What's synchronized between Outlook and G Suite?
G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook
Email, calendar events, and contacts are regularly synchronized between your Google Account and Microsoft® Outlook® with G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GSSMO).
Some types of data aren’t synchronized. And, some features in Outlook function differently if you use GSSMO. Data might look a little different in certain G Suite tools, such as Gmail.
Synchronized data
Email| Mail data in your old Outlook profile | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with G Suite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email messages | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Email state (Read and Unread) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Deleted items | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Import is optional. |
| Folders and subfolders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Outlook folders map to Gmail labels. Subfolders appear as nested labels. |
| Subfolders nested under Inbox (and other system folders) | ✔ | ✔ |  |
Gmail doesn’t nest labels under Inbox, Sent Mail, or other system labels. Instead, labels appear as Inbox/folder_name. |
| Junk email | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Import is optional. Junk email is labeled Spam in Gmail. |
| Drafts | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | |
| Attachments | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Attachments larger than 20 MB don’t sync with Gmail. |
| Executable attachments | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Not allowed in Gmail. |
| Posts in mailbox folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | |
| Importance levels | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Message flags | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Flags appear as stars in Gmail. |
| Follow-up dates and reminders (used with flags) | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | Not imported or synced with Gmail but can be used in Outlook after importing. |
| Arrow icons with replies and forwarded messages | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Appear for messages you reply to or forward in Outlook, but won't sync with Gmail or other Outlook clients. |
| Rules | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | Not imported or synced but can be recreated in Outlook. You can create equivalent filters in Gmail that apply for both interfaces. |
| Signatures | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | Not imported or synced but can be recreated in Outlook and Gmail. |
| POP messages | |
✔ | ✘ | POP mail protocol messages in your primary inbox import from your old profile and are synced with Gmail (might not be desired). POP messages that arrive after importing aren’t synced. |
| POP or IMAP account | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | Account settings don’t import, but you can recreate the account in your G Suite profile. |
| Category definitions | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Categories aren’t available in Gmail. |
| Category assignments | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | Not imported, but you can categorize messages in Outlook after importing. |
Related topics
| Calendar data in your old Outlook profile | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with G Suite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default calendar | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Includes events, descriptions, attendees, and locations. |
| Other calendars you own in Calendar | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Must reside in the Outlook Calendar folder, or in a Calendar subfolder. |
| Other calendars you own that aren't in Calendar | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | Calendars that aren’t in the Outlook Calendar folder don’t sync. |
| Free or Busy status for G Suite users | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Free or Busy status for non-G Suite users | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Requires your administrator to turn on the Google Calendar service. |
| Tentative/Out of Office status | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Available in Outlook, but either status appears as Busy in Google Calendar and to other Outlook users. |
| Calendar attachments | ✔ | |
✘ | Available in Outlook, but attachments added in Outlook don’t sync with other users’ calendars (instead they see a note that an attachment has been removed). |
| Category definitions | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Categories aren’t available in Google Calendar. |
| Category assignments | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | |
| Optional attendees | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Rich content in event descriptions (images, links, tables, bold, or italic) | ✔ | |
|
You can add rich content to a calendar description in Outlook but the formatting might not show on other users' calendars. If you're using Outlook 2016, save events in RTF format for the formatting to be synced. Learn more. |
| Event reminders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Related topics
| Personal contact data in your old Outlook profile | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with G Suite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal contacts in Contacts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Includes all fields (for example, File As, images, or notes). |
| Personal contacts not in Contacts | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | In order to sync, contacts need to be in the Outlook Contacts folder or in a subfolder of Contacts. |
| Multiple contact folders | ✔ | ✔ | |
Contacts folders from Outlook don’t sync to G Suite. Instead, all contacts appear in G Suite under My Contacts. You can reorganize them using Google Groups. |
| Rich formatting in notes | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Rich formatting remains in Outlook only if you don’t update contacts from your Google Account. |
| Personal distribution or mailing lists | ✔ | ✔ | |
Your mailing lists from Outlook don’t sync to G Suite. You can still email a list from Gmail by creating a Google Group. |
| Notes larger than 16 KB | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | These notes are truncated in G Suite, but the full note remains in Outlook. |
| Follow-up flags, dates, and reminders | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Flags aren’t available in Google Contacts. |
| Category definitions | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Categories aren’t available in Google Contacts. |
| Category assignments | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Categories aren't available in Google Contacts. |
| User defined fields for a contact | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
Related topics
Your domain’s Global Address List is available in Outlook if the dynamic Global Address List is enabled by the domain administrator.
| Global contact data and features | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with G Suite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain contacts (individual and group addresses) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Out-of-domain contacts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Added in G Suite as shared contacts. |
| Autocomplete | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Works for user, group, and resource addresses you’ve emailed at least once. |
| Rich field data for each user | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Includes name, email, phone numbers, postal addresses, company information, notes, and so on. |
| Outlook Notes in your old Outlook profile | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with Google Docs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes (in top-level Notes folder) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Outlook notes sync to plain text files stored in Docs. |
| Notes (in subfolders) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Notes subfolders in Outlook sync with folders in Docs. |
| Category assignments | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Categories aren’t available in Docs. |
| Outlook Tasks in your old Outlook profile | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with Google Tasks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tasks | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Notes in tasks | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Due dates | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Task status marked complete | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Marking a task completed in Outlook checks it off in Google Tasks. |
| Other task status (In Progress or Deferred) | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Not available in Google Tasks. |
| Reminders | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Not available in Google Tasks. |
| Start dates | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Not available in Google Tasks. |
| Category assignments | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Not available in Google Tasks. |
| Top-level folders in Tasks | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Appear as separate task lists in Google Tasks. |
| Subfolders in Tasks | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | Google Tasks only has top-level task lists. Tasks in Outlook subfolders sync to the parent list in Google Tasks. |
| Outlook Journal data in your old Outlook profile | Imports to your G Suite profile in Outlook | Can be used in Outlook with GSSMO | Syncs with Google Docs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journal entries | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
