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G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook: When Foes Become Friends

It’s a real challenge to have G Suite and Office 365 users, who are part of the same organization, work in harmony.

The need to foster productivity and collaboration between G Suite and Office 365 users, led to the birth of G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook.

A simple image depicting G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook.

What Is G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook?

G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GSSMO) lets you use Microsoft Outlook and G Suite together.

GSSMO syncs your Google account with Outlook, allowing you to access emails, calendars, contacts and more. You can essentially keep using Outlook on Windows OS; you’ll have to connect the data in G Suite in addition to Microsoft Exchange.

You probably noticed there was no mention of MacOS. Well, that’s because GSSMO is exclusive to the Microsoft ecosystem.

GSSMO: Requirements

Operating system requirements:

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

Outlook requirements:

  • Microsoft Outlook 2003 SP3
  • Microsoft Outlook 2007 SP2 (or SP1 with hotfix)
  • Microsoft Outlook 2010 (32 and 64 bit) with hotfix
  • Microsoft Outlook 2013 (32 and 64 bit)
  • Microsoft Outlook 2016 (32 and 64 bit)

Microsoft Outlook 2019 (32 and 64 bit)

Benefits of GSSMO

Apart from ease of setup and use, G Sync with Microsoft Outlook comes with a host of benefits: 

Works for Every Windows User Type

Solve the puzzle. 

What works for both old-time and new Windows users?

GSSMO! Continue using your preferred interface for emails, contacts and calendars that range from any version of Microsoft 2003 to Microsoft 2013.

Real Cost Savings 

GSSMO is a free tool that combines the power of two productivity suites (Office 365 and G Suite) in one. You do the math!

Autonomy at Its Best 

Work with your existing Outlook account while managing Google Apps stored in the cloud. This gives you the freedom to work from anywhere, at anytime, on any device.

What Types of Data Will GSSMO Sync?

Some Outlook data types do not sync with Google accounts and then there are Outlook data types that do sync with Google Apps. Here’s a list of the data types that GSSMO syncs with.

Data TypeGSSMO Synchronization
EmailAll Outlook messages and sub-folders are pulled.
CalendarManage G Suite calendars from Outlook, including primary calendars, custom-created calendars and shared calendars.
Personal & Global ContactsManage G Suite contacts, both personal and global, using the same Outlook interface.
TasksUse Outlook Tasks to track and manage to-do lists in your G Suite from any device.
NotesOutlook Notes are synced with the Google Drive account in the cloud.

Get the detailed version here.

How Do I Set Up G Suite Sync?

Simplicity is what Google does best – whether it is features or the G Suite Sync setup. All you need to keep in mind is only a G Suite admin can set up a GSSMO. If you’re not an admin, ask your G Suite admin to set it up on your behalf or watch this video to learn how to set it up yourself.

Troubleshooting G Suite Sync

Like most things, G Suite Sync is not perfect. There will be times when GSSMO will run into problems. Most of the issues can be resolved with two variations of the all-time classic fix: turn-it-off-and-on-again.

In other words, you will either have to reinstall Outlook or recreate the G Suite profile.

  • Reinstall Outlook. Initiate reinstallation from the original disk or install file, then download GSSMO and reinstall it.
  • Recreate the G Suite profile. First, remove the existing profile. Go to Windows Control Panel > Mail Settings > select Show Profiles to delete the profile. Then create a new profile. Start Menu > Find All Programs > GSSMO > Set up GSSMO User and create a new profile.

If neither works, try Google’s troubleshooting guide for admins here.

Final Outlook (no pun intended!)

G Suite Sync is a great feature for those who are married to Microsoft but still love Google. They can’t choose between the two, but with GSSMO, they don’t have to.

However, there is a downside to this love affair.

GSSMO doesn’t always work as it should. Due to sync errors, synchronization between Google and Microsoft tends to fall short of perfection every now and then. Things go bad when sync errors lead to corruption in the Outlook personal folder files, aka PST files. This could result in a huge loss for users since neither Microsoft nor Google take responsibility for data loss caused by sync errors. In such scenarios, a third-party backup solution is needed to mitigate the impact of data loss.

Spanning’s cloud-native, purpose-built solutions for Office 365 and G Suite protects your organization’s critical data from loss caused by sync errors. It enables G Suite and Office 365 administrators and end-users to quickly find and restore data to its original state in just a few clicks.

Learn More


*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Spanning authored by Dave Wallen. Read the original post at: https://spanning.com/blog/g-suite-sync-for-microsoft-outlook/