Sign-in codes expire after a short time. If you see "Your sign-in code expired. Sign in again to get a new code.", click Sign into August again and approve access promptly in the browser.
Outlook Add-In Overview
The August Outlook Add-in puts August in a task pane next to the email you have open. Ask about the message and its attachments, draft a reply, update the draft you're writing, and search your mailbox, all without leaving Outlook. It uses the same projects, sources, and chat history as the August web app.
How the Add-in Differs from the Outlook Integration
The add-in and the Microsoft Outlook Integration work together, and you need both for the full experience:
Outlook Integration: connects your Microsoft mailbox to August, so Assistant can search mail, read saved messages and attachments, create drafts, send, and organize your mailbox. You set it up once in the August web app.
Outlook Add-in: runs August inside Outlook and knows which email you have open or which draft you're writing. It reads unsaved text in the compose window, which the integration can't see, and uses the integration for everything else.
Without a connected mailbox, the add-in can still work with a draft open in the compose window, but it can't read the email you have open, search your mailbox, or create and send drafts.
Installation and System Requirements
How to Install
If your firm deploys add-ins centrally, August may already appear in Outlook. Otherwise, install it yourself:
In Outlook, open Get Add-ins.
Search for "August for Outlook" and click Add.
Open an email, or start a new message or reply.
Select the August button. In Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows, it can be in the apps menu of the message toolbar.
Sign in with your August account (see below).
You can also install it from the August for Outlook listing on Microsoft Marketplace.
Installing the add-in from one Outlook client adds it to your mailbox, so it also appears in your other supported Outlook clients.
Deploy for Your Firm (Administrators)
Microsoft 365 administrators can deploy the add-in to users or groups through centralized deployment in the Microsoft 365 admin center (Integrated apps). When uploading a custom app, use the manifest at https://outlook.august.law/manifest.xml. Users then see August in Outlook without installing it themselves.
System Requirements
Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
Outlook client | Outlook on the web, Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Windows, or Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Mac. The Outlook mobile apps aren't supported. |
Mailbox | A Microsoft 365 mailbox that allows add-ins. Shared and delegated mailboxes aren't supported. |
Mac | On Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Mac, sign-in needs Safari 16.4 or newer, so keep macOS up to date. |
Outlook Integration | Your mailbox connected in August, using the same mailbox you have open in Outlook. See Microsoft Outlook Integration. |
Connection | Active internet connection required |
Account | Active August subscription |
Signing In
You sign in through your regular web browser, so you can use the August session you already have there.
In the task pane, click Sign into August. Your browser opens the August sign-in page.
Sign in to August if you aren't already, then approve access for the add-in.
Return to Outlook. The task pane opens your Personal project once you approve; you don't need to close the browser tab.
If the browser doesn't open, click Sign in manually. The task pane shows a link and a sign-in code: open the link in any browser, enter the code, and approve access. Click Cancel or Back to stop and start over with a new code.
You stay signed in when you close and reopen the task pane. To sign out, open the account menu (your initials or photo in the top right of the task pane) and select Sign out. Signing out of the add-in doesn't sign you out of August in your browser.
The Task Pane
The top of the task pane holds three controls, and the message box sits at the bottom.
Control | What it does |
|---|---|
Project selector | Chooses the August project the chat belongs to, starting with Personal. Sources and file searches come from the selected project. |
Chat history | Lists the selected project's chats. Click Load more for older ones. |
Account menu | Shows the account you're signed in with, plus Settings and Sign out. |
Pin the Task Pane
Click Outlook's pin icon on the task pane to keep August open as you move between emails. A pinned pane follows the email you select. Pinning is set separately for reading and for composing, so pin it in each if you want it in both.
Settings
Select Settings in the account menu to change two personal preferences, which also apply in the August web app:
Theme: Light, Dark, or System.
Submit with ⌘ + Enter (Ctrl + Enter on Windows): when on, Enter adds a new line instead of sending.
Chats and Projects
Each chat belongs to the project chosen in the project selector, and it's saved there like any other August chat. Switching projects takes you to that project's home and clears the message you were typing and any selected sources.
Choose a chat in Chat history to reopen it in the task pane. Older chats that the add-in can't display open in the August web app instead. For deeper work across many documents, use Assistant in the main August workspace.
Core Capabilities
Work with the Email You Have Open
When you send a message, August notes which email is open and can read it, including its sender, recipients, body, and attachment list. Ask things like "Summarize this thread and list the open questions" or "What deadlines does this email mention?"
August can also search the rest of your mailbox and read full conversations, so you can ask about earlier messages in the thread or related correspondence. If you pin the task pane and select another email, your next message uses the newly selected email.
Review Attachments
Ask August to review an attachment on the open email. It asks before saving attachments, with two choices:
Import to August saves the attachments as August documents you can use again.
Just read them this turn lets August read them for this answer only.
Files over 50 MB and cloud-linked attachments can't be imported. For more on attachments, see Microsoft Outlook Integration.
Draft a Reply
While reading an email, ask August to draft a reply, for example "Draft a reply accepting the extension and confirming the new date." August saves the reply as a draft in your mailbox, threaded with the original and with the earlier messages quoted, and shows it in the chat as a Reply draft card.
The draft doesn't open automatically, and you stay on the email you were reading. Open it from your Drafts folder, or ask August to open it in Outlook. August can also draft new emails and forwards the same way.
