How to integrate Outlook Mail (Office 365) with MS Access

Integrate MS Access and Outlook Mail (Office 365)

Learn how to quickly and efficiently connect Outlook Mail (Office 365) with MS Access for smooth data access.

Read and write Microsoft Outlook Mail (Office 365) data effortlessly. Send, manage, and sync messages, attachments, and folders — almost no coding required. You can do it all using the high-performance Outlook Mail (Office 365) ODBC Driver for MS Access (often referred to as the Outlook Mail (Office 365) Connector). We'll walk you through the entire setup.

Ready to dive in? Download the product to jump right in, or follow the step-by-step guide below to see how it works.

Outlook Mail (Office 365) ODBC Driver Powering this integration

High performance
Bidirectional
Low-code / No-code
Easy to use

Built on the ZappySys API Driver, the Outlook Mail (Office 365) ODBC Driver is a high-performance, low-code / no-code solution. It enables you to connect to Outlook Mail (Office 365) data without any coding right in your SQL Server, or any ODBC/JDBC application. Part of the ODBC PowerPack.

Documentation

Create data source using Outlook Mail (Office 365) ODBC Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from Outlook Mail (Office 365) using MS Access, we first need to create an ODBC data source. We will later read this data in MS Access. Perform these steps:

Download and install ODBC PowerPack (if you haven't already).
Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):
Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ZappySys API Driver driver:

ZappySys API Driver
- Create and use a User DSN if the client application runs under a User Account. This is the ideal option at design time (e.g., when developing in Visual Studio). Use it for both types of applications (64-bit and 32-bit).
- Create and use a System DSN if the client application runs under a System Account (e.g., as a Windows Service). This is usually the required option in a production environment. If your Windows Service is a 32-bit application, you must use the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure this
When the Configuration window appears give your data source a name if you haven't done that already, then select "Outlook Mail (Office 365)" from the list of Popular Connectors. If "Outlook Mail (Office 365)" is not present in the list, then click "Search Online" and download it. Then set the path to the location where you downloaded it. Finally, click Continue >> to proceed with configuring the DSN:

OutlookMailOffice365DSN

Outlook Mail (Office 365)

Now it's time to configure the Connection Manager. Select Authentication Type, e.g. Token Authentication. Then select API Base URL (in most cases, the default one is the right one). More info is available in the Authentication section.

User Credentials

Outlook Mail (Office 365) authentication

Use delegated access (User Credentials) whenever you want to let a signed-in user work with their own resources or resources they can access. Whether it's an admin setting up policies for their entire organization or a user deleting an email in their inbox, all scenarios involving user actions should use delegated access. [API reference]

Follow these simple steps below to create Microsoft Entra ID application with delegated access:

WARNING: If you are planning to automate processes, we recommend that you use a Application Credentials authentication method. In case, you still need to use User Credentials, then make sure you use a system/generic account (e.g. automation@my-company.com). When you use a personal account which is tied to a specific employee profile and that employee leaves the company, the token may become invalid and any automated processes using that token will start to fail.

Navigate to the Azure Portal and log in using your credentials.
Access Microsoft Entra ID.
Register a new application by going to App registrations and clicking on New registration button:
INFO: Find more information on how to register an application in Graph API reference.
When configuration window opens, configure these fields:
- Supported account type
  - Use Accounts in this organizational directory only, if you need access to data in your organization only.
- Redirect URI:
  - Set the type to Public client/native (mobile & desktop).
  - Use https://zappysys.com/oauth as the URL.
After registering the app, copy the Application (client) ID for later:
Then copy OAuth authorization endpoint (v2) & OAuth token endpoint (v2) URLs to use later in the configuration:
Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use the copied values in User Credentials authentication configuration:
- In the Authorization URL field paste the OAuth authorization endpoint (v2) URL value you copied in the previous step.
- In the Token URL field paste the OAuth token endpoint (v2) URL value you copied in the previous step.
- In the Client ID field paste the Application (client) ID value you copied in the previous step.
- In the Scope field use the default value or select individual scopes, e.g.:
  - email
  - offline_access
  - openid
  - profile
  - Mail.Read
  - Mail.Read.Shared
  - Mail.ReadBasic
  - Mail.ReadBasic.Shared
  - Mail.ReadWrite
  - Mail.ReadWrite.Shared
  - Mail.Send
  - Mail.Send.Shared
  - User.Read
  - User.ReadBasic.All
  - Group.Read.All
Press Generate Token button to generate Access and Refresh Tokens.
Optional step. Choose Default User Id from the drop down menu (if someone shared a mailbox with you).
Click Test Connection to confirm the connection is working.
Done! Now you are ready to use the API Connector!

