Salesforce for Outlook Is Retiring

Salesforce for Outlook product retirement has been rescheduled for June 2023. The side panel action menu (also known as the New Record button) stops functioning in Summer ’21.

Salesforce for Outlook is an app that automatically syncs contacts, events, and tasks between Outlook and Salesforce. It gives you the ability to see Salesforce contacts and leads related to your Outlook emails. Basically, this app gives you the visibility to see relevant Salesforce data when you’re are looking at email in your Outlook.

What is Changing?

Salesforce has announced that Salesforce for Outlook will retire in June 2023 when Lightning Experience ends extended support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11. Lucky for you, Salesforce has been at work creating the next generation of Microsoft integration products, which include the Outlook integration and Einstein Activity Capture.

Why is this change happening?

Technical Explanation

Salesforce for Outlook has relied on Lightning Experience to interpret APEX calls made from Internet Explorer 11. There are limitations for Salesforce Classic to interpret APEX Calls. On the back end, Lightning Experiences is relied upon with Salesforce for Outlook for both users working in Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic. Since Lightning Experience extended support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, all Apex calls made to Salesforce will be blocked in order to maintain the end of Internet Explorer 11 product support. At that point, the call will be blocked to Salesforce for Outlook too.

Nontechnical explanation

As of Winter 2019, Salesforce for Outlook entered a maintenance-only phase that prevented new users from using Salesforce for Outlook. When Lightning Experience ends extended support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, Salesforce for Outlook can no longer function.

How will organizations be impacted?

After June 2023, admins and users will no longer have access to Salesforce for Outlook features of settings. There will be no impact on a customer’s existing contact, event, task, or email data.

How to Identify Impacted Users?

If you are a Salesforce admin in your organization you can refer to the Salesforce for Outlook login history report to see who has logged in during the last 6 months. You can also check the Outlook configuration assignments to see a comprehensive list of users that are assigned to sync, access the side panel and more in Salesforce for Outlook.

Next Generation Microsoft Integration products

Are you sad that Salesforce for Outlook is entering retirement? I’m not! Take a look at these two excellent replacements!

Salesforce Outlook Integration

This integration contains a lot of similar features as Salesforce for Outlook. The Outlook integration lets users work with Salesforce records and certain Salesforce features while in their Outlook email or calendar. This integration is meant to replace the Salesforce for Outlook side panel and even offers more features that Salesforce for Outlook does not.

• Users can now log Outlook emails to Salesforce as actual emails, no longer logging emails as tasks
• Customized Outlook integration panels can be made for different users. Admins can configure Lightning components to the panel and even download more components from the AppExchange.
• Users can draft Outlook emails using preconfigured Salesforce templates

Einstein Activity Capture

Einstein Activity Capture is meant to replace Outlook Sync. This tool syncs contacts and events between Outlook and Salesforce and offers a ton of new productivity-boosting features for users and admins.

• Einstein Email Insights gives users context to relevant emails and appears right alongside captured emails in the activity timeline.
• Display Outlook emails and events in the activity timeline of related Salesforce records automatically with email and event capture.
• Users can see a summary of sales activity from list views, page layouts, and reports with Activity Metrics. Admins can use these metrics to automate processes that are reoccurring among users.