Filevine’s Outlook Add-in integration allows users to complete basic Filevine actions without leaving Outlook. Users are able to send any email to a project, where it will appear in the activity feed, and to comment on emails just as they would in the activity feed.

To use the Outlook Add-in, users must have a Microsoft Exchange Server, which will usually require Office 365. Users must have Outlook 2016 or newer to use the Add-in. Reach out to your IT or Email Admin to confirm that you are using Exchange and an Outlook version that runs the Edge browser, and make sure you are running the latest version of Outlook.

Setup
Find Your Project
Activity Feed
Add Contacts and Team Members

Install

The Outlook Add-in can be added in either the online Outlook or the desktop version. In desktop, click on the “Get Add-ins” button in the ribbon along the top. In the web version, compose a new message, click on the ellipsis icon at the bottom of the message, and select “Get Add-ins” from the dropdown.

In the opened modal, click on the search bar in the top right corner and search for “Filevine.”

Once you find the Filervine add-in, click “Add.” When the add-in has been added, open it, and choose your country.

Sign in using your Filevine credentials. 

Adjust Settings

Once you have installed the add-in, it is recommended that you either pin it or create an action shortcut, which will help you access the add-in faster. 

In Outlook desktop, you will see the Filevine logo in the top bar next to “Get Add-ins.” Click the logo to open the add-in, and then pin it by selecting the pin icon in the top right corner.

When the add-in has been pinned, it will remain open as you switch between emails. To un-pin the add-in, click the pin icon again. You can also close the add-in by clicking on the “x” in the top right corner.

In Outlook.com, create an action shortcut to access the app faster. In outlook.com, go to Settings > Mail > Customize actions, and check the box next to the Filevine logo under both “Message surface” and “Toolbar.”

Once these settings have been updated, you will be able to open the add-in by clicking on the dropdown menu at the bottom of any email you are composing or at the top as any email you are reading. Select “Filevine” from the dropdown menu to open the add-in.

Find Your Project

The add-in includes a search bar for the project, vital information about a chosen project, a place to create an Activity feed item and add comments, and the team members and contacts for that project.

When the add-in is first opened, you will see a list of projects, with a search bar at the top. The list will include both active and archived projects. Enter the name of the desired project, and the list of projects will filter accordingly.

Click on the desired project to open it. To switch to another project, click on the magnifying glass icon to the right of the project name. 

In a selected project, you will see the project name along the top, a vitals dropdown menu, and three tabs for Activity, Contacts, and team. You can click on the project name to be taken directly to the project in Filevine. Click on Vitals to open the dropdown and view all vitals for the project. 

The Activity, Contacts, and Team tabs allow you to send and share emails with the project, depending on whether you are in a “Reading” or “Composing” state. 

Activity Feed

Received Emails

When reading an email that has already been received or sent, use the activity tab in the add-in to send the email to the project. The Activity tab contains the title of the currently-selected email, a “Send” button, and space to add a comment or task to the email message. “Send” to add the email to your project, or add a comment or task to the item before sending. Once an email has been sent to a Filevine project, the associated project will automatically be selected in the add-in when the email is open.

Composed Emails

When composing an email, you will have the option to send that email and attach it to the project upon sending. Just like with received emails, the email can be sent in the Activity tab of the add-in by selecting “Send.” Once an email has been sent to a Filevine project, the associated project will automatically be selected in the add-in when the email is open.

Attachments

Sending an email to a project will send the title of the email and all email text. If an email has attachments, the names of the attachments will appear beneath the Activity tab comment space. Included attachments will have a checkmark next to them. Uncheck attachments to keep them from being sent to Filevine.

Attachment names can also be edited. To edit an attachment name, click on the edit icon to the right of the current document name, adjust the name as desired, and save. 

In Filevine

In Filevine, the email will appear as an orange email icon. This email will not use the project email. The “Sent from” and “Sent to” information will remain the same as in Outlook. 

The activity item will also include an .eml file of the email. Click the .eml file in the item and download. The file will open as an email, where you will be able to reply, forward, etc. just as you would normally for an email.

If adding a task or comment, the email will appear as a task or comment activity item, respectively. Comments can be added on these email items in either the add-in or Filevine, and will appear in both. Tasks, mentions, and more can be added in comments the same way that they would normally be added in Filevine. Any tasks or comments will be added by the user “Filevine Integration.” 

Add Contacts and Team Members

The two other tabs in the add-in display the contacts and team members for the project, respectively. Additionally, any of the project’s contacts can be added, cced, or bcced on any email from the Contacts tab.

In the contacts tab, search for a contact by selecting either name or email from the dropdown next to the search bar, and then entering the search term. 

Once your desired contact has been identified, click on the “add,” “cc,” or “bcc” button to add them as recipients.