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

Set Authentication Type to User Credentials [OAuth]
Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
Press Generate Token button to generate the tokens.
Finally, hit OK button:

OutlookMailOffice365DSN

Outlook Mail (Office 365)

User Credentials [OAuth]

https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0

Required Parameters
Authorization URL	Fill-in the parameter...
Token URL	Fill-in the parameter...
Client ID	Fill-in the parameter...
Scope	Fill-in the parameter...
Return URL	Fill-in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
Client Secret
Refresh Token File Path
Login Prompt Option
Default User Id (Select after clicking Generate Token)	me
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429\|503
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

Application Credentials

Outlook Mail (Office 365) authentication

Application-only access is broader and more powerful than delegated access (User Credentials), so you should only use app-only access where needed. Use it when: 1. The application needs to run in an automated way, without user input (for example, a daily script that checks emails from certain contacts and sends automated responses). 2. The application needs to access resources belonging to multiple different users (for example, a backup or data loss prevention app might need to retrieve messages from many different chat channels, each with different participants). 3. You find yourself tempted to store credentials locally and allow the app to sign in 'as' the user or admin. [API reference]

Follow these simple steps below to create Microsoft Entra ID application with application access permissions.

Navigate to the Azure Portal and log in using your credentials.
Access Microsoft Entra ID.
Register a new application by going to App registrations and clicking on New registration button:
INFO: Find more information on how to register an application in Graph API reference.
When configuration window opens, configure these fields:
- Supported account type
  - e.g. select Accounts in this organizational directory only if you need access to data in your organization only.
- Redirect URI:
  - Set the type to Public client/native (mobile & desktop).
  - Leave the URL field empty.
After registering the app, copy the Application (client) ID for later:
Then copy OAuth authorization endpoint (v2) & OAuth token endpoint (v2) URLs:
Continue and create Client secret:
Then copy the Client secret for later steps:
Continue by adding permissions for the app by going to the API permissions section, and clicking on Add a permission:
Select Microsoft Graph:
Then choose Application permissions option:
Continue by adding these Mail (Outlook) permissions:
Finish by clicking Add permissions button:
Now it's time to Grant admin consent for your application:
Confirm all the permissions are granted:
Now go to SSIS package or ODBC data source and use the copied values in Application Credentials authentication configuration:
- In the Token URL field paste the OAuth token endpoint (v2) URL value you copied in the previous step.
- In the Client ID field paste the Application (client) ID value you copied in the previous step.
- In the Client Secret field paste the Client secret value you copied in the previous step.
- Choose Default User Id from the drop down menu.
Click Test Connection to confirm the connection is working.
That's it! Now you can use the connector.

API Connection Manager configuration

Just perform these simple steps to finish authentication configuration:

Set Authentication Type to Application Credentials [OAuth]
Optional step. Modify API Base URL if needed (in most cases default will work).
Fill in all the required parameters and set optional parameters if needed.
Finally, hit OK button:

OutlookMailOffice365DSN

Outlook Mail (Office 365)

Application Credentials [OAuth]

https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0

Required Parameters
Token URL	Fill-in the parameter...
Client ID	Fill-in the parameter...
Client Secret	Fill-in the parameter...
Scope	Fill-in the parameter...
Default User Id	Fill-in the parameter...
Optional Parameters
RetryMode	RetryWhenStatusCodeMatch
RetryStatusCodeList	429\|503
RetryCountMax	5
RetryMultiplyWaitTime	True

Once the data source connection has been configured, it's time to configure the SQL query. Select the Preview tab and then click Query Builder button to configure the SQL query:

ZappySys API Driver - Outlook Mail (Office 365)

Read and write Microsoft Outlook Mail (Office 365) data effortlessly. Send, manage, and sync messages, attachments, and folders — almost no coding required.

