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You can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Outlook to track email messages, contacts, tasks, and appointments. When you track an email message, contact, task, or appointment record, a copy of that record is saved as an activity in Dynamics 365 and synchronized with the Outlook record. You can then view and edit that record in Dynamics 365 for Outlook or Dynamics 365. If you sync Outlook on your mobile device, you can also access these records on that device.

Tracking records in Dynamics 365 for Outlook is a manual process. This gives you the ability to keep your personal Outlook records separate from your Dynamics 365 records.

Tip

Using the Track button vs. the Set Regarding button

To track a record in Dynamics 365 for Outlook, you click or tap the Track button or the Set Regarding button for the record you want to track.

Two Tracking and Set Regarding buttons in Dynamics 365

You can use either button to track a record, but it’s almost always better to use the Set Regarding button. When you use the Set Regarding button, you can link an email message, appointment, or task to a specific Dynamics 365 record such as an account or opportunity, or even a custom record type (entity). Some organizations also use the Set Regarding button to track projects.

Using the tracking pane

When a record is tracked, a Dynamics 365 pane (also known as the “tracking pane”) appears at the bottom of the record. This pane shows:

  • Whether the item is tracked

  • The regarding record, if set

  • The name of the parent account for contacts, if set

  • Links to Dynamics 365 records for email recipients. This is very useful when you want to quickly access the Dynamics 365 contact record of an email recipient or see other information stored in Dynamics 365.

  • Related records, along with a symbol that identifies the record type in Dynamics 365

  • Whether email addresses, names, or distribution lists in an email message are Dynamics 365 records

    For example, the following screen shot shows the tracking pane for a tracked task linked to the Adventure Works account:

    Tracking Pane with Set Regarding record in Dynamics 365

    You can open the regarding record, parent record for a contact, or related records directly from the tracking pane. The tracking pane also includes an Options button that provides quick access to personal tracking options.

Note

If you track an email message without first expanding a distribution list, the tracking pane displays the name of the distribution list. To track the individual email addresses, expand the distribution list before you track the message.

What can you do after you track a record?

After you track a record, you can use the buttons on the Dynamics 365 for Outlook ribbon to do the following tasks.

To do this task Choose Applies to
Open the record directly in Dynamics 365 View in Dynamics 365 button image in Dynamics 365 Email, appointments, contacts, and tasks
Add a connection between the record and any Dynamics 365 record capable of tracking connections Add Connection button image in Dynamics 365 Email, appointments, contacts, and tasks
Convert the record into a Dynamics 365 opportunity, lead, or case Convert To button image in Dynamics 365 Email, appointments, and tasks
Insert a Dynamics 365 template Insert Template button Email
Insert a Dynamics 365 Knowledge base article Insert Article button image in Dynamics 365 Email
Attach Dynamics 365 sales literature Attach Sales Literature button image in Dynamics 365 Email

Tip

If these buttons aren’t available, it may be that the record marked to be tracked isn’t synchronized yet. This can happen if your organization uses server-side synchronization to synchronize email, appointments, contacts, and tasks, but the synchronization hasn’t happened yet. If the View in Dynamics 365 button is enabled, the record has been synchronized. You can also use the tracking pane (as described previously) to determine whether the record has been synchronized.

Other things to know about tracking records