SharePoint Document Issues

How to Save Outlook Email Metadata and Attachments to SharePoint

Maira Mehtab Sep 22, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to save emails from Outlook to SharePoint and automatically populate SharePoint columns with specific email metadata, such as the sender, recipient, subject, sent date, and attachment details.

Product: Microsoft SharePoint and Outlook
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Archiving or saving Outlook emails directly to a SharePoint document library while retaining crucial email header information.
Observed behavior: Currently, emails saved to SharePoint via OneDrive only display basic file metadata, such as the filename and the user who modified it, failing to display native email details.

Before you start

Ensure you have the correct permissions to create custom columns in your target SharePoint document library and that your account has access to Microsoft Power Automate.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Power Automate to Extract and Save Email Metadata

Create a flow in Power Automate that triggers when a new email arrives, automatically extracts its metadata and attachments, and maps them to custom SharePoint columns.

Power Automate is the most robust and native way to handle complex metadata extraction between Outlook and SharePoint without requiring third-party software subscriptions.

Create SharePoint Columns

Navigate to your target SharePoint document library, click on 'Add column', and create new text and date columns corresponding to the metadata you want to capture (e.g., From, To, Subject, Sent Date).

Set Up the Power Automate Trigger

Open Power Automate, create a new Automated Cloud Flow, and select the Office 365 Outlook trigger 'When a new email arrives (V3)'. Specify the target folder, usually your Inbox or a specific subfolder.

Add the SharePoint Action

Add a new step and search for the SharePoint 'Create file' action. Choose your Site Address and Folder Path. For the File Name, use the 'Message id' or 'Subject', and for File Content, use the 'Body' dynamic content from the email.

Update File Properties

Add another step using the SharePoint 'Update file properties' action. Map the dynamic content from your email (e.g., 'From' to your custom Sender column, 'Subject' to your Subject column) to the corresponding fields in your SharePoint library.

Administrative Access: If you are unable to access Power Automate or add columns to the SharePoint library, contact your IT administrator to grant permissions or configure the workflow for you.

Solution 2

Use a Third-Party SharePoint App for Drag-and-Drop

Install a specialized SharePoint application designed for email management to enable metadata extraction via simple drag-and-drop actions.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does dragging emails directly to OneDrive or SharePoint only save the filename?

By default, OneDrive and SharePoint treat dragged Outlook emails (.msg or .eml files) as standard files. Standard upload processes only capture fundamental file system properties like the filename and creation date, ignoring internal email header data unless a specific extraction tool or automated flow is utilized.

Can I save the email attachments as separate files in SharePoint using Power Automate?

Yes. Within your Power Automate flow, you can add an 'Apply to each' loop that iterates through the 'Attachments' array of the incoming email. Inside this loop, you can use the 'Create file' action to save each attachment individually to a designated SharePoint folder.

Do I need a premium Power Automate license to extract Outlook metadata?

No. The standard 'Office 365 Outlook' and 'SharePoint' connectors required to trigger the flow and update list properties are included with most standard Microsoft 365 business and enterprise licenses.

Document & File Issues