Best Outlook add-ins for Australian law firms: how to choose

Check this first, because many firms are moving to new Outlook. Microsoft's overview of Outlook add-ins says COM and VSTO add-ins are not supported in new Outlook on Windows. They still work in classic Outlook. Web add-ins, the kind you get from Microsoft Marketplace (also called AppSource), can run in Outlook on the web, new and classic Outlook on Windows, Outlook on Mac and the mobile apps. Each vendor decides which of these its add-in supports, so check.

Microsoft's page on how to use add-ins in Outlook also says that when you install an add-in in new Outlook, it appears in your other versions of Outlook as well. So a web add-in you install once can show up in your other versions of Outlook too, as long as the vendor supports them.

Ask every vendor: is your Outlook add-in a web add-in, and does it work in new Outlook today?

Microsoft's page on understanding Outlook add-in permissions sets out four levels, each including the one before: restricted, read item, read/write item, and read/write mailbox. Read/write mailbox is the widest. It lets an add-in create, read and change items and folders and send items.

The same page says you can see the permissions an add-in requests before you install it from Microsoft Marketplace. Microsoft's user guide adds that most add-ins only see the email you are working in, that you are asked for consent the first time an add-in needs your data, and that an add-in might send data to its own service to complete the task you asked for.

A tip: match the access to the job. A filing tool needs to read the email. Be slower to accept an add-in that wants to send mail on your behalf unless you understand why.

If an add-in sends data to its own service, client correspondence leaves Outlook. Before you install, ask the vendor in writing and keep the answer on file:

• Where is your application and database hosted?
• Does any processing happen outside Australia, and is it kept there?
• Is client correspondence used to train AI models?
• How do we cancel, and what happens to our data when we do?

Usually, yes. If you run a practice management system, its own add-in is the one that files mail to matters. Smokeball firms, for example, have one for new Outlook. Smokeball's help page on how to connect Smokeball to new Outlook (updated 29 October 2026) shows how to assign emails to a matter, save attachments and create tasks from Outlook on Windows, Mac and the web, with a Microsoft 365 business or education account (not a personal Outlook.com account). Smokeball's product update on the new Outlook add-in (8 May 2026) says classic Outlook for Windows is not supported by that add-in.

Once that is in place, look at what is still eating time: drafting, triage, or keeping on top of follow-ups. That is where a second add-in might help.

A single practitioner can add one themselves. In new Outlook, Microsoft's add-ins guide says to select More apps, then Add apps, choose the add-in and select Add. Microsoft notes you can't install add-ins in a shared mailbox, though some add-ins still work there if the mailbox is set up for it.

For several people, it is tidier for whoever runs your Microsoft 365 to deploy it. Microsoft's guide to deploying add-ins in the Microsoft 365 admin center uses Settings, Integrated apps, and lets you assign an add-in to everyone, to specific users or groups, or just to yourself. It also says add-ins can take 24 to 72 hours to appear on the ribbon, so do it a few days before you need it.

One way to do it: trial with one practitioner for a week, then roll out to a group, not the whole firm at once.

1. It does one of the daily jobs: filing, time, drafting or sorting.
2. It is a web add-in that works in new Outlook and on Mac if anyone uses one.
3. The permissions it asks for match that job.
4. The vendor states in writing where data is hosted and processed, and whether it trains AI on your mail.
5. It works with your practice management system, or does not need to.
6. Your Microsoft 365 admin can deploy it to a group.
7. There is a trial and no minimum term, so you can test it on real mail.
8. Someone answers support emails in Australian business hours.

For the settings that keep the inbox itself in order, see our guide on how to manage a law firm inbox in Outlook. For help with the wording of replies, see using AI to draft client emails.

AI Legal Toolbox is one. It is an Outlook add-in with an AI paralegal called Nova, made in Australia and available on Microsoft AppSource for Outlook on Windows, Mac and the web with a Microsoft 365 work or school account. It triages the inbox, drafts replies into your drafts folder and never sends email, and with Smokeball it files emails and records time against matters after you confirm. It is hosted in Sydney and starts with a 7 day free trial (card needed, nothing charged until day 8), then costs $149 AUD per practitioner per month including GST. The facts page covers where data is processed and the rest of the details.

Outlook and Smokeball menus change from time to time, so check the vendor pages linked above for the current steps. Last checked 6 November 2026.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.