Pipedrive and Outlook: what syncs, what doesn't, and how to set it up
Pipedrive syncs Outlook email, calendar and contacts natively. Email sync needs the Growth plan or higher, and deals do not appear in Outlook without a third-party add-in.
- Connector
- Native sync built by Pipedrive, set up in Personal preferences; no separate fee listed in the docs
- Sync direction
- Two-way for email, calendar and contacts; calendar and contact sync can be set to one-way
- Setup time
- Not stated in the docs; three separate connect-and-authorize flows per user
- Availability
- Email sync: Growth plan and above (team accounts: Premium and above); calendar and contact sync: plan not stated; Outlook.com, Microsoft Office 365 and Exchange mailboxes
- Our rating
- 4 out of 5. Native two-way email, calendar and contact sync with Outlook; email sync needs Growth or higher, and deals don't appear in Outlook.
| What | Direction | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming and outgoing email | Outlook → Pipedrive | Mail lands in the Sales Inbox. You sync all folders or selected ones and choose how far back the first sync reaches. The docs give no polling interval. |
| Sending and replying | Pipedrive → Outlook | You write and reply from the Sales Inbox or a record's email tab. Outlook's 20 MB limit per email applies, and Pipedrive allows 40 email actions per minute per company account. |
| Email-to-record links | Derived | Pipedrive links conversations to deals, leads or projects by email address. You can link a message to a different item by hand. |
| Email opens and clicks | Derived | Tracking is a toggle on each outgoing email. Pipedrive marks opens with an eye icon and link clicks with a cursor icon. |
| Pipedrive activities | Pipedrive → Outlook | Activities you own appear in your Outlook calendar. With one-way sync you choose which activity types go across, and can add deal and contact details to the description. |
| Outlook calendar events | Outlook → Pipedrive | Two-way sync only. Future events become Pipedrive activities of the type you choose. Private events can be shared, shown as blocks or skipped. |
| Contacts | Two-way | Outlook.com and Microsoft Office 365 contacts. You can choose one-way instead. Synced fields include name, email, phone, address, organization, job title and birthday; Outlook notes do not sync. |
Setting it up
- Check your plan. Personal email sync needs Growth or higher; a shared team account needs Premium or higher.
- Open the account menu, go to Personal preferences > Email sync, enter your address and click Get started.
- Pick your provider. Choose Microsoft Office 365 for Microsoft 365 mailboxes, or enter Exchange credentials. With two-factor authentication on Exchange, generate an app password first.
- Log in, grant Pipedrive access, and choose a personal or team account.
- Set email visibility, the past sync start time and the synced folders. Click Start sync.
- Go to Personal preferences > Calendar sync, click Connect account, choose two-way or one-way, and click Start sync.
- Go to Personal preferences > Contact sync, add the account, choose the contact group, direction and visibility, then click Start syncing. The user needs the add people and add organizations permissions.
Where the integration stops
- Email sync is not on Lite. The docs put it on Growth and above (legacy plans: Advanced and above). Team email accounts need Premium or above, and Growth syncs one account at a time.
- Deals, leads and organizations don't sync to Outlook. The docs list email, calendar and contacts only. A third-party add-in shows Pipedrive records in an Outlook sidebar.
- Calendar sync covers one user's own activities and future events. Past Outlook events don't import, and recurring events from Outlook can't be edited in Pipedrive.
- Two-way calendar sync deletes on both sides. Deleting an activity in Pipedrive also deletes the Outlook event.
- Contact sync doesn't flag duplicates. If two users hold the same person, Pipedrive creates two records. Only contacts you own sync back to Outlook.
- Outlook add-in prices conflict between pages. Pipedrive's Marketplace calls the Stehrway add-in free, its Microsoft listing says $9 per user per month after a trial, and Pipelook is paid-only.
Pipedrive's native sync connects an Outlook mailbox to the Sales Inbox, and also syncs Outlook calendars and contacts. It suits teams that want mail, meetings and contacts in Pipedrive without a third-party app. Pipedrive builds it, and the docs list no separate fee.
The fact that surprises teams: this is three separate syncs, not one connector. Email, calendar and contacts each have their own setup page, direction setting and limits. Only email sync has a plan requirement in the docs: Growth and above.
Email sync starts on Growth, and Lite has none
Pipedrive's email sync is a plan feature. The setup guide says it is only available on Growth and higher plans, and the pricing page lists "full email sync with tracking" under Growth. Lite accounts do not get it. Older accounts on legacy plans need Advanced or higher. See Pipedrive pricing for current prices.
A personal account connects one user's mailbox. A team account connects a shared address and needs Premium or higher. On Growth, you can sync only one email account at a time.
Pipedrive reads incoming and outgoing mail into the Sales Inbox. You pick all folders or specific ones, and you set how far back the first sync reaches. The docs do not say how often Pipedrive checks for new mail.
Pipedrive links each conversation to a deal, lead or project by email address. You can relink it by hand. Gmail users can also send from an alias, but that option is not available for Outlook or Exchange. The Pipedrive and Gmail review covers that side.
Calendar and contacts sync separately, with their own rules
Calendar sync runs per user and covers only activities that user owns. You choose two-way or one-way. Two-way sync creates Pipedrive activities from Outlook events and updates both sides on edits. It also deletes the Outlook event when you delete the activity in Pipedrive.
Only future Outlook events sync into Pipedrive. Recurring events that arrive from Outlook cannot be edited in Pipedrive.
Contact sync works with Outlook.com and Microsoft Office 365. You choose a contact group, a direction and who can see the synced contacts. The user needs the "add people" and "add organizations" permissions.
Contact sync has three gaps. Outlook notes do not reach Pipedrive. Only contacts you own in Pipedrive sync back to Outlook. If two colleagues hold the same person, Pipedrive creates two records and does not flag a duplicate.
The calendar and contact articles state no plan requirement. The contact article describes settings for Lite accounts, so check the sync pages in your own account before you promise it to a team.
Deals stay in Pipedrive; add-ins fill the Outlook sidebar
The native docs list email, calendar and contacts. They do not list deals, leads or organizations appearing inside Outlook. The Pipedrive docs read for this review describe no Outlook add-in built by Pipedrive.
Third-party add-ins fill that gap. The Pipedrive Marketplace lists Outlook add-ins from Stehrway, Pipelook and SaySync. They put Pipedrive records in an Outlook sidebar. Stehrway says its add-in is not a full inbox sync.
Prices conflict across pages. Pipedrive's Marketplace listing calls the Stehrway add-in free. Its Microsoft Marketplace listing says $9 per user per month after a trial. Pipelook's help page says the add-in is paid-only. Confirm the price before you install any of them.
For anything beyond these syncs, see the Pipedrive and Zapier review. The Outlook integrations page covers other CRMs.