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Email Sync: Autopilot for Emails

ExtendSync Outlook | How does Autopilot works

Updated today

Introduction

At CloudExtend, we are continuously striving to improve, which means listening to our customers and implementing feedback.

The need for automation, particularly within email productivity apps, is the #1 request on our product board. Everyone wants to do more in less time, and we’ve built a robust product roadmap to address automation.


What Is Autopilot?

Autopilot enables you to automatically sync emails to NetSuite — either based on a specific email address or an entire thread — eliminating the need for manual associations.

Two Autopilot Saved Methods:

Method

Description

Best For

Email Address-Based (To/From/CC)

Automatically syncs all emails to/from a specific address to a NetSuite record.

Ongoing communication with the same contact or entity.

Thread-Based (Updates to This Thread)

Automatically syncs all replies in a single email thread.

Specific conversations tied to one transaction.


Autopilot for Emails

Email Address-Based Autopilot (Based on To/From/CC)

With Email Address–Based Autopilot, ExtendSync monitors all communications with a specific sender or recipient and automatically attaches those emails to the chosen NetSuite record — no clicks needed!

💡 Note:
Email Address–Based Autopilot works only in the Primary Inbox and Sent Items folders in Outlook.

How to Set It Up

Step 1: In the ExtendSync panel, select Suggest Related Records and go to the Autopilot section.

Step 2: Select To/From/CC.

Step 3: Select the email address you want to associate.

Step 4: Under Auto Associate To, select one or more NetSuite records to attach all current and future related emails.

  • Use the search bar if the record you want isn’t listed.

  • Learn how to optimize your search here.

Step 5: Then, click Start Email Autopilot.

Example:

  • Once it’s set up, ExtendSync keeps everything in sync — set it once and forget it!

  • Every incoming email from Astrid will automatically sync to the assigned NetSuite record.

  • Any new emails you send to Astrid will also be saved automatically.

Set it once and forget it. That’s it! ✨


Thread-Based Autopilot (Based on Updates to this thread)

Use this method to sync only the current conversation thread (and its replies) to NetSuite.

Step 1: Select Suggest Related Records and go to the Autopilot section.

Step 2: Select Updates to this thread.

Step 3: Scroll down to Auto Associate to section to choose what records you want to associate current and future back-and-forth emails to.

Use the search box to find additional records
📘 Optimize your record search here

Step 4: Once done, click Start Thread Autopilot.


Save Emails with Attachments or Inline Images

Both One-Time Save and Autopilot support syncing attachments and inline images to NetSuite.

When saving an email:

  • Select the NetSuite records you want to store the email to.

  • If you want to include attachments, click the 📎 paperclip icon before saving.

  • By default, the file/s will be stored in the NetSuite file cabinet.

💡 For organizations using ExtendDocs:

File attachments and inline images are stored directly in your OneDrive/SharePoint site, rather than in the NetSuite File Cabinet.


Turn Off Autopilot for Emails

You can disable Autopilot anytime, either for a specific thread or for an email address association.

Turning Email Autopilot off for a thread

If a conversation goes off-topic or you no longer want it synced automatically:

  1. Open the ExtendSync add-in from the thread.

  2. Go to the Autopilot section.

  3. Click Cancel Autopilot.

📝 Note:
Once you cancel, Autopilot can’t be reactivated from the same email.
To turn it back on, reply to the thread, open it from Sent Items, and re-enable Autopilot.


Turning off Email Autopilot for email address sync

  1. In the ExtendSync panel, click Menu → Settings → Email Autopilot Associations.

  2. Search for the email address you want to manage.

  3. Click the matching email address to:

    • View the list of associated NetSuite records.

    • Hover over the 🗑️ trash icon next to a record to remove the association.

After removal, future emails from that address will no longer sync automatically.

💡 Tips:

  • Use partial searches (e.g., “@company.com” or “.org”) to find multiple addresses quickly.

  • ExtendSync Admins can enable or disable Autopilot for users through the Subscription Portal.

    • Administrators can use the subscription portal to view and manage user licenses associated with Autopilot.

    • This tool enables tracking of active licenses and provides options for disabling Autopilot for specific users or groups.


Technical Notes

Sender/Recipient NetSuite entity might seem different when using Email Autopilot

To ensure that your email is not rejected by NetSuite. ExtendSync may need to set the sender or recipient as a known entity.

Fortunately, ExtendSync is able to overwrite the email address which is why we recommend implementing the view tips and just moving on.


💡 Click here to find out more about the technical reasons behind why a sender/recipient NetSuite entity might seem different.


FAQs

🔵 How do I cancel emails that are on Autopilot?

  • See this brief article to learn how to cancel thread and email-based Autopilot

🔵 Will Autopilot impact the performance of my Outlook?

  • It should not. Apart from the Autopilot UI, everything else runs outside of the Outlook app

🔵 If there are 100 users in my org and only 10 have CEOL with AP are the other 90 emails being watched as well? Any performance impact to the back end?

  • ExtendSync uses a mailbox watch for just the 10 users but even this happens via the Microsoft API and will not impact performance.

🔵 Can one email be associated with multiple records?

  • Yes! You can associate the same email with multiple records.

🔵 Is there a limit as to the number of email addresses that can be activated as Autopilot?

  • No — there are no limits per user or organization.

🔵 Is there a limit as to the number of email addresses a single user can have on AP 2.0?

  • No — there are no limits per user or organization.

🔵 Can all the contacts on Autopilot be managed in one place?

  • Currently, contacts can be managed individually in Settings → Email Autopilot Associations. A centralized view for admin is planned for a future release.

🔵 Can this feature be disabled for certain users within the org?

🔵 Will Autopilot work on shared mailboxes?

🔵 What happens if multiple people put the same contact on Autopilot?

  • If the users are attaching to the same NetSuite record (contact for example) then the email will be in NetSuite 2x.

  • Emails attached to different records will not result in duplicates at the record level, however, if emails roll up to a parent they will both be displayed there.

  • Teams will need to have processes in place to avoid this.

🔵 Will I be alerted if an association fails and if so, how?

  • Yes. You can view all Autopilot activity under Menu → Logs → Status Log, showing success, failure, or pending states.
    Email notifications are planned for a future release.

🔵 How will I know when AP available?

  • When we release an update to the App the updates are pushed out to users by Microsoft. This typically occurs on the same day as the release.

  • When the update has been pushed users will receive an email notification with release notes as well as in-app notification banner.

  • The version will be 4.X for AP

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