Email logging in Business Central captures email correspondence with contacts, customers, and vendors and stores each interaction as an entry in the contact’s Interaction Log. This gives you a CRM-style view of communication history without needing a separate tool, all tracked emails are visible directly on the relevant contact or company record.
The feature requires Microsoft 365 or Exchange and works by monitoring a shared mailbox where copies of emails are routed.
How Email Logging Works
When email logging is active, Business Central monitors a designated shared mailbox. Emails that pass through that mailbox, either sent from or received by contacts in your BC database, are matched to the relevant contact record and logged as interaction entries.
The matching process uses email addresses. If an email address on an incoming or outgoing message matches a contact in Business Central, the email is logged against that contact. If no match is found and the Auto-Create Contacts option is enabled, Business Central can create a new contact automatically.
Logged interactions appear on the Interaction Log Entries page on the contact card.
Approaches: Shared Mailbox vs Graph API
Business Central supports two methods for email logging.
Shared mailbox approach (Exchange/Microsoft 365)
This is the traditional method. You create a dedicated shared mailbox in Microsoft 365 or Exchange, for example, [email protected]. Users BCC that mailbox on relevant emails, or you configure mail flow rules in Exchange to automatically route copies there. Business Central polls the mailbox and processes new messages.
Graph API approach (Microsoft 365)
The newer approach uses the Microsoft Graph API to access mailbox data directly without requiring a shared mailbox. It connects to individual user mailboxes or shared mailboxes via app registration in Azure Active Directory. This method is more flexible and does not rely on manual BCC or mail flow rules, but it requires an Azure app registration with the correct permissions.
Both approaches end up in the same place: matched emails logged on contact interaction records in Business Central.
Set Up Email Logging
Step 1: Prepare the shared mailbox
If using the shared mailbox approach, create a dedicated mailbox in Microsoft 365 or Exchange. Note the email address, you will need it during setup.
Step 2: Open Email Logging Setup
- Search for Email Logging Setup using
Alt + Q. - The setup page shows the current status and configuration options.
Step 3: Configure the mailbox connection
- In the Email Account field, enter or select the shared mailbox you created.
- If using the Graph API approach, select Use Microsoft 365 and sign in with an account that has access to the mailbox.
- If using Exchange directly, enter the Exchange Web Services URL and provide credentials for the service account.
Step 4: Set the queue and storage folders
Business Central monitors a specific folder in the shared mailbox for new emails to process.
- In the Queue Folder Name field, enter the name of the folder where emails are routed for processing, for example,
Queue. - In the Storage Folder Name field, enter the folder where processed emails are moved after logging, for example,
Processed. - Create these folders in the shared mailbox if they do not exist.
Step 5: Enable auto-create contacts
- Toggle Auto-Create Contacts if you want Business Central to create new contact records for email addresses that do not yet match an existing contact.
- If this is off, emails from unknown senders are skipped and not logged.
Step 6: Activate email logging
- Select Enabled to turn on email logging.
- Business Central will begin polling the queue folder at the interval set by the background job.
Start the Email Logging Job
Email logging runs as a background job via the Job Queue.
- Search for Job Queue Entries using
Alt + Q. - Find the entry for Email Logging or Log Segment.
- Confirm the status is Ready and the recurrence is configured as needed.
The job checks the shared mailbox queue folder for new messages and processes them. Adjust the run frequency based on how current you need the interaction log to be.
View Logged Emails on a Contact
Once email logging is running, matched emails appear on the contact’s interaction history.
- Open the Contact Card for any contact.
- Select Navigate > Interaction Log Entries, or select the Interaction Log Entries count on the factbox.
- Each logged email appears as an entry with the date, description, and subject line.
You can open an interaction log entry to see the full details of the logged correspondence, including the email subject and timestamp.
Use Email Logging for CRM Tracking
Email logging is most useful when combined with other CRM features in Business Central:
- Campaigns: Link interaction log entries to campaigns to track which contacts responded to outreach.
- Opportunity management: Interactions logged against a contact are visible when reviewing the contact’s associated opportunities.
- Segment management: Use the Segments feature to group contacts by their interaction history, including email activity.
The interaction log becomes a running record of all touchpoints with a contact, calls, emails, meetings, documents sent, in one place.
Requirements and Limitations
- Requires Microsoft 365 or Exchange. On-premises Exchange setups require Exchange Web Services (EWS) access.
- The service account or app registration used for logging must have read and move permissions on the shared mailbox.
- Email logging does not capture email body content by default, it logs the interaction as metadata (sender, recipient, subject, date). Actual email content is not stored in Business Central.
- Very high email volumes may require tuning the job queue interval and folder management to avoid processing backlogs.
To manage which users can configure email logging settings and view interaction log entries, see How to Configure Security Groups in Business Central.