OutlookMailOffice365DSN
Start by selecting the Table or Endpoint you are interested in and then configure the parameters. This will generate a query that we will use in MS Access to retrieve data from Outlook Mail (Office 365). Hit OK button to use this query in the next step.
```
SELECT * FROM MyMessages
```
Some parameters configured in this window will be passed to the Outlook Mail (Office 365) API, e.g. filtering parameters. It means that filtering will be done on the server side (instead of the client side), enabling you to get only the meaningful data much faster.
Now hit Preview Data button to preview the data using the generated SQL query. If you are satisfied with the result, use this query in MS Access:
ZappySys API Driver - Outlook Mail (Office 365)

Read and write Microsoft Outlook Mail (Office 365) data effortlessly. Send, manage, and sync messages, attachments, and folders — almost no coding required.

OutlookMailOffice365DSN
```
SELECT * FROM MyMessages
```
You can also access data quickly from the tables dropdown by selecting <Select table>.

A WHERE clause, LIMIT keyword will be performed on the client side, meaning that the whole result set will be retrieved from the Outlook Mail (Office 365) API first, and only then the filtering will be applied to the data. If possible, it is recommended to use parameters in Query Builder to filter the data on the server side (in Outlook Mail (Office 365) servers).
Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in Microsoft Access from the ODBC data source

First of all, open MS Access and create a new MS Access database.
In the next step, start loading ODBC data source we created:
Then click next until data source selection window appears. Select the data source we created in one of the previous steps and hit OK:

OutlookMailOffice365DSN
Continue with tables and views selection. You can extract multiple tables or views:
Finally, wait while data is being loaded and once done you should see a similar view:

Using Linked Table for Live Data (Slow)

Linked tables in Microsoft Access are crucial for online databases because they enable real-time access to centralized data, support scalability, facilitate collaboration, enhance data security, ease maintenance tasks, and allow integration with external systems. They provide a flexible and efficient way to work with data stored in online databases, promoting cross-platform compatibility and reducing the need for data duplication.

Real-Time Data Access:
Access can interact directly with live data in online databases, ensuring that users always work with the most up-to-date information.
Centralized Data Management:
Online databases serve as a centralized repository, enabling efficient management of data from various locations.
Ease of Maintenance:
Updates or modifications to the online database structure are automatically reflected in Access, streamlining maintenance tasks.
Adaptability to Changing Requirements:
Linked tables provide flexibility, allowing easy adaptation to changing data storage needs or migration to different online database systems.

Let's create the linked table.

Launch Microsoft Access and open the database where you want to create the linked table.
Go to the "External Data" tab on the Ribbon. >> "New Data Source" >> "From Other Sources" >> "ODBC Database"
Select the option "Link to Data Source by creating a linked table:
Continue by clicking 'Next' until the Data Source Selection window appears. Navigate to the Machine Data Source tab and select the desired data source established in one of the earlier steps. Click 'OK' to confirm your selection.

OutlookMailOffice365DSN
Proceed to the selection of Tables and Views. You have the option to extract multiple tables or views:
When prompted to select Unique Key column DO NOT select any column(s) and just click OK:
Finally, Simply double-click the newly created Linked Table to load the data:

Guide to Effectively Addressing Known Issues

Discover effective strategies to address known issues efficiently in this guide. Get solutions and practical tips to streamline troubleshooting and enhance system performance, ensuring a smoother user experience.

Fewer Rows Imported

The reason for this is that MS Access has a default query timeout of 60 seconds, which means it stops fetching data if the query takes longer than that. As a result, only a limited number of rows are fetched within this time frame.

