Quick answer
If filing an email throws a "something went wrong" error, the add-in has lost its link to Microsoft — usually after a password or MFA change. In Actionstep, click your user (top right) → Edit next to your email → Re-authenticate, then reopen the pane in Outlook. If the add-in is missing in New Outlook, check the ribbon's Apps section or use Outlook on the web. For blank templates, check the merge fields match what Actionstep defines.
WHY IT HAPPENS
The connection to Microsoft dropped.
Actionstep files emails and builds documents by connecting to your Microsoft 365 account. When you change your Microsoft password or update your MFA, that connection quietly breaks — and the add-in can no longer authenticate, which is what produces the "something went wrong" error. Two other things trip people up: the add-in needs a Microsoft 365 Business account with Exchange (personal or non-365 mailboxes won't work), and Microsoft's New Outlook often hides or drops the add-in. Blank document templates are a separate issue — usually a merge field that no longer lines up with the data.
HOW TO FIX IT
Work through these in order.
- Re-authenticate the integrationThis is the fix for most email-filing failures. In Actionstep, click your user name at the top right, click Edit beside your email address, then click Re-authenticate and sign in to Microsoft again. Do this any time you've changed your Microsoft password or MFA.
- Confirm the right account and mailboxCheck the Microsoft 365 account tied to the add-in is your primary work account, and that it's a Business account with Exchange. Personal Outlook.com or non-365 mailboxes aren't supported, so the integration will never file to them.
- Restart Outlook and check the ribbonClose and reopen Outlook. On the Home tab, click Open Actionstep to bring up the pane. If it's not visible, look under the ribbon's Apps section, where Office sometimes tucks add-ins away.
- File an email the supported wayWith the pane open, select one or more emails, then choose the matter to save them to — saved messages appear on that matter's Comms tab. When composing, associate the draft with a matter before sending so a copy files automatically once it's sent.
- Work around the New Outlook limitationIf the add-in shows as installed but never appears in New Outlook for Windows, use Outlook on the web (outlook.office.com), where add-ins render reliably — or switch back to classic Outlook using the New Outlook toggle, where the add-in shows normally.
- Fix blank or broken document templatesIf merged documents come through with empty fields, the template has lost its link to the data. Check each merge field is inserted exactly as Actionstep defines it, and that the information actually exists on the matter. For the Word template builder, confirm you're using the current Word add-in (the right-hand panel), not the retired legacy plug-in.
- Avoid the legacy Office plug-inThe old Microsoft Office plug-in for editing and saving documents is legacy technology that neither Microsoft nor Actionstep supports. If document editing keeps failing there, move to Actionstep's OneDrive integration, which is the supported way to edit and save files.
If re-authenticating doesn't stick — or it keeps dropping for several staff — the cause is usually in how your Microsoft 365 accounts, permissions and Outlook versions are set up across the firm. That's the point to bring in an IT provider who supports legal practices, rather than re-authenticating on each desk every week.
