Administrator setup for Google Apps Sync

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is a Microsoft Outlook plug-in that lets you use Microsoft Outlook as a client for Google Apps email, calendar, and contacts. Email, calendar events (including recurring meetings), and contacts are all synchronized between Google Apps and Microsoft Outlook. Outlook Notes are synced with Google Docs. Outlook Tasks are synced with your Gmail task gadget. And your organization's global address list is automatically synchronized, as well. This includes your Google Apps users, groups, shared contacts, and conference rooms, and provides contact look-up as well as free/busy information for users and conference rooms.

Beta feature: Synchronizing Outlook Notes and Tasks with Google Apps are currently Beta release features.

Data synchronization occurs on the following schedule (and also each time you start Outlook):

• Email: Every minute
• Calendar: Immediately after you create or receive a meeting invitation, or every 10 minutes
• Contacts: Every 20 minutes
• Global address list: Every 24 hours
• Notes:  Immediately after creating or changing a note, or every 60 minutes 
• Tasks: Every 2 hours

Importing: Google Apps Sync also lets users import data from Outlook to Google Apps—either when initially setting up their user profile in Outlook, or any time afterwards. When importing, people have the option to import directly from an Exchange account or from a PST file. Keep in mind that executables and attachments over 25 MB are not imported to Gmail, as per Google Apps restrictions. See below for details.

For information about which Microsoft Outlook features are supported and how using this service differs from using Microsoft Outlook with other mail systems such as Microsoft Exchange, see the Google Apps Sync user help.

Edition requirements

• Google Apps for Work, Education, or Government

Admin console settings

Enable the following features in your Admin console:

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console.
2. Turn on Google Apps Sync for your account:
   1. From the dashboard, click Apps, then click Google Apps > Gmail > User settings.
   2. In the Google Apps Sync section, check Enable Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook for my users.
   3. Click Save.
3. Turn on the Google Calendar service (so users can create profiles). See Turn Calendar on or off for users for details. 
4. To use Global Address List (GAL) Generator:
   1. From the dashboard, go to Security > API reference. ^{Where is it?}
   2. Check Enable API Access.
   3. Click Save.
5. Turn on contact sharing (so users' Global Address Lists are dynamically updated):
   1. Click Apps > Google Apps > Contacts > Sharing settings.
   2. Select Enable contact sharing.
   3. Click Save.
6. Turn on the Drive service and Drive apps (required for notes sync to Drive):
   1. To turn on Drive, see Turn Drive on or off for users. 
   2. To allow users to install Drive apps, click Apps > Google Apps > Drive > Data Access.
   3. In the Drive SDK section, check Allow users to install Google Drive apps.

Links to Microsoft's website are provided for your convenience. The links and their content may change without notice. Please consult Microsoft's website for the latest configuration and support information.

Operating system requirements

• Windows 10 (32 and 64 bit)
• Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit)
• Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
• Windows Vista SP1 (64 bit)
• Windows Vista SP1 (32 bit)
• Windows XP SP3 (32 bit)

Note: Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is not supported for Mac. Microsoft Outlook for Mac does not support the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), which is required for Google Apps Sync to communicate with Outlook. This Outlook limitation makes a Mac-compatible version of Google Apps Sync infeasible.

Microsoft Outlook requirements

• Microsoft Outlook 2016 (32 and 64 bit)
• Microsoft Outlook 2013 (32 and 64 bit)
• Microsoft Outlook 2010 (32 and 64 bit) * and this free/busy hotfix
• Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Office SP2
• Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Office SP1 and this hotfix
• Microsoft Outlook 2003 with Office SP3

Permissions requirements for users

Users need to have local admin permissions for their computers in order to perform the installation.

Port requirements

Open port 443 for the following applications on the computer on which you install Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook:

• Outlook.exe
• ProfileEditor.exe

Google Apps Sync must be installed on each person's computer, who wants to use the plug-in. You have two options for installation:

• Push an .msi file to your users and let them use the Run Advertised Programs option in the Windows Control Panel. Download the .msi file below—be sure to pick the correct one, based on your users' version of Outlook. For information on implementing the .msi file, consult your Windows documentation.
  Download 32-bit enterprise_gsync.msi (Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 32-bit editions)
  Download 64-bit enterprise_gsync.msi (Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016 64-bit editions)
• Let users download Google Apps Sync themselves from the Google Apps Sync download page. They can then follow these instructions to install the plug-in.

Importing: To migrate their old Outlook data to Google Apps, users also need a separate tool, Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook. Users who download Google Apps Sync version 2.1 or later from the download page get this migration tool, automatically. If you push Google Apps Sync to users via an .msi file, however, you'll need to push Google Apps Migration to them as well, or have them install the migration tool themselves. See below for details.

Google Apps Sync lets users import data from an Exchange account or Outlook PST file using a separate migration tool, Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook. The import experience is seamless for users in that Google Apps Sync launches the migration tool for them, so in most cases, users won't even notice they're using a separate tool.

Google Apps Sync launches the migration tool in the following cases:

• When users import data while creating their user profile—either when first installing Google Apps Sync or by choosing Google Apps Sync > Set up a Google Apps Sync user from the Windows Start menu (see creating a new profile).
• When users choose to import data to an existing profile by choosing Google Apps Sync > Import data to Google Apps Sync from the Windows Start menu.

In each of these cases, users can import mail, contacts, calendar events, and Outlook notes, which become available both in Outlook and the Google Apps web interface. They can also import Outlook tasks, and journal entries, which remain available only in Outlook.

Migration tool must be installed: For Google Apps Migration to launch, the tool must be installed on the user's computer. Downloading Google Apps Sync version 2.1 or later from the Google Apps Sync download page downloads Google Apps Migration automatically, so users who do that can import data with no extra setup. Users who are upgraded from a previous version of Google Apps Sync, however, need to install Google Apps Migration themselves if they want to import data. For details, see enable my import options.

You'll also need to push the migration tool to users who install Google Apps Sync via an .msi file, as downloading the .msi installation file does not automatically install Google Apps Migration. For more, see install Google Apps Sync, above.

Running Google Apps Migration standalone: Note that users can also launch Google Apps Migration as a standalone application from the Windows Start menu > Google Apps Migration menu. However, this doesn't import Outlook notes, tasks, or journal entries. To import this data, users should run their migrations via Google Apps Sync.

If you're using Google Apps Sync in a mixed Google Apps/Exchange environment, and you want to query free/busy information for Exchange users, you need to:

• Enable Google Calendar Connectors:
  • Consult http://code.google.com/p/google-calendar-connectors/ for information about setting up and managing the Google Calendar Connector Web Service.
  • Download GoogleCalendarConnectorWebService(1.3).msi so you can run the installation.
• Create the following registry key and accompanying string value on each computer where Google Apps Sync is installed:
  • Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Apps Sync\CalendarSync
  • String value: Value name: FreeBusyURL; Value data: <URL for the Calendar Connector>—for example, http://www.MY_COMPANY_FREEBUSY_SERVER.com/GCalExchangeLookup/ExchangeQuerierAsIcal.aspx (where you replace MY_COMPANY_FREEBUSY_SERVER with the name of your company's server).
  Note: If you're running a 32-bit version of Outlook on a 64-bit version of Windows, create this registry key in the correct location for 32 bit applications. For details, see the instructions on using the Windows registry at Configure limits and options via the registry.

As an administrator, you can use Google Update to control whether or not Google Apps Sync is automatically updated on your users' computers. Learn more