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Screenshots labelled 26.10 and later show Draftable Clean 26.10.0. Use the earlier-version tab if your settings look different. Your desktop version appears at the bottom right of the main application window.
This guide provides step-by-step instructions for Microsoft 365 administrators to deploy the Draftable Clean Outlook Add-in organization-wide. For the current feature set, use Draftable Clean desktop 26.11.0 with Outlook add-in 1.13.0.0. The add-in needs Draftable Clean desktop 26.6.0 or later. Cleaning Microsoft Purview protected attachments in the add-in needs Draftable Clean 26.11.0 or later. Outlook add-in 1.13.0.0 does not change the manifest, its permissions or the approval your organization gives in Microsoft Entra ID. If you deployed the latest manifest URL, your users receive it automatically. If you deployed a pinned manifest, update it to the 1.13.0.0 URL in step 1 when you are ready.
The add-in connects to Microsoft 365 through Draftable’s app Draftable Clean, which is the app you approve in Microsoft Entra ID. If your organization approved the add-in’s permissions before Outlook add-in 1.12.114.0 and has not yet approved Draftable Clean, that earlier approval was for a different app and does not carry over. An administrator needs to approve Draftable Clean once; you do not need to redeploy the add-in. See Approving Draftable Clean in Microsoft Entra.

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Overview

The Draftable Clean Outlook Add-in is a panel that runs directly inside Microsoft Outlook, automatically cleaning metadata from email attachments as users compose emails. Once deployed, the add-in appears in the Outlook ribbon and provides a seamless workflow for removing hidden metadata before sending. Key Features:
  • Automatic cleaning: attachments are cleaned according to your rules. Classic Outlook needs the pane open for cleaning; pin it to open automatically when composing
  • Domain-based profile selection — Cleaning profiles are applied automatically based on recipient email domains, with configurable rules for internal and external recipients
  • Per-file profile override — Users can override the cleaning profile for individual attachments (if enabled by the administrator)
  • Skip Cleaning — Administrators can choose not to clean attachments when every recipient resolves to a skip rule
  • Rename — Users can rename attachments directly in the add-in panel
  • Save to DMS: users can save cleaned attachments, and attachments converted to PDF, to iManage, NetDocuments, SharePoint or Epona 365, for each DMS turned on in Draftable Clean
  • Attachment summary — Users can use Insert Attachment Summary to add a formatted list or table to the email body
  • Send protection — Configurable controls to block, prompt, or allow sending when attachments are still cleaning, tracked changes are detected, or unsupported file types are attached
  • Multi-language support — Available in English, Deutsch, Español, Français, 日本語, Nederlands, Polski, Português, Svenska, and Tagalog
In New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web, the add-in can clean attachments in the background without the pane open. In Classic Outlook, users must open the pane for cleaning. Send Protection can block or prompt on send even when the pane has not been opened; if its settings cannot be read, users are asked to open the pane. Turning off Clean for New Outlook disables both cleaning and pre-send checks in that host. Account for this behaviour when planning deployment and communicating changes to your users.
The Draftable Clean desktop application must be installed on the user’s machine for the add-in to function. The add-in communicates with the desktop application via localhost. If the desktop application is not already running, the add-in will attempt to launch it silently in the background. See Deployment options for desktop application installation.

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Prerequisites

  • You must have admin privileges for Microsoft 365 (you will need a Microsoft 365 Business account)
  • Approving the add-in’s permissions, which approves the Draftable Clean app in Microsoft Entra ID, requires a Global Administrator or a Privileged Role Administrator. See Approving Draftable Clean in Microsoft Entra
  • Ensure your environment supports Office Add-ins via the Microsoft 365 admin center
  • The Draftable Clean desktop application must be installed on end-user machines
  • Corporate security tools must allow localhost network calls — the add-in communicates with the desktop application via localhost. See Network Requirements for details.

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Supported Outlook versions

Use an Outlook version that supports Mailbox API 1.13, as specified in the system requirements:

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About the send-time check

Deploying the add-in installs it for your users, but one of its features, the send-time check, also needs an administrator to approve Draftable’s app, Draftable Clean, in Microsoft Entra ID. Deploying the add-in does not approve it, so plan to approve Draftable Clean straight after you deploy. What the send-time check does: when a user presses Send, Draftable Clean reads the attachments as your mail server holds them and confirms they are the cleaned files, not the originals. It is a final safety net that stops an uncleaned document leaving if something went wrong earlier in the process. Once Draftable Clean is approved, the add-in also reads your organization’s own email size limit. Until then, it uses a standard default limit.
If all your users are on Classic Outlook, approving Draftable Clean is optional. We still recommend it: users who switch to New Outlook are covered straight away, and Classic users get your organization’s real email size limit.

