--- key: connect-a-microsoft-inbox title: Connect a Microsoft inbox audience: staff section: communications/email routes: ["/settings/communications/email-accounts"] permissions: ["communications.email.inbox.list", "communications.email.provider_connection.manage"] features: ["communications.email"] since: 0.0.1 updated: 0.0.1 status: published summary: Connect an Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live or Microsoft 365 mailbox so its email shows up in Nova. Name the mailbox, answer one question about your administrator, then sign in at Microsoft as the mailbox. keywords: [outlook, outlook.com, hotmail, live.com, msn, personal microsoft account, office 365, microsoft 365, exchange, shared mailbox, email account, link mailbox, add mailbox, need admin approval] related: [connect-a-microsoft-shared-mailbox, microsoft-inbox-admin-consent, microsoft-inbox-conditional-access, microsoft-inbox-mfa-required, microsoft-inbox-account-troubleshooting, microsoft-inbox-app-configuration, fix-an-inbox-that-stopped-syncing] --- In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Email Accounts** under **Communications**. The page address is `/settings/communications/email-accounts`. New mailboxes are added on the **Connect** tab. ## Before you start - Your admin has to give your role permission to manage mailbox connections. Without it, the provider cards are greyed out and say **You do not have permission to connect inboxes.** - Have the sign-in for the mailbox itself ready. Nova connects exactly the address you type, and before every trip to Microsoft it tells you which account to sign in with. A shared mailbox with no sign-in of its own (support@, info@) is connected through one of its members instead; see [[connect-a-microsoft-shared-mailbox]]. - A personal Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live or MSN address never needs anyone's approval. - A work address on Microsoft 365 may need a one-time approval from your company's Microsoft administrator, the person who creates email addresses for the company (often the IT company). Nova asks about this before you go anywhere. ## Steps 1. On the **Connect** tab, under **Connect a mailbox**, select the **Microsoft** card. It covers business Microsoft 365 mailboxes and personal Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and MSN addresses. The **Connect mailbox** panel opens. 2. Type the address in **Mailbox to connect**, the way you sign in to it. 3. Read the list under **Permissions**. These are the things Microsoft will ask you to allow. 4. Under **Inbox type**, choose **Regular inbox** for everyday mail, or **Support inbox** if messages to this address should become tickets. For a support inbox, also choose under **Support launch**: **Not creating tickets yet** to review the setup first, or **Create tickets now**. 5. Leave **Sync mailbox on success** on so mail starts arriving as soon as the mailbox is connected. 6. Look at the progress strip below: **Mailbox**, then **Company approval** (only when your company needs it), **Sign in as the mailbox** and **Done**. It follows you to Microsoft and back. 7. Under the strip, Nova says what it found about the address. A personal address shows **Personal Microsoft account. No administrator approval is needed.** A company that already approved Nova shows its name followed by "already approved Nova. One sign-in and you are done." Otherwise Nova asks **Are you the Microsoft 365 administrator for this company?** 8. If Nova asked, choose **Yes, I'm the administrator**, **No, someone else is** or **I'm not sure**. Until you answer, the button at the bottom stays greyed out with **Answer the administrator question to continue.** 9. Read the card headed **Before you go to Microsoft**. Under **Use this account** it names the exact account to sign in with, then lists what Microsoft will show and what to choose. When you answered **No, someone else is**, the card is headed **What happens next** instead, because nothing goes to Microsoft yet. 10. Select the button at the bottom of the panel. What it says, and what happens next, depends on your answer. Read the matching section below. ## Sign in as the mailbox This is the whole trip for a personal address, for a company that already approved Nova, and when you chose **I'm not sure**. 1. Select the button that reads Go to Microsoft and sign in as followed by your address. 