# Install the SmartLoads panel in Outlook

> In SmartLoads, open Settings → Connectors → Outlook panel and click Download Outlook file. In Outlook on the web, go to My add-ins → Add a custom add-in → Add from File and click Install. Then open an email, click the SmartLoads icon and sign in.

Source: https://help.smartloads.io/install-the-outlook-panel · Updated 2026-10-12

The Outlook panel works on the email you have open. You add it once per mailbox. It takes about two minutes.

It works in Outlook on the web, the new Outlook and the Outlook app on a computer. It doesn't run in the Outlook phone app.

## Add it to Outlook

1. In SmartLoads, under **Settings**, click **Connectors**, then open the **Outlook panel** card.
2. Click **Download Outlook file**. It saves a file called `SmartLoads-Outlook.xml`.
3. Click **Open Outlook add-ins**, or go to aka.ms/olksideload. Do this in your browser, even if you use the Outlook app. Sign in to Outlook if it asks.
4. Click **My add-ins**. At the bottom, click **Add a custom add-in**, then **Add from File**, and pick `SmartLoads-Outlook.xml`.
5. Outlook warns that it's a custom add-in. Click **Install**.
6. If you use the Outlook app, close it and open it again.

A Microsoft 365 admin can add it for everyone instead, under **Settings → Integrated apps** in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

## Open it and sign in

1. Open a load email with an attachment, such as a shipper's paperwork or a carrier's rate con.
2. Click the **SmartLoads** icon on the email's toolbar. In Outlook on the web it can sit under **Apps** or the **…** menu.
3. Sign in with the email and password you use for SmartLoads. Where Outlook allows it, you can click **Sign in with Microsoft** instead.
4. Click **Read this email**.

**Read this email** appears only when the email has a PDF or photo attached. For a rate request with no attachment, use the **Quote** tab. See [Quote a rate request from Outlook](https://help.smartloads.io/quote-from-outlook).

Pin the panel to keep it open as you move between emails. The panel has four tabs: **Load**, **Quote**, **Carrier** and **History**.

Reading an email is a preview. For a rate con or shipper paperwork, it shows **Not saved yet** until you click **Copy for Aljex**, **Send to SmartLoads** or **Mark covered**. A weight ticket saves only when you confirm it on its own card.

## If something goes wrong

- **No Add a custom add-in or Add from File:** your Microsoft 365 admin has turned off custom add-ins. Ask them to add SmartLoads under **Integrated apps**.
- **Can't find the SmartLoads icon:** in Outlook on the web, look under **Apps** or the **…** menu on the open email.
- **Not showing in the Outlook app:** close Outlook completely and open it again. The classic Outlook app can take up to a day to show it. Outlook on the web has it right away.
- **Asked to sign in every time:** your browser doesn't let the panel keep a sign-in. Signing in each time still works.

## Frequently asked questions

### What can the panel see?

Only the email you have open. It sends the email to SmartLoads only when you click a button such as **Read this email** or **Read quote request**.

### Does the panel send email for me?

No. When it writes a reply, Outlook opens the reply for you to review and send.

### I don't see Connectors in SmartLoads. Why?

Ask your admin. Admins always see **Connectors**. Brokers need **Connectors** ticked in their feature access, and dispatchers don't see it. See [Invite your team](https://help.smartloads.io/invite-your-team).