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Step-by-Step Setup

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1. Choose a manifest URL

Deploy the add-in from one of these manifest URLs:
  • Latest manifest (recommended): follows new releases within major version 1 automatically, so ordinary updates reach your users without you deploying again.
  • Pinned manifest: stays on release 1.13.0.0 until you deploy a newer pinned manifest. Choose it if you would rather decide when each update reaches your users.

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2. Upload the add-in in the Integrated Apps portal

1
Visit the Integrated Apps section of the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
2
Click Upload custom apps.
3
Choose the option to provide a link to the manifest file, and paste the manifest URL you chose in step 1.
4
Click Validate or Next to check the manifest.

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3. Configure Delivery to Users

You will be asked how the add-in should be deployed across your organization:
  • Assign to Entire organization, Specific users, or Groups depending on your use case.
All add-ins deployed via the Microsoft 365 admin center are automatically installed for the assigned users — users do not need to install the add-in manually.

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4. Approve Draftable Clean

Deploying the add-in from a manifest URL does not approve its Microsoft Graph permission. Straight after deploying, approve Draftable’s app, Draftable Clean (application ID a661f67c-f640-4e9c-8137-2ac9a32589d4), in Microsoft Entra ID with the approval link. This requires a Global Administrator or a Privileged Role Administrator. You approve it once for the whole organization, and individual users are never prompted.

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Required Permissions Overview

  • Read and write the message being composed (ReadWriteItem, requested by the manifest): allows the add-in to read and update the email being written, including replacing an attachment with its cleaned copy. Review it in the Microsoft 365 admin center when you deploy the add-in.
  • Read mail through Microsoft Graph (Mail.Read, delegated), together with the standard sign-in permissions openid, profile and offline_access: granted when you approve Draftable Clean, and used for the send-time check and to read your organization’s email size limit.
Until Draftable Clean is approved, the add-in still installs and cleaning works normally. The send-time check is unavailable, so users in New Outlook and Outlook on the web are asked to confirm every send that has cleaned attachments. You can approve Draftable Clean at any time, without redeploying the add-in.
The send-time check runs in Outlook on the web and New Outlook for Windows. Classic Outlook saves drafts on the user’s computer and syncs them to the mail server with a delay, so the server copy can be out of date when the user presses Send. For that reason the check is not used in Classic Outlook, where cleaning and Send Protection continue to work as normal.
Background event handlers allow cleaning and Send Protection to run without the task pane open in New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. In Classic Outlook, keep the pane open for cleaning; Send Protection still applies when it is closed. If the send-protection settings cannot be read, you are asked to open the pane before sending. Turning off Clean for New Outlook disables both cleaning and pre-send checks in that host.

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5. Finish Setup

Once the app is assigned to your selected users, the Draftable Clean Outlook Add-in will be available within Outlook. Approve Draftable Clean (step 4) so the send-time check can run.
It can take up to 72 hours for the app to appear. Users may need to relaunch Microsoft 365 to view the add-in icon on the app ribbon. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation: Deploy add-ins in the admin center.

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6. Verify Deployment

  1. Open Outlook and compose a new email
  2. Select Manage Attachments in the ribbon
  3. Confirm that the Draftable Clean panel appears on the right-hand side of the compose window
  4. In the panel, use Insert Attachment Summary to add an attachment list or table to the message body
  5. To confirm the send-time check, use Outlook on the web or New Outlook for Windows. Add an attachment and let it clean, then close and reopen the panel. Hover over the version line at the bottom of the panel: Graph ok means the check is running, and Graph off followed by a reason in brackets means it is not. Graph off (token) usually means Draftable Clean has not been approved, either because the approval step was not completed or because your organization approved the earlier app before Outlook add-in 1.12.114.0 and has not yet approved Draftable Clean; see Approving Draftable Clean in Microsoft Entra. See Troubleshooting: Outlook Add-in if it is off. The check is not used in Classic Outlook, where the line shows Server check: not available in Classic once Draftable Clean is approved (before approval it shows Graph off (token)); this is expected
Earlier Outlook ribbon with the action labelled Draftable Clean
The earlier ribbon capture above labels the action Draftable Clean. In the current release, look for Manage Attachments. The current pane shows each attachment’s cleaning status and the actions available for it, such as Convert to PDF and Save to iManage:
Current Draftable Clean Outlook pane with two cleaned attachments, Save to iManage buttons and All attachments cleaned

