Connecting Microsoft Exchange

The Exchange connector pulls mail from a Microsoft mailbox directly, without a forwarding rule, and needs an administrator's consent once.

The Exchange connector pulls mail from a Microsoft mailbox directly, without a forwarding rule, and needs an administrator's consent once.

Connect it

1. Open Admin Center, then Channels, then Talk and email, then Email.
2. Choose to connect a Microsoft Exchange account.
3. Sign in with the account that holds the support mailbox and grant the permissions requested.
4. Confirm which address it applies to.
5. Send a test message from outside your organisation.

The permission step needs an administrator

Microsoft tenants usually require an administrator to consent to a third-party application. Where the sign-in appears to work and then stops, that consent is the missing piece.

Worth arranging with whoever manages your tenant before you start, rather than discovering it halfway through.

Use a shared or service mailbox

Not a person's mailbox. When that person leaves, their account is disabled and your support mail stops arriving, with no error anywhere in Zendesk.

Outgoing is separate

The connector brings mail in. Replies still go out through Zendesk under your domain, so SPF and DKIM records are needed exactly as they would be otherwise.

If your organisation requires outbound relay

Some organisations need all outgoing mail to pass through their own infrastructure. That is what the authenticated SMTP connector is for, and it is a separate configuration from bringing mail in.

See also

• Setting up the authenticated SMTP connector
• Setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC
• Access denied when setting up forwarding in Office 365