Connect your Outlook or Microsoft 365 mailbox
WardOps reads the operations emails in your mailbox and sends replies from it. Connecting takes about two minutes. For a company mailbox on Microsoft 365, your IT admin may need to approve WardOps once.
Before you start
- Which mailbox: the one your team runs shipments from, for example
ops@yourcompany.com. You sign in as that mailbox, so you need its password and your usual sign-in check, such as an authenticator app. - Who can connect: a WardOps user with the Admin or Operations role.
- Personal or company account: Outlook.com and Hotmail addresses connect directly. Microsoft 365 mailboxes connect the same way, unless your company only lets apps approved by its IT admin read email (see Step 4).
Step 1: Open Mailboxes in WardOps
In WardOps, go to Admin → Mailboxes and select Connect Outlook.
Step 2: Sign in with Microsoft
Microsoft's sign-in page opens. Choose the mailbox account, or select Use another account, and sign in.
Step 3: Review and accept the permissions
Microsoft lists what WardOps asks for. Select Accept.
| Permission | Why WardOps needs it |
|---|---|
| Read your mail | To read operations emails and their attachments |
| Send mail as you | To send replies and notices from this mailbox |
| Maintain access to data you have given it access to | To keep reading new emails without asking you to sign in again |
| Sign you in and read your profile | To learn the mailbox address |
Microsoft may show the app as unverified. This label is about how the app publisher is registered with Microsoft; it does not change what WardOps can access.
Step 4: If you see "Need admin approval"
Many companies let only apps approved by their IT admin read email. Microsoft then shows Need admin approval instead of the permissions.
- In WardOps, under Admin → Mailboxes, select Copy admin approval link and send the link to your IT admin.
- Your admin opens the link, signs in with an admin account (for example Global Administrator, Cloud Application Administrator or Application Administrator), reviews the permissions and selects Accept. This approves WardOps for your company; each person still connects only their own mailbox.
- Back in WardOps, select Connect Outlook again.
If WardOps is already listed in your company's app list, your admin can also approve it in the Microsoft Entra admin center: Entra ID → Enterprise apps → All applications → WardOps → Permissions → Grant admin consent.
Step 5: Check the connection
Back in WardOps you see Mailbox connected, and the mailbox is listed as Connected. The first sync reads the operations emails of the last 14 days; after that, new emails are picked up automatically.
What WardOps does with your mailbox
- Opens only emails that look like operations mail: a shipping term or a container number in the subject or the first lines. Newsletters and personal emails are not opened, and their attachments are not downloaded.
- Does not mark emails as read, move them or delete them.
- Sends replies and notices from this mailbox within the automation settings you choose. Sent emails appear in your Sent Items.
- Keeps the access it receives from Microsoft encrypted. It is never shown in the app.
Disconnect
In Admin → Mailboxes, select Disconnect. WardOps stops reading and sending right away and deletes the stored access. Your IT admin can also remove WardOps from your company's apps in the Microsoft Entra admin center.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Need admin approval | Send your IT admin the approval link (Step 4). |
| The mailbox was not connected (permission not given) | The permissions screen was closed or declined. Select Connect Outlook again and accept. |
| The mailbox shows an error after a password change | Microsoft ended the access. Select Connect Outlook again. |
| Emails are read but replies are not sent | The permission to send mail was not approved. Ask your admin to approve with the link (Step 4), then connect again. |
| Your team works from a shared mailbox without its own sign-in | Shared mailboxes cannot be connected yet. Connect a user mailbox, or redirect the shared mailbox's email to one. |
| Your email is with a hosting company, Yandex, Yahoo or iCloud | Use Connect via IMAP in the same screen instead. See the IMAP setup guide. |
Questions? Write to us at saturdayonlinesolutions@gmail.com.