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Updating the add-in

How updates reach users depends on how you deployed the add-in:
  • Latest manifest URL (recommended): users automatically receive the newest updates within that major version. You do not need to deploy the manifest again for each release.
  • Pinned manifest URL: when you want to move to a new version, open the add-in under Integrated apps, choose Update and provide the current pinned manifest URL from step 1. See Troubleshooting: Outlook Add-in for step-by-step instructions.
Updating to 1.13.0.0 needs no new approval. If your organization approved the earlier app before Outlook add-in 1.12.114.0 and has not yet approved Draftable Clean, an administrator approves it once with the approval link; this does not need a redeployment. Users may need to restart Outlook after an update. If an old version persists, see the troubleshooting guide for steps to clear the add-in cache.

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Removing the add-in

Uninstalling the Draftable Clean desktop application does not remove the Outlook add-in. The add-in is deployed separately through Microsoft 365, so it stays in Outlook and keeps trying to reach the desktop application, which can stop users sending emails with attachments. Remove the add-in from Integrated apps first. It can take up to 72 hours to disappear from users’ Outlook, so uninstall the desktop application only once it has gone.
For the removal steps, see Troubleshooting: Outlook Add-in.

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Configuring the Add-in

Once deployed, the add-in’s behavior is controlled through the Settings > Add-In section of the Draftable Clean desktop application. Administrators can also manage these settings centrally using Group Policy or Microsoft Intune. Key settings include:
  • Profile Selection — Default cleaning profile and domain-based profile rules
  • Domain Rules — Map recipient domains to cleaning profiles (e.g. internal domains use Clean Draft, external domains use Standard Clean)
  • Send Protection — Control what happens when attachments are still cleaning, tracked changes are detected, or unsupported file types are attached
  • Attachment Summary — Default format (List or Table) when inserting an attachment list
As of v26.6.0, each of these add-in settings is exposed as an individual Group Policy field, so administrators can configure — and optionally lock — the default profile and each send-protection behaviour so users cannot override organisation standards. A new ADMX template surfaces the DomainRules and AddInSettings policies explicitly.
Breaking change for scripted deployments. Outlook add-in settings previously deployed as a single combined JSON value must be migrated to the new individual Group Policy fields in v26.6.0. See Configuring preferences with Group Policy for the migration details, or Configuring preferences with Microsoft Intune if you deploy via Intune.
See Configuring preferences for your organization for an overview, or the Group Policy or Microsoft Intune guides for step-by-step configuration.
Draftable Clean 26.10 Add-In settings showing the no-recipient profile and domain rules
New Outlook switch in the released Draftable Clean 26.10 desktop settings

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Skip Cleaning and recipient rules

You can assign Skip Cleaning (do not clean) as the no-recipient choice or to a domain rule. Skip Cleaning applies only when every recipient resolves to a skip rule. If any recipient resolves to a cleaning profile or does not match a skip rule, the applicable cleaning profile takes precedence. Skip Cleaning is an Outlook add-in outcome, not a desktop cleaning profile.

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New Outlook for Windows

The Clean attachments in New Outlook setting applies only to New Outlook for Windows. When you turn it off, Draftable Clean does not clean attachments and does not run pre-send checks in New Outlook for Windows. This setting does not turn off Draftable Clean in Classic Outlook, Outlook on the web, or other Outlook hosts.

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Troubleshooting

If you experience issues with deployment, add-in visibility, cleaning behavior, or updating the manifest, see Troubleshooting: Outlook Add-in.

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Next steps

Quick Start Guide

Learn how to use the Draftable Clean Outlook Add-in to clean your first email attachments.

Configuring preferences with Group Policy

Centrally manage add-in settings and lock organisation defaults using Group Policy.

Deployment options

Install the Draftable Clean desktop application required for the add-in to function.

Troubleshooting: Outlook Add-in

Resolve deployment, manifest, cleaning, update, and cache issues with the Outlook add-in.