger marks the moment you connected as the starting point and watches for new mail from then on. Auto-sync runs every 60 minutes in the background, so invoices that arrive after you connect show up on their own.
To bring in invoices that arrived before you connected, run a retroactive scan.
Open Retroactive Scan
In the sidebar, open Retroactive Scan, then click Find Past Invoices.
Pick a period and your inbox
Choose Today, This month, Last month, or Last quarter, tick your Outlook inbox, and click Scan Selected.
Scanning works by email delivery date. An invoice dated last year is found only if the email carrying it arrived inside the window you picked.
Confirm it worked
Open Documents. Within a few minutes you should see invoices appear with the vendor and total filled in. If the list stays empty, the inbox may have had no invoices in that window, or auto-sync has not run yet.
Troubleshooting
- Connection expired. Open Sources, click Reconnect on the inbox to re-authorize with Microsoft.
- Auto-sync turned off. Each inbox has an Auto-sync (every 60 min) toggle. After several failed syncs in a row, Inbox Ledger pauses it automatically and shows an "Auto-sync disabled" badge. Reconnect the inbox, then switch the toggle back on.
- Still stuck. See Email not syncing.
Reference
Scopes we request
| Scope | Why |
|---|---|
Mail.Read | Read message metadata and download PDF attachments. |
User.Read | Identify which Microsoft account is connected and display its email address. |
offline_access | Receive a refresh token so Inbox Ledger can sync without prompting you to sign in again. |
How sync stays incremental
After the connection is established, Inbox Ledger uses Microsoft Graph's delta query. It asks Microsoft "what changed since the last check?" instead of rescanning the whole inbox, which keeps each 60-minute sync fast.
Related
Sources overview
Compare all five source types.
Email not syncing
Diagnose stuck or delayed syncs.
Organization settings
Manage connected accounts and roles.
Ready to try this?
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