To address this, we can adjust the Query Timeout by following the steps below.

The path may vary depending on the MS Access bitness, such as 32-bit versus 64-bit.

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\ODBC

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\ODBC

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines\ODBC

We can identify this issue by examining the Fiddler Log, as MS Access doesn't display any error regarding partial import, which is quite unusual

Please refer to this link : How to use Fiddler to analyze HTTP web requests

#Deleted word appears for column value in MS Access for Linked Table mode

If you used Linked Table mode to get external data and it shows #deleted word rather than actual value for column after you open then most likely its following issue.

Make sure to re-create Linked Table and DO NOT select any key column when prompted (Just click OK)
How to Fix

Table Selection UI Opening Delays

The Table selection UI takes a significant amount of time to open after clicking the 'New Data Source' -> 'Other Data Sources' -> 'ODBC'

The reason for this issue is that MS Access sends a dummy query, leading to several unnecessary pagination cycles before an error is thrown. To mitigate this, we can prevent wasted cycles by configuring the 'Throw error if no match' setting on the Filter Options Tab.

Enhancing Performance through Metadata Addition (Reduces Query Time)

We can optimize query performance by creating Virtual Tables (i.e. views with custom SQL) on Datasource and incorporating META=static columns. Learn how to capture static metadata in this guide.
Performance Options - Generate Metadata Manually

Execute the query initially, save the metadata by selecting 'Save to Meta' (choose Compact Format), and then click 'Save to Clipboard.' Utilize the resulting list by pasting it into the META attribute as follows: 'META=paste here.'

SELECT * FROM products
    WITH(
        META='id:String(20); title:String(100);  description:String(500);'
    )

Optimize Workflow with Automated Import

Employ Automated Import when Linked Tables are not feasible, and we need to depend on Imported Tables with static data.

While using Linked Tables sometime it encounter errors, and we are left with no alternative but to utilize Imported Tables, Automatic Refresh becomes crucial in such scenarios.

Here's a guide on automating refreshes. We can set up automatic refresh on different events, such as when the database opens, a form is opened, or a button is clicked.

To initiate the import process, follow these steps:

Perform the data import using the standard manual steps.
In the final step, we'll encounter a checkbox labeled 'Save Import Steps.' Ensure to check this option.
After saving the steps, we can locate their name in the Save Imports UI. Identify the name associated with the saved steps.
"Now, we can execute the code as shown below:"

Private Sub cmdYes_Click()
    Label0.Visible = True
    DoCmd.RunSavedImportExport "Import-DATA.products"
    Label0.Visible = False
End Sub

Optional: Centralized data access via ZappySys Data Gateway

In some situations, you may need to provide Outlook Mail (Office 365) data access to multiple users or services. Configuring the data source on a Data Gateway creates a single, centralized connection point for this purpose.

This configuration provides two primary advantages:

Centralized data access
The data source is configured once on the gateway, eliminating the need to set it up individually on each user's machine or application. This significantly simplifies the management process.
Centralized access control
Since all connections route through the gateway, access can be governed or revoked from a single location for all users.

	Data Gateway	Local ODBC data source
Simple configuration
Installation	Single machine	Per machine
Connectivity	Local and remote	Local only
Connections limit	Limited by License	Unlimited
Central data access
Central access control
More flexible cost

To achieve this, you must first create a data source in the Data Gateway (server-side) and then create an ODBC data source in MS Access (client-side) to connect to it.

Let's not wait and get going!

Create Outlook Mail (Office 365) data source in the gateway

In this section we will create a data source for Outlook Mail (Office 365) in the Data Gateway. Let's follow these steps to accomplish that:

Search for gateway in the Windows Start Menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway Configuration:
Go to the Users tab and follow these steps to add a Data Gateway user:
- Click the Add button
- In the Login field enter a username, e.g., john
- Then enter a Password
- Check the Is Administrator checkbox
- Click OK to save
Now we are ready to add a data source:
- Click the Add button
- Give the Data source a name (have it handy for later)
- Then select Native - ZappySys API Driver
- Finally, click OK
OutlookMailOffice365DSN

ZappySys API Driver
When the ZappySys API Driver configuration window opens, go back to ODBC Data Source Administrator where you already have the Outlook Mail (Office 365) ODBC data source created and configured, and follow these steps on how to Import data source configuration into the Gateway:
- Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Outlook Mail (Office 365)
  
  Read and write Microsoft Outlook Mail (Office 365) data effortlessly. Send, manage, and sync messages, attachments, and folders — almost no coding required.
  
