Salesforce for Outlook Installation

Salesforce for Outlook product retirement has been rescheduled for June 2023. The side panel action menu (also known as the New Record button) stops functioning in June 2021.. To keep integrating Microsoft Outlook with Salesforce, check out the advancements made with our next-generation products, the Outlook Integration and Einstein Activity Capture. To start planning your move, see Move from Salesforce for Outlook to the Next-Generation Products. Stay tuned for a migration guide in Summer ’20.

System Requirements

Before you begin, please visit the SFO System Requirements page to make sure your system meets the minimum requirements.

Different Versions of Salesforce for Outlook 

1. Installation Per-Machine vs Per-User (This is a detailed explanation of the big orange box in the diagram)

“Per-Machine” as known as "Everyone who logs in to this computer", installation is performed to allow all registered users of the computer to access and use the application. Usually this is performed by an Administrator or your IT/Help Desk team while all users are logged off. 

“Per-User” as known as "Me Only" installation is performed for a single user who is running the SFO installer – Once installed, the installation files are not available for use by any other user of the computer. For instance, if user A logs into his machine and installs SFO using this option and logs off then user B logs into the same machine. User B will need to install SFO again to be able to see the shortcut or use it. 

2. Who can install the application (Who refers to the user permission and their Windows profile, a standard user versus a Local Administrator or someone from the IT/Help Desk team).
3. The location of the installation folder in each version.
4. The location of the log files and user database in each version.

  * If you install SFO for the very first time on your machine, using the "Me Only" Option the installation folder would be %LocalAppData%\Programs
   

Prerequisites

 Salesforce for Outlook (SFO) installer is available for download in 2 different formats, the .EXE and the .MSI

• .EXE: Executable, It is the easiest way to install the application locally. It contains both .MSI version of the SFO installer (32bit and 64bit) and the Primary Interop Assemblies (PIA) for Outlook 2007 and 2010. It checks for prerequisites on the computer and if any of them are missing, it will install them first before installing SFO.
• .MSI: MSI is acronym for Microsoft Silent Installer. It can be deployed through various means. Such as Locally, Command Prompt with switches, Group Policy, SMS, SCCM and etc. It is used by IT departments for centralized management and configuration or applications, etc. It DOES NOT check for prerequisites on the computer and won't fail if any of them are missing hence they have to be installed first by your IT or a Local Administrator before using the MSI. DO NOT USE the MSI to install the application manually, always use the .EXE 

Prerequisites must be installed before installing SFO by a Local Administrator or a System Account.

• If you run SFO executable file, the .EXE, for the first time as a non-admin Windows user, the installation may fail. It is best to ask your Local Administrator or someone from your IT team to install them for you.
• The prerequisites must be pushed out first using a System account before SFO deployment.
• The installer bitness must match your Outlook bitness. For Office 32bit installation you would need to install the 32bit (x86) version of MSI and if you use the .EXE it will detect the bitness in the registry and installs the correct bitness.
• Registry key that would be checked is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook There is a bitness key with a value of either x86 or x64

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x

You can download this from Microsoft or the installer will prompt you to download and install it when you run the .EXE.
The .MSI won't check for any prerequisites and you must always try to install using the .EXE file unless you know how to use the .MSI version.
SFO v3.0.x and later will require Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 or later    

VSTO - Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime 2010

Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office system (Version 4.0 Runtime) This only installs the bitness matching your Operating System. If you have Windows 7 64bit, then you only need to push out or install the 64bit MSI. The downloaded file is in the .EXE format which can be run manually as is on the computer by a Local Administrator. You can also use the /Extract switch to get the MSI version if you would like to deploy it using automation. You can also download Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime 2010 from Microsoft.  
PIA - Primary Interop Assemblies (PIA) redistributable package is tied to your installed version of Microsoft Outlook. This is already packaged with our SFO .EXE version for Outlook 2007 and 2010. You can easily extract it if needed. The PIA is only needed if you have Outlook 2007 or 2010. For Office 2013 and later users, this is part of Office .Net Programmability support that can be installed as an add-on feature with Microsoft Office. SFO installation will fail if this is not installed. Refer to Salesforce for Outlook installation fails

** For Click to Run versions or Office 365, an Online Repair will make sure this feature is installed. 
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (Both bitness will be installed on your machine x86 (32 bit) and x64 (64 bit))
 
Heads up - Please note that some of the links in this article are to Microsoft websites. If at anytime the links are moved or broken, you can always search for them on the Microsoft website

Use the /Extract switch

1. Click on Start and enter CMD.
2. Once you see the CMD in the application list, right click on it and click on "Run as Administrator."
3. In the Command Prompt (CMD) navigate to the directory that contains the executable file (the .exe) such as SalesforceForOutlook.exe or vstor_redist.exe (VSTO downloaded file) and use the command below: SalesforceforOutlook.exe /extract

Example:

1. Let's assume you have downloaded the VSTO  - vstor_redist.exe  file in the c:\setup folder
2. In the Command Prompt, enter CD \setup and press Enter to change directory and enter the Setup folder. The prompt will change to C:\Setup >
3. Now you are inside the new Setup folder that contains the vstor_redist.exe file
4. Enter vstor_redist.exe/Extract and press Enter.
5. A pop-up window will open and show you the extraction process
6. In that folder, you should find many files and folders including the MSI version of the VSTO

Install Salesforce For Outlook
Download the Salesforce for Outlook Installer