Configuring Misdirected Email Prevention

The Outlook Add-In performs real-time checks during user actions such as Send, Reply, Reply All, and Forward. When a potential risk is detected, the system displays an on-screen warning to the user before the email is sent.

To view the supported devices for the Outlook Add-In, see Outlook Add-In - Supported Outlook Types and Platform.

Misdirected Email Prevention requires a DLP license (either the DLP add-on or the Complete Package).

To configure misdirected email notifications:

Access the Avanan Administrator Portal.
From the left navigation panel, go to User Interaction > Misdirected Emails.
Enable the required categories toggle buttons and click Save Changes. See Misdirected Emails Categories.

Responding to Misdirected Email Warnings in Outlook - End-User Experience

If an administrator has configured the misdirected email notifications in the Outlook Add-In, it performs real-time checks during actions such as Send, Reply, Reply All, and Forward.

When a potential risk is detected, an on-screen warning banner appears in Outlook before any action, allowing a user to review the details.

For more information about the permissions requested during Outlook Add-In sign-in, see Required Permissions.

To respond to a misdirected email:

When the warning banner appears, review the email details shown in the alert.

If the information entered is correct, select Send Anyway to proceed.
If the suggested correction is correct, select Replace & Send to apply the change and send the email.

This ensures emails are sent to the intended recipients while reducing the risk of accidental data exposure.

Outlook Add-In Processing Message During Email Send

In some cases, when the user clicks Send, Outlook may display the following message:

One or more add-ins couldn't complete processing your email.

This issue occurs when the user performs another action that moves them away from the message being sent before the Outlook Add-In finishes processing the email.

Examples include:

Clicking another email
Switching to a different Outlook folder
Navigating away from the compose window
Changing focus before the add-in completes its processing

When this occurs, Outlook interrupts the send process and prompts the user to select an action, such as Wait or Save as Draft.

Recommended User Action:

The user should click Wait and allow the Avanan Outlook Add-In to complete processing the email before continuing to work in Outlook.

Misdirected Emails Categories


Category and Name	Description	Enabled by Default?
Misdirected Recipients
Incorrect Recipient Address	Notifies users when emailing an external contact for the first time.	Yes
Lookalike Domain	Warns users when the recipient's domain closely resembles a trusted domain.	Yes
External Contact	Alerts users when an email address may contain typographical errors.	No
Incoming Email from External Sender	Displays alerts for incoming emails (label/description placeholder shown) from external senders.	No
Fundamentals
Sender Domain Created Recently	Detects emails whose sender domain was created recently.	No
Reply-to Domain Recently Created	Detects incoming emails with a reply-to domain that was created recently and differs from the sender domain.	No
Sender Name Differs from Address	Detects emails where the display name significantly differs from the actual email address.	No
Sender SPF Failed	Detects emails that fail Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authentication.	No
Impersonation
Sender Resembles Internal Employee	Detects emails from a first-time sender whose display name matches an employee within the organization.	No
First-time Sender	Detects emails from senders with whom the recipient has never communicated.	No
Business Email Compromise
Payroll Information Update Request	Detects emails requesting payroll information updates from external senders.	No
Invoice from a New Vendor	Detects invoices received from vendors with no prior communication history.	No
Sender Resembles Contact	Detects email senders that closely resemble, but are not identical to, known contacts.	No
Request to Update Payment Details	Detects vendor requests to change payment details.	No
Financial Transaction Requests
Emails with Invoices / POs	Detects emails that contain payment requests such as invoices or purchase orders.	No
Payment Request via Payment Service	Detects payment requests via third-party services (for example, PayPal or Venmo).	No
Avoiding Inspection
Emails with Links to Restricted Resources	Detects emails that contain links to restricted-access resources.	No
Emails Appearing to Be from an E-Sign Service	Detects emails that contain potentially malicious e-signature links.	No