Improving Retrieval of Sent Emails in OfficeJS

[CodeCube0]

Hi OfficeJS Team,

I wanted to ask if there are any plans to introduce a more efficient way to retrieve sent emails via OfficeJS, similar to what was possible with VSTO/COM.
Currently, after sending an email through the add-in, retrieving the final version of the email (the one actually sent) depends on synchronization with Exchange/Sent Items, which can cause delays and complications, especially if the email was previously saved as a draft.

Are you considering integrating an API or mechanism that would allow obtaining the sent email immediately, reliably, and faster?

Thank you for any updates or suggestions.

[github-actions]

Here are some similar issues that might help you. Please check if they can solve your problem.

• Retrieve RFC message ID after sending the email #5528
• Need a reliable way to send mail from an Outlook add‑in: item.body.getAsync() returns stale HTML and item.saveAsync() draft is not visible to Microsoft Graph #5847
• Need to reliably save the email draft in compose mode to make it available via Graph API #6077

---

Possible solution (Extracted from existing issue, might be incorrect; please verify carefully)

Solution 1:

There really isn't a way to ensure immediate synchronization. Classic Outlook in Cached mode syncs back to the server at non-deterministic intervals (30 seconds to 1-2 minutes is expected). The only way to avoid this is to do everything via Office.js commands on the client side instead of using Graph API. Alternatively, Classic Outlook can be put in 'Online Mode,' but this must be done by the end user and may impact performance.

Reference:

• Need to reliably save the email draft in compose mode to make it available via Graph API #6077 (comment)

Solution 2:

The method Office.context.mailbox.item.saveAsync does not guarantee that the message will be saved immediately. A polling or delay method can be used to retrieve the file. Previously, the file was available within 30 seconds, but now it takes 1–2 minutes. This approach involves retry logic with exponential backoff to handle delays.

Reference:

• Need to reliably save the email draft in compose mode to make it available via Graph API #6077 (comment)

Solution 3:

If there is more Office.js functionality needed to handle this client-side, the product team could consider it for future improvements. However, this would not provide an immediate solution.

Reference:

• Need to reliably save the email draft in compose mode to make it available via Graph API #6077 (comment)

Powered by issue-sentinel