2. At Microsoft, sign in as the mailbox itself, not an administrator account. If Microsoft shows a list of accounts, pick that address or choose "Use another account". Complete any check Microsoft asks for. 3. If Microsoft shows the permissions Nova needs, choose Accept. Microsoft brings you back to Nova. If Microsoft shows a page titled "Need admin approval" instead, choose "Return to the application without granting consent". Nova shows **Ask your Microsoft administrator** with a request you can send; follow [[microsoft-inbox-admin-consent]]. ## You are the administrator With **Yes, I'm the administrator** chosen, the card is headed **Before you go to Microsoft: approve Nova first** and the button reads **Go to Microsoft to approve Nova**. You make two trips: first sign in with your administrator account and accept for the company, then, back on the **Finish mailbox setup** page, select the button that reads Go to Microsoft and sign in as followed by the mailbox address and sign in as the mailbox itself. Approving does not connect your own administrator mailbox. The full walk is in [[microsoft-inbox-admin-consent]]. ## Someone else is the administrator With **No, someone else is** chosen, the button reads **Ask your Microsoft administrator**. Nothing goes to Microsoft. The panel closes and the **Connect** tab shows the prepared request under **Approval request**: type their address in **Administrator email** and select **Send email**, or use **Copy request link** and **Copy IT email** to send it yourself. Nova emails you when they approve, with a link that lands on the sign-in step. What the administrator sees is in [[microsoft-inbox-admin-consent]]. ## What you see After the mailbox sign-in, Microsoft brings you back to the **Finish mailbox setup** page. After a moment it shows **Connected**, with the strip on **Done**, and says mail from the address starts arriving in about a minute. Select **Open Email Accounts**: the mailbox is listed under **Connected inboxes** on the **Inboxes** tab. Its status reads **Sync queued**, then **Importing recent mail** while the newest mail comes in; older mail keeps importing in the background. The badge beside its name reads **Syncing**, then **Healthy**. If it ever reads **Needs reconnecting** or **Sync stopped**, see [[fix-an-inbox-that-stopped-syncing]]. For a **Support inbox**, Nova opens **Support inbox setup** instead, so you can finish the ticket workflow. [[route:/settings/communications/email-accounts|Open Email Accounts]] ## If something looks different - **Not done yet: wrong account**: you signed in at Microsoft with a different account than the one in **Mailbox to connect**. Nothing was connected. Select the button that reads Go to Microsoft and sign in as followed by the right address. If the account you used is the one you meant to connect, select the link that reads Connect followed by that address and "instead". - The screen says Nova is approved for your company, followed by "One more step": you signed in with the administrator account when Nova asked for the mailbox. That account was not connected, and that is expected. Select the sign-in button and choose the mailbox this time. - **Ask your Microsoft administrator**: your company only lets an administrator approve a new app like Nova. Nothing was connected yet. Follow [[microsoft-inbox-admin-consent]]. - **You cancelled at Microsoft**: nothing changed. Select **Start mailbox setup again** when you are ready. - **Your company's Microsoft security rules blocked this sign-in**: see [[microsoft-inbox-conditional-access]]. - **Microsoft needs an extra sign-in check**: finish the verification step at Microsoft, then try again. See [[microsoft-inbox-mfa-required]]. - **Microsoft would not sign this account in**: check the address and password, or ask your administrator whether the account is blocked. See [[microsoft-inbox-account-troubleshooting]]. - **Nova's Microsoft setup needs attention** or **Microsoft returned an error**: not something you can fix here. Open **Error details**, select **Copy support info** and send it to Nova support. See [[microsoft-inbox-app-configuration]]. - **This sign-in link has expired**: you took too long at Microsoft, or reopened an old tab. Select **Start mailbox setup again**. - The **Microsoft** card is greyed out with **Inbox limit reached for this organization.** or **Microsoft inbox connections are disabled.**: your organization cannot add another Microsoft mailbox right now. Ask your admin. - A mailbox that was connected before now shows **Needs reconnecting** on its card: the sign-in stopped working because a password changed, access was revoked or the approval expired. Press **Reconnect** in the card header and sign in as the mailbox again; the steps above apply. See [[fix-an-inbox-that-stopped-syncing]].