Edit the Draft You're Writing
Open August from a new message, reply, or forward to work on the draft in front of you, including text you haven't saved yet. August reads the draft's subject, recipients, body, and attachment names when it needs them, without asking.
Ask for changes such as "Tighten the second paragraph" or "Add Jane to Cc." August proposes each change in a card, and nothing changes in your draft until you approve it:
Update this draft changes the body, subject, or recipients. August replaces only the text it names, so your signature and the quoted earlier messages stay as they are.
Save this draft saves the draft to your Drafts folder without sending it.
August can see the names of attachments you've added to an unsaved draft, but not their contents. Save the draft first, then ask August to read the attachments.
Use August Sources and Research
The message box works like the one in the August web app:
Click Add to attach sources with Add from folders, Add tabular reviews, Add agents, or Add playbooks, or upload a file with Upload files.
Type
@to mention a file in the selected project, or/to pick a Skill.Choose Auto to let August pick its tools, or Manual to choose them from the Create, Research, and Integrations menus.
Use dictation to speak your message, and Improve to refine your prompt before you send it.
In Manual mode, turn on Outlook in the Integrations menu, or August won't use the open email or your mailbox in that chat. Integrations that aren't connected yet must be connected in the August web app.
Citations to emails open the message in Outlook. Citations to documents open a preview inside the task pane, and web citations open in your browser.
Approving Actions
August asks before it sends email, changes your mailbox, or changes anything in Outlook. Each request appears as a card that names the action and its target, and nothing happens until you choose.
Action | Your choices |
|---|---|
Send a draft | Send email or Keep draft. The card shows the subject and every To, Cc, and Bcc recipient. If the draft changes after you approve, August asks again. |
Organize your mailbox | The named action, such as Archive email, Move email, Move to Deleted Items, Create Outlook folder, or Add attachment, or Cancel. |
Change or open items in Outlook | Approve or Decline on cards such as Update this draft, Save this draft, Open in Outlook, Open a new draft, or Open a reply. |
Sending is available unless your firm has turned it off; in that case August leaves the draft for you to send from Outlook. A successful send means Outlook accepted the email for sending, not that it was delivered. August never permanently deletes email: Move to Deleted Items can be undone from that folder, and it can't delete folders.
Limitations
Shared and delegated mailboxes: August works only with the mailbox connected to your August account. It can't act on email in a shared or delegated mailbox, or in a different account from the one connected.
Mobile: the add-in doesn't run in the Outlook mobile apps.
Pop-out compose windows: if you open a draft in its own window, Outlook may show August as unavailable there. Work on the draft in the main Outlook window instead.
Selected text: August works with the whole draft. It can't act on text you highlight.
Draft attachments: August can add an August document smaller than 3 MB to a saved draft.
Not covered: calendar and scheduling, mailbox rules, local PST files, and the Online Archive.
Troubleshooting
Sign-in says my code expired
Sign-in was declined or didn't finish
"Sign-in was declined. You can try again when you’re ready." means access was denied in the browser; click Sign into August and approve it this time. "We couldn’t complete sign-in. Check your connection and try again." usually means a network problem. If the browser never opens, use Sign in manually.
Outlook on Mac says to update macOS or my browser
"Update macOS or your browser to use August sign-in. Safari 16.4 or newer is required." means Outlook is using an older version of Safari's engine. Update macOS, restart Outlook, and sign in again.
I'm asked to sign in again
"Your session expired. Sign in again to continue." appears when your August session can no longer be renewed. If you see "We couldn’t save your session in this add-in. Allow website storage or restart Outlook, then sign in again.", your browser or Outlook is blocking website storage for the add-in; allow it, restart Outlook, and sign in.
The task pane says Office or Outlook didn't load
For "Office could not load. Check your connection and reopen the add-in." or "Outlook did not connect. Reopen this add-in from an email in Outlook.", close the task pane, select an email, and open August again.
August can't read the email I have open
Check that Outlook is connected in August under My profile > Integrations, and that the active mailbox there is the same one you're using in Outlook. In Manual mode, also turn on Outlook in the Integrations menu. Email in a shared or delegated mailbox can't be read.
August says the draft changed
If you keep typing while August prepares an edit, you may see "The draft was edited. Read it again before applying changes." Ask August to try again so it works from your latest text. If you see "Some draft changes were applied, but Outlook could not confirm the complete update.", check the draft before asking for more changes.
Outlook did not respond or confirm a change
"Outlook did not respond. Reopen the add-in and try again." means Outlook didn't answer in time. "Outlook did not confirm the change. Check the draft before trying again." means the change may or may not have been applied, so check the draft before you approve the same change again.
I can't find the August button
Open an email or a compose window first; the button appears only on messages. In Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows, look in the message toolbar's apps menu. If it's still missing, check that the add-in is installed for the mailbox you're using, then restart Outlook.
When to Use the Outlook Add-In
Use the Outlook Add-In when:
You want a summary or answer about the email in front of you
You need a reply drafted from the thread and your August documents
You're writing an email and want help revising it in place
You want to review an attachment without downloading it first
What to Read Next
Microsoft Outlook Integration to connect your mailbox
Word Add-In Overview to use August inside Word
Assistant Overview for working across documents in the web app
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