How to add tracking to Outlook emails
Outlook comes in four versions in 2026: classic Outlook for Windows, the new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web and Outlook for Mac. With Outsolvi, classic Outlook uses a desktop add-in you install on your PC (it needs admin rights), the web and new Outlook use an Office add-in you add from a file, and Outlook for Mac isn't supported yet.
This guide uses Outsolvi as the example. It isn't listed in Microsoft's add-in store, so you install it from your Outsolvi account: a desktop installer for classic Outlook, or a file you add in Outlook on the web and the new Outlook. It takes about five minutes. If your company blocks custom add-ins, your IT admin can deploy the web add-in to everyone instead.
Before you start
- Classic Outlook for Windows with a personal or work account, or Outlook on the web or the new Outlook with a Microsoft 365 work or school account
- Outsolvi account (free 14-day trial)
Step-by-step
- 1
Check which Outlook you have
If your Outlook has File, Home and Send / Receive tabs along the top, it's classic Outlook for Windows: follow step 2, then step 5. If you use Outlook in a browser, or the new Outlook app on Windows, with a Microsoft 365 work or school account: follow steps 3 to 5. On a Mac or a phone, Outsolvi can't add tracking when you send yet. Personal Outlook.com accounts haven't been tested yet, so send yourself a test email there.
- 2
Classic Outlook: run the desktop installer
Sign in at my.outsolvi.com, open Add-ins in the left sidebar and pick Outlook for Windows. Save any drafts first, because the installer closes Outlook. It needs admin rights on the PC and 64-bit Outlook 2016 or later, and Windows may warn that the publisher is unknown because the installer isn't code-signed yet. Reopen Outlook, open the Outsolvi tab in the ribbon (it sits right after Home) and sign in.
- 3
Web or new Outlook: download the add-in file
Sign in at my.outsolvi.com, open Add-ins in the left sidebar and pick Outlook Web / New Outlook to download the .xml file.
- 4
Add it from the file and sign in
In Outlook, open an email, click ... (More actions), then Get Add-ins (Apps in the new Outlook). Choose My add-ins, then under Custom Add-ins click Add a custom add-in, pick Add from file, select the .xml and click Install. Open a new email, click the Outsolvi button and sign in. If custom add-ins are switched off for your account, your Microsoft 365 admin can deploy it instead (see below).
- 5
Send a test and check the first open
Send an email to a second address you control, on a different mail provider if you can, and open it there. The open appears in your Outsolvi dashboard, graded by how likely it was a person. This is also how you confirm tracking is on.
Set up tracking in 2 minutes instead of 20.
Outsolvi installs as a native Outlook add-in or Gmail Chrome extension. Every open is graded, hot leads get flagged in the web app, and Write with AI drafts your follow-ups there too. From $7/mo, 14-day free trial.
Troubleshooting
Get Add-ins doesn't list Outsolvi
It won't: Outsolvi isn't in Microsoft's add-in store. Use Add a custom add-in and add it from the .xml file you downloaded.
Custom add-ins are switched off for your account
Your IT admin can deploy the web add-in to you and your team from the Microsoft 365 admin center (Settings, Integrated apps, Add-ins, Deploy Add-in, Upload custom apps) by uploading the same .xml. It takes a Global admin or Exchange admin.
Installed, but emails aren't tracked
Check your Outlook version first. This add-in tracks only in Outlook on the web and the new Outlook, on Microsoft 365 work or school accounts. In classic Outlook for Windows, install the desktop add-in instead. Outlook for Mac and on-premises Exchange aren't supported. If your version is supported, sign out of the Outsolvi panel and back in.
Frequently asked
Do I need IT admin approval?
Classic Outlook's desktop installer needs admin rights on each PC, so on a company laptop IT often runs it. For Outlook on the web and the new Outlook, you can add the web add-in yourself from the file if your account allows custom add-ins, or a Microsoft 365 admin can deploy it for everyone from the admin center. Either way, send yourself a test email to confirm tracking is on. Because Outsolvi is added from a file rather than Microsoft's store, the admin approves it as a custom add-in.
Does this work for Outlook Mac?
Not yet. On a Mac, send from Outlook on the web instead. Outsolvi also tracks in the new Outlook for Windows, and in classic Outlook with the desktop add-in.
Will this slow down Outlook?
It shouldn't get in your way. The tracking runs as you send, and the Outsolvi panel is its own sandboxed window, so it isn't involved in reading, searching or filing mail.
Does this work in New Outlook?
Yes, on a Microsoft 365 work or school account. The new Outlook only loads Office add-ins, and Outsolvi's web add-in is one, so it runs there. The desktop add-in for classic Outlook doesn't. Look for the Outsolvi button under Apps rather than on the main ribbon.
Will my recipients see I'm tracking?
No. Emails you send from Outlook carry no Outsolvi footer, and the tracking pixel is invisible. Follow-ups Outsolvi sends for you during a trial end with a short "Sent with Outsolvi" line. Privacy-conscious recipients with pixel-detection extensions may see the pixel domain on hover, but no UX indicator.
Track real engagement, not Apple MPP noise.
Start Free TrialSkip the manual steps. Outsolvi does this for you.
Everything in this guide runs automatically once the add-in is installed: real opens tracked, bots filtered, follow-ups queued. 14-day free trial, no credit card.
More on email tracking
Glossary terms, comparisons, and feature deep-dives related to this guide.
Nate built Outsolvi after watching every email-tracking tool he had ever used lie to him about opens. Outsolvi grades every open as a person or a machine, in Outlook and Gmail, so the number on the dashboard is one a rep can actually act on.
We update these pages when the underlying mechanics change. new mailbox-provider rules, new tracker behavior, new measurement gaps. The dates above are real revisions, not auto-touches.