Salesforce Outlook and Gmail Integration for Small Teams: Setup, What Breaks, and Whether to Turn On Einstein Activity Capture

Which Salesforce email integration do you actually need?

Most teams of 5 to 30 need the Outlook or Gmail integration, included with every current Sales edition, plus a decision on Einstein Activity Capture; Inbox is a separate licence. Per Salesforce's comparison page (as at September 2026), the integration's "side panel shows Salesforce records that match an address in open emails or events"; with Einstein Activity Capture, emails and events "are automatically added to the activity timeline of related Salesforce records". Figures: as at 12 September 2026.

Option	What it logs	Reportable in Salesforce?	Retention	Cost and edition as published	Best for
Outlook Integration (add-in)	Emails, events and contacts the rep relates from the side panel	Yes (feature table)	Ordinary records; count as data storage	Included in all six Sales editions (pricing page); help "Available in" Essentials, Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Developer; requirements page adds Starter	Teams that choose what to log
Gmail Integration	Same, via Chrome extension	Yes	As above	As above	Google Workspace with a company domain
Einstein Activity Capture	"Syncs emails, contacts, and events" automatically (comparison)	Only once synced as activity	Standard "6 months", paid "24 months" (retention page)	Standard "in Sales in Starter, Pro Suite, Professional, and Enterprise Editions"; full with Unlimited, Einstein 1 Sales or Agentforce 1, or Sales Engagement "$50 USD/User/Month (Billed annually)"	Capture everything, accept the storage rules
Salesforce Inbox	Nothing extra; adds "Availability, Send Later, Email Tracking, and Text Shortcuts"	As the integration	As the integration	"Unlimited, Einstein 1 Sales, and Agentforce 1 Sales Editions. Available for an extra cost in Professional and Enterprise Editions."; one licence per user; no salesforce.com price	Reps needing open tracking
Legacy: Salesforce for Outlook, Lightning Sync	Contacts, events, tasks; Lightning Sync has "No capture functionality" (comparison)	Standard reports	Ordinary records	Salesforce for Outlook retirement "scheduled on November 1, 2026", previously December 2027; Lightning Sync "retires in 2027"	Nobody new; migrate

What does each option cost, and which editions include it?

Nothing beyond your edition for the integration. Salesforce's US Sales pricing page (as at September 2026) marks "Email Integration with Gmail or Outlook" included for all six editions, Free Suite to Max; the "Additional $25 USD/user/month" nearby belongs to Web Services API on Pro Suite. "Activity Capture" is included from Starter Suite up. Help articles still say Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited; Salesforce's pricing pages now list Core, Advanced and Max above Pro Suite (as at September 2026), and no fetched page maps the names.

Einstein Activity Capture Standard is "Available with Einstein Activity Capture Standard in Sales in Starter, Pro Suite, Professional, and Enterprise Editions"; the full version comes "with Unlimited Edition, Einstein 1 Sales Edition, and Agentforce 1 Edition" or with Sales Engagement, listed at "$50 USD/User/Month (Billed annually)" and including Einstein Activity Capture. Inbox needs one licence per user; no fetched salesforce.com page publishes an Inbox price.

How do you set up the Outlook or Gmail integration?

Outlook "requires both server-side setup and a short client-side setup procedure" (overview); Gmail is a toggle plus a Chrome extension.

Outlook. With Customize Application, per the turn-on article: "From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Outlook, and then select Outlook Integration and Sync. Enable Let users access Salesforce records from Outlook." Keep Enhanced Email on, or "emails are associated as tasks" (considerations). Users get the add-in from Microsoft AppSource or via Centralized Deployment.

What Microsoft needs. System requirements (as at September 2026): "Exchange Online with Office 365" or "Exchange 2019, 2016, or 2013 on-premises". Clients: Outlook on the web; "Office on Mac, version 16.89 (Build 24090815) or later"; "Office on Windows (Microsoft 365 subscription), version 2409 (Build 18025.20000) or later", with separate minimums for perpetual licences. "Personal Outlook.com, Hotmail, and Live accounts are not supported" (knowledge article, 29 May 2026). Shared mailboxes: "Only shared folders, which provide delegate access to an inbox or calendar, are supported. Outlook shared mailboxes aren't supported in Microsoft add-ins." (help).

Gmail. With Customize Application, per the turn-on article: "select Gmail Integration and Sync. Enable and expand Let users access Salesforce records from Gmail." Reps install the Salesforce extension from the Chrome Web Store. Requirements: "Gmail, available as part of Google Workspace, and a unique email domain in this format: @yourcompanyname.com", and "Ensure that the Block third-party cookies option isn't selected".

Why does the Outlook or Gmail integration stop working?

Usually a Microsoft-side change or a broken rule above. Salesforce: "The Outlook integration is built on the Microsoft Office add-in framework. Microsoft develops and maintains that framework and it's a non-SFDC application." Sources are Salesforce articles unless marked.

Symptom or error	Likely cause	Fix	Source
Banner: "Upcoming Microsoft changes might block access to this application."	Legacy Exchange Online tokens "turned off across all Microsoft 365 tenants" under Nested App Authentication (Microsoft)	A Microsoft 365 admin runs the Admin Consent Flow, which authorises the scopes for all users	KA 002723592 (18 Aug 2026)
"email server is unavailable" on a shared mailbox	"When automapping is turned off for a shared mailbox, Outlook Integration can fail to connect to it"	Turn auto-mapping on	KA 004633526 (18 Aug 2026)
"we couldn't validate the Exchange identity token"	The only official record "only occurs on Germany Cloud hosted (DE Hosted) Office365"	Check the Exchange server against KA 000383974	Known Issue W-4020213 (archived); reported by users; no Salesforce article
Side panel: "This email isn't available in Salesforce."	Email "participants don't have a record", an excluded address, or an email outside the capture window	Create the record, check the excluded list, allow "up to 24 hours"	KA 000381965; KA 000384895; connected accounts help
"Activities aren't being captured or synced from this account anymore."	Bad credentials, an alias, an expired password or a firewall; UPN, primary and Salesforce emails "must all match"	Reconnect; if it recurs, remove and reassign the Einstein Activity Capture permission set licence	KA 000391950; KA 000380445

Should a small team turn on Einstein Activity Capture?

