Outlook connector FAQs

Beta

This feature is in Beta. Workspace admins can control access to this feature from the Previews page. See Manage Databricks previews.

This page answers frequently asked questions about the managed Outlook connector in Databricks Lakeflow Connect.

General managed connector FAQs

See Managed connector FAQs for FAQs that apply to all Lakeflow Connect managed connectors. The following are specific to the Outlook connector.

Connector-specific FAQs

What is the initial sync behavior?

By default, the connector ingests the complete history of email messages from the Inbox folder of all accessible mailboxes, starting from epoch. To limit the initial sync to a specific start date, set the start_date option in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Can I ingest email attachments?

Yes. The connector ingests attachment content by default (attachment_mode: ALL). Attachment content is stored as base64-encoded binary in the attachments column of the email_messages table.

To control which attachments are ingested, use the attachment_mode option:

• ALL (default): all attachments
• NON_INLINE_ONLY: non-inline attachments only (recommended to avoid corporate signature images)
• INLINE_ONLY: inline attachments only
• NONE: no attachments (skips attachment API calls entirely, which improves performance)

For the full attachment schema, see Attachment struct.

How does mailbox discovery work?

When include_mailboxes is not specified, the connector discovers all accessible mailboxes in the tenant by calling the Microsoft Graph GET /users endpoint. The app registration must have User.Read.All or Directory.Read.All permission for this to work.

To ingest from a specific set of mailboxes, list their email addresses in the include_mailboxes option.

How do the filter options combine?

Multiple filter categories (include_folders, include_senders, include_subjects) combine with AND logic. Values within a single category combine with OR logic. An email message is ingested only when it satisfies at least one value in each specified category.

For more details and an example, see Filter combination logic.