Retrofit missing functions in Microsoft Outlook and adapt Outlook optimally to your requirements – with free add-ons. We introduce the best Outlook plugins. Update.
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With clever Outlook plug-ins and add-ons, you can significantly expand the functionality of Microsoft Outlook. Many extensions are even available free of charge.
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Microsoft Outlook is the backbone of communication for many private users and in many offices – as a mail client, for scheduling and managing your contact details. Many users are still using older versions of Microsoft Office and Outlook. Why not? So save yourself the money for a new Office version and upgrade an older Outlook with smart extensions / add-ins instead.
You can expand the already impressive range of functions of Microsoft Outlook with a wealth of plugins and addons and adapt them to your needs. Many of these plugins for Outlook are
even available for free,
In some cases, the free add-ons may only be used free of charge for private use. If necessary, read the terms and conditions before using an Outlook plug-in in a professional environment to see whether you can actually use the desired add-on free of charge in your specific situation.
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Under File, Options, Add-Ins you can see which Outlook plug-ins you have installed.
Would you like to know which extensions are already installed in your Outlook? No problem: under “File, Options, Add-Ins” you can immediately see which Outlook plug-ins you have already installed.
Free add-ons for Outlook are available in these formats
A number of add-ons are made available for download as EXE files. To install the Outlook add-on, start the EXE as usual with a double click and then follow the installation routine. After the installation has been completed, you should look for a menu item such as “Options” or “Settings” in the Outlook interface in order to optimally adapt the plug-in to your needs.
Another format for Outlook plugins is the simple text format hol – this can be used, for example, to provide calendar data. The easiest way to integrate data in hol format in Outlook is to copy the relevant hol file into the correct subfolder in Outlook – more on this later. The ics format is also occasionally found in Outlook add-ons. This is an iCal format that is also used for the exchange of calendar data. iCal / ics data are heaved into Outlook via the menu “File, Import, Import iCalendar file”.
Outlook add-ons are available for free and for a fee
Extensions / plugins / addons for Outlook are in abundance, both paid and free. We present a few on this and the following pages
really practical, sometimes downright ingenious free plugins for Outlook,
which either make day-to-day work with Microsoft Outlook significantly easier and save time and / or are sometimes even fun.
Do not rush to install Outlook add-ons
Don’t immediately install every free addon you come across while browsing the internet. With each installed add-on, your Microsoft Outlook becomes heavier, sometimes starts more slowly and reacts more slowly to inputs. In addition, with every plugin there is the possibility that the add-on does not work properly and in the worst case even disrupts or prevents the operation of Outlook. Before installing, think carefully about whether the Outlook plug-in you want really makes sense for you.
Notice:
Not all of the Outlook extensions presented here are compatible with Outlook 2013 or Office 365. Be sure to observe the manufacturer’s system requirements. However, you can make an older Outlook version even more powerful with these enhancements.
Are you having problems with Outlook? Your Outlook client cannot establish a connection to the Office 365 server and therefore you cannot retrieve any mail? In this case, you can use the free Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365 to start an error analysis.
Enough of the preface, let’s start with our compilation of the best free plugins for Outlook.
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With the help of the Xing Connector for Outlook, all your contacts in Outlook stay up to date.
Xing for Outlook
With this extremely useful Outlook extension (which replaces the old Xing Connector) you can import all your Xing contacts into Outlook. The advantage is obvious: as soon as something changes in the data of one of your Xing contacts, the corresponding entry is updated in Outlook. This means that your contacts in Outlook are always up-to-date. On top of that, you now always have a profile picture in front of each contact in Outlook – namely the one from their Xing profile.
Download: Xing for Outlook 2013 or later, Outlook 2016 for Mac or later.
NoReplyAll add-in
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Prevent wrong rounds
The NoReplyAll add-in prevents inadvertent “all-reply” e-mails to circulars by deactivating the “all-reply” function (ReplyAll) at the recipient’s request. In addition, it prevents the e-mail from being forwarded. The extension comes from Microsoft and is suitable for Outlook versions 2007, 2010 and 2013. Not suitable for Outlook 2016.
Download: NoReplyAll
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The freeware NK2Edit lets you edit the automatically saved mail addresses of Microsoft Outlook.
Extra tip: NK2Edit improves the auto-complete function
NK2Edit from NirSoft is not an add-on, but an independent freeware program. If you use Microsoft Outlook and enter an email address, this will be saved for auto-complete. The next time you type in the first few letters, Outlook will give you suggestions for automatically completing the address. You can edit, delete, or add new ones with the free tool NK2Edit 3.40. With the freeware, you can edit the address type, the actual address, the displayed name, the search string and the ad type, among other things.
Download: NK2Edit