Yes for most teams, accepting three things: captured email lives outside Salesforce until synced, synced email counts against data storage, and the switch is one way. Captured email is not a Salesforce record (knowledge article, 20 August 2026), and on older setups "The data appears on activity timelines, but it isn't available to reports or other platform tools." (how it works).

Sync Email as Salesforce Activity. Per the Spring '26 note, it "was introduced as a default setting for Einstein Activity Capture in Summer '25", and Spring '26 added "an option in Setup to update Einstein Activity Capture and migrate previously captured email to Salesforce activity data." The Summer '26 note: "If you don't complete the process yourself, we automatically update Einstein Activity Capture and migrate your email.", with notifications "on a rolling basis starting early June 2026". There is no rollback. Once on, "standard activity reports automatically include captured email data" (considerations).

Storage. Same page: "With the synced email and tasks stored in Salesforce, they're subject to your org's data storage limits." The storage page lists 10 GB of data storage plus 20 MB per user licence for Professional and Enterprise ("a Professional Edition org with 10 users receives 10 GB of data storage, plus 200 MB, for 10.2 GB of total data storage") and 10 GB for Starter; email messages, events and tasks count. Unmatched email "won't be created as a Task or EmailMessage record", attachments are not stored, and Archive "is available at an additional charge." Our AI-ready data checklist covers what to clean first.

Retention and deletion. Retention: Standard "The default is 6 months. The amount can range from 3 to 6 months."; with any paid licence, "24 months by default". The knowledge article's wording is "6 months (for Google) or 6–12 months (for Microsoft", depending on licence. The admin deletion tool works "from the Activity Platform Hyperforce infrastructure, not from the Salesforce platform"; synced emails are ordinary records.

What is the Microsoft Graph deadline and what do you have to do?

Microsoft's Exchange Online page (updated 4 September 2026): "October 2026: EWS starts to be disabled globally for all organizations." and "April 2027: EWS is fully disabled." Salesforce's current help article: "If you set up Einstein Activity Capture to use Microsoft Office 365 before Spring '26, upgrade to Microsoft Graph by October 1, 2026 to avoid service disruption." The Summer '26 release note had said "by August 3, 2026"; we report both.

Connections made from Spring '26 already use Graph. For older ones, the Microsoft admin running the Setup upgrade needs "Global Admin, Cloud Application Admin, or Application Admin". The missed step: "Each user must reconnect their account, or their email, event, and contact data stops syncing". Lightning Sync on EWS "won't capture or sync data after EWS retires in October 2026" and must move to Graph before it can migrate.

The add-in differs: a knowledge article says EWS "is required for Salesforce Inbox and Outlook Integration to connect", while the Exchange article allows a no-public-EWS setup without Inbox, and Salesforce has published no statement that the add-in stops in October 2026. Context: our Winter '27 integrations post and Winter '27 sales post.

What do we recommend by team size?

Up to 5 users. The integration, plus Einstein Activity Capture via Starter Suite's guided setup. Nothing to buy.

5 to 15 users. Add Einstein Activity Capture Standard; exclude internal domains first; skip Inbox unless someone names the feature they need.

15 to 30 users. Same base; Sales Engagement at $50 USD per user per month (billed annually) adds full Einstein Activity Capture and Cadences.

Anyone on Salesforce for Outlook or Lightning Sync. Salesforce for Outlook is now scheduled to retire on 1 November 2026, so move now, Graph upgrade first; our integration service covers audit, upgrade, Microsoft consent and migration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Einstein Activity Capture free? Standard is included with Sales in Starter, Pro Suite, Professional and Enterprise editions (as at September 2026); the full version needs Unlimited, Einstein 1 Sales, Agentforce 1 or Sales Engagement at $50 USD per user per month, billed annually.

Why did the Salesforce Outlook add-in stop working after a Microsoft update? Microsoft has turned off the legacy Exchange Online tokens the add-in used, moving to Nested App Authentication. Users see a banner to notify their Salesforce admin; a Microsoft 365 admin fixes it with the Admin Consent Flow. Exchange on-premises is unaffected.

Does the Outlook integration work with a shared mailbox? Not as a mailbox. Only shared folders with delegate access are supported, on Exchange Online with auto-mapping on, not in Outlook on Mac, and emails log under your own user. Einstein Activity Capture does not support shared accounts.

Can I report on emails captured by Einstein Activity Capture? Only once synced as Salesforce activity; captured email is not created as records, so older setups show it on timelines but not in reports. With Sync Email as Salesforce Activity on, standard activity reports include it.

What happens if I do nothing before October 2026? Microsoft starts disabling EWS in October 2026 and fully disables it in April 2027. Salesforce says to upgrade pre-Spring '26 Microsoft 365 connections to Microsoft Graph by 1 October 2026, then each user must reconnect; Lightning Sync on EWS stops syncing.

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Still on EWS, or facing the Sync Email migration? Our integration service audits the connection and runs the Graph upgrade before October.