  OutlookMailOffice365DSN
- The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard:
- Then go to Data Gateway configuration and in data source configuration window click Load settings:
  
  OutlookMailOffice365DSN
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Configuration [Version: 2.0.1.10418]
  
  ZappySys API Driver - Outlook Mail (Office 365)
  
  Read and write Microsoft Outlook Mail (Office 365) data effortlessly. Send, manage, and sync messages, attachments, and folders — almost no coding required.
  
  OutlookMailOffice365DSN
- Once a window opens, just paste the settings by pressing CTRL+V or by clicking right mouse button and then Paste option.
Once done, go to the Network Settings tab and Add a firewall rule for inbound traffic:
- This will initially allow all inbound traffic.
- Click Edit IP filters to restrict access to specific IP addresses or ranges.
Crucial Step: After creating or modifying the data source, you must:
- Click the Save button to persist your changes.
- Hit Yes when prompted to restart the Data Gateway service.
This ensures all changes are properly applied:

Skipping this step may cause the new settings to fail, preventing you from connecting to the data source.

Create ODBC data source to connect to the gateway

In this part we will create an ODBC data source to connect to the ZappySys Data Gateway from MS Access. To achieve that, let's perform these steps:

Search for odbc and open the ODBC Data Sources (64-bit):
Create a User data source (User DSN) based on the ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver:

ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server

If you don't see the ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server driver in the list, choose a similar version.
Then set a Name for the data source (e.g. Gateway) and the address of the Data Gateway:

ZappySysGatewayDSN

localhost,5000

Make sure you separate the hostname and port with a comma, e.g. localhost,5000.
Proceed with the authentication part:
- Select SQL Server authentication
- In the Login ID field enter the user name you created in the Data Gateway, e.g., john
- Set Password to the one you configured in the Data Gateway
Then set the default database property to OutlookMailOffice365DSN (the one we used in the Data Gateway):

OutlookMailOffice365DSN

OutlookMailOffice365DSN

Make sure to type the data source name manually or copy/paste it directly into the field. Using the dropdown might fail because the Trust server certificate option is not enabled yet (next step).
Continue by checking the Trust server certificate option:
Once you do that, test the connection:
If the connection is successful, everything is good:
Done!

We are ready to move to the final step. Let's do it!

Access data in MS Access via the gateway

Finally, we are ready to read data from Outlook Mail (Office 365) in MS Access via the Data Gateway. Follow these final steps:

Go back to MS Access.
First of all, open MS Access and create a new MS Access database.
In the next step, start loading ODBC data source we created:
Then click next until data source selection window appears. Select the data source we created in one of the previous steps and hit OK:

ZappySysGatewayDSN
Read the data the same way we discussed at the beginning of this article.
That's it!

Now you can connect to Outlook Mail (Office 365) data in MS Access via the Data Gateway.

If you are asked for authentication details, use Database authentication, SQL authentication or Basic authentication option and enter the credentials you used when configuring the Data Gateway, e.g. john and your password.

Supported Outlook Mail (Office 365) Connector actions

Got a specific use case in mind? We've mapped out exactly how to perform a variety of essential Outlook Mail (Office 365) operations directly in MS Access, so you don't have to figure out the setup from scratch. Check out the step-by-step guides below:

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to Outlook Mail (Office 365) in MS Access and integrate data without writing complex code — all of this was powered by Outlook Mail (Office 365) ODBC Driver.

Download ODBC PowerPack now or ping us via chat if you have any questions or are looking for a specific feature (you can also reach out to us by submitting a ticket):

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