Purpose
Users of Windows native Outlook app and Outlook web version can experience their emails being saved to Draft. This happens when users click away from the email window while the message is still being processed.
Users on the Outlook native app for Windows will receive a dialogue warning that their message is being saved as Draft. If the user selects OK, the message will be saved as a draft.
Users on Outlook web do not receive a warning dialogue from Outlook. The message is saved as a draft silently.
Intended Audience
- Outlook Add-in Users
- Outreach Admins
Resolution
Legacy add-in
Outlook native app for Windows
If the user wants to reply or forward the message by using the Send with Outreach button, open the message in a new window. (this is not possible for Outlook for Web)
Another alternative is to reply directly from the reading pane by using the Send with Outreach button, but the user needs to wait for the message to be sent before selecting another inbox item.
New add-in
Outlook native app for Windows
If admins want to prevent users from clicking away, they can do so by blocking dialogue present during message processing. This solution is available in private beta. Please read below how it works and if interested in testing it, contact an Outreach Technical Support agent for enablement.
Alternatively, if the user wants to reply or forward the message, the message should be opened in a new window. (this is not possible for Outlook for Web)
Another alternative is to reply directly from the reading pane, but the user needs to wait for the message to be sent before selecting another inbox item.
Alternatively, you can speed up the email processing by disabling the Outlook add-in when emailing a non-prospect. (It doesn’t fully prevent emails from being saved to draft.)
Blocking dialogue [Private Beta]
As an admin, you can enable blocking dialogue for your organization. This prevents users from clicking anywhere else until the message is processed and sent. This dialogue doesn’t speed up or slow down the message processing and it automatically closes when the message is sent. This dialogue is only available in the new Outlook add-in.
Actions offered via dialogue
The dialogue serves as an escape hatch in case sending the message takes longer than expected. Users can close the dialogue and go back to edit the message if needed. The user also has an option to Send without Outreach.
If clicked, the email is immediately sent without Outreach features that require a message to be synced to Outreach, including tracking, sequences, reminders, and more.
When doesn’t the dialogue doesn’t trigger?
- When you disable the Outlook add-in or sign out of the Outlook add-in, the dialogue is not displayed.
- The message will not display for users with Outlook for Mac.
Dialogue delay
There is a slight delay before the dialogue is triggered. The dialogue triggers 800 milliseconds after clicking Send. (This might take longer when on a slower network).
This delay ensures that the dialogue doesn’t trigger for emails that are processed quickly but trigger fast enough to prevent users from clicking away when the send takes longer. If you are on a slower network, we recommend contacting Outreach Technical Support and requesting the 0s dialogue delay. Further modifications of the dialogue delay are available upon request.
The dialogue displays for all emails, such as prospect, non-prospect, internal emails, forward, reply, new message, and emails sent from the reading pane, and from the new window.
How to enable the dialogue in Private Beta
Contact the Outreach Technical support team for enablement.
- Confirm if you want to enable this for the whole organization, or only with certain users. We recommend testing with a few users before rolling it out.
- Share your feedback with our support team.
Cause
Outlook native app for Windows
This behavior is happening on native Outlook for Windows when a message is being forwarded or replied to directly from the Reading pane.
When the dialogue populates warning users that their message will be saved as a draft, they can select OK and save the message as a draft.
The message is not saved as a Draft when users open the message in a separate window and reply or forward it from there. The message is also not saved as a Draft when users compose a new message.
Outlook web
This behavior is happening on Outlook web for every message, regardless of whether it is sent from the Reading pane or composed as a new message. There is no dialogue; the message is saved as a Draft silently.
This Behavior manifests for both the new add-in and legacy add-in.
- Legacy add-in: You will notice this behavior only for messages sent with the Send with Outreach button; processing lag only affects these messages.
- New add-in: All messages processed through Outlook are affected by this; all messages sent through Outlook are affected by the add-in processing lag.
Read more about add-in processing lag.
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