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Version: Current

Read Outlook Email

Description​

The Read Outlook Email activity retrieves emails from a Microsoft 365 (Outlook) mailbox using an Outlook connection.

This activity uses the Microsoft Graph API to read messages and can optionally mark them as read after processing.

Common settings​

Use Process Data to bind supported inputs to workflow values or upstream outputs. See Common Activity Features for shared execution, error-handling, and output-persistence settings. Availability depends on the activity.

Design-Time Configuration​

Display Text​

Specifies the activity's display name as shown on the workflow canvas.

Connection Name​

Specifies the Outlook (Microsoft 365) connection used to read emails.

Mail Folder​

Specifies the mail folder to read emails from (for example, Inbox, Sent Items, or Drafts).

  • If left empty, the default folder configured in the Outlook connection is used.
  • Default value: empty.

Max Messages​

Specifies the maximum number of messages to retrieve in a single execution.

  • Default value: 10
  • Minimum value: 1

Filters​

Provides advanced filtering criteria to retrieve specific emails.

For detailed information on configuring filters and expressions, see Email Filters.

note

The Number of Messages setting mentioned in the Email Filters documentation is not applicable to the Read IMAP Email activity.

Read Only Unread Mails​

Controls whether only unread emails are retrieved.

  • true – Retrieves only unread emails (IsRead = false)
  • false – Retrieves all emails

Default value: true

Mark As Read​

Controls whether emails processed by this activity are marked as read.

  • true – Sets IsRead = true using Microsoft Graph
  • false – Leaves the read state unchanged

Default value: true

Execution Control (Wait All Incoming)​

Controls how the activity behaves when multiple incoming execution paths converge.

For detailed behavior and usage guidance, see   Execution Control – Wait All Incoming.

Error Handling (On Error)​

Defines how the workflow proceeds if the activity encounters an error.

Supported strategies include Fault, Continue, Suspend, and Retry.

For details, see   On Error Handler.

Output​

Emails​

Returns a collection of Email objects.

Each email object includes:

  • From – Sender email address
  • To – Recipient email addresses
  • Subject – Email subject
  • TextBody – Plain text content
  • HtmlBody – HTML content
  • ReceivedAt – Timestamp when the email was received
  • MessageId – Microsoft Graph message ID
  • InternalId – Internet Message-ID header value
  • Attachments – List of attachments. Each attachment contains:
    • AttachmentReference – Used by Outlook attachment activities to retrieve the attachment content.
    • File – A file handle that can be passed directly to file-consuming activities.

See Mail Models and File Reference.

Count​

Returns the total number of emails read by the activity.

Example: Process message attachments​

  1. Select the Outlook connection, mail folder, and Max Messages.
  2. Enable Read Only Unread Mails to select unread messages. Mark As Read defaults to True; leave it enabled when subsequent reads should skip these messages.
  3. Use Iterator with Emails as its Items. Bind message fields from Current Item.
  4. For each email attachment, pass its File to a file-consuming activity, or its AttachmentReference to Get Outlook Email Attachment when Base64 content is required.

Count is the number returned by this execution, not the total mailbox size. Reading with Mark As Read off can select the same unread messages again. Marking read occurs during retrieval, before downstream business processing completes. Plan recovery if a later activity fails.

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