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How to Install and Set up the XQ Add-in from Outlook Desktop

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The XQ Outlook Enterprise add-in allows you to encrypt messages and attachments directly from your Outlook account.

Install the Add-in

Section titled “Install the Add-in”

The first thing to do is navigate to: https://o365.xqmsg.com/manifest.xml

  • Once there, right-click anywhere on the page and click ‘save as’. The page will save as: manifest.xml. Take note of the location, you will need this in just a few steps.

Next:

  1. Log in to your Outlook account.
  2. Click the three-dots icon. In the menu that opens, click Get Add-ins.

Outlook for Mac: click the three-dots icon, then Get Add-ins

Alternatively, or if you are unable to find the options above, log into Outlook on the web (https://outlook.com) and then navigate to:

This link will refresh Outlook and then will open the following pop-up window, click My add-ins. Scroll down and click Add a custom add-in. Select Add from File… from the drop-down menu.

Office Add-ins: My add-ins, then Add a custom add-in, Add from URL

  1. Click Install on the Warning pop-up window.

    You will see the add-in under the Custom Add-ins section.

Add private add-in from a URL with the XQ manifest URL, OK, then Install, with XQ Outlook Enterprise added

Configure Settings

Section titled “Configure Settings”
  1. You have two options for opening the settings menu:
    • From New Message: Click the three-dots icon, select XQ Encryption and then Settings.
    • From Inbox: Select any message, click the three-dots icon, select Read with XQ and then Settings.

Opening XQ add-in Settings from a new message (option 1) or from the inbox (option 2)

  1. The XQ Outlook Enterprise will open at the right side. Click Get Started, then Login. A browser tab opens with the XQ sign-in page.

  2. Sign in with Microsoft, Google, or your email address. If you enter your email address, open the email from XQ and click the link in it to continue.

  3. If you belong to more than one XQ team, choose the team to sign in to.

  4. If your team admin requires sign-in through your organization’s identity provider, sign in there when asked. See How can I require users to sign-in with SSO?

  5. Close the tab and go back to Outlook. You’re now signed in.

  6. Open the settings menu by clicking the three-dots icon inside an email, then XQ Outlook Enterprise and Settings.

Available settings

Section titled “Available settings”

  • Message expiration – Choose how long recipients can open the message. Your admin sets the default, and can stop you from changing it. See Security settings.

  • Viewable By All XQ Users – Choose who can decrypt the message. It’s encrypted with either option. Viewable By All XQ Users: anyone who is signed in to XQ can decrypt it, including people it’s forwarded to. Click the setting to change it to Viewable By Authenticated Users: only you and the people named in the To, CC or BCC fields can decrypt it, after signing in to XQ. See Security settings.

  • Use OTP Encryption – By clicking this setting you can change it to Use AES-256 GCM Encryption if needed.

  • Never Offload Messages – Use this only if your organization is not able to set up SharePoint offloading. It stores long messages, messages with images in the body and messages with long signatures in your own OneDrive, and sends the recipient a code to retrieve the encrypted message. Only addressed recipients can decrypt messages stored this way.

    To offload messages to your OneDrive, click Never Offload Messages, select Offload Messages To OneDrive, click Connect Account and Continue, and sign in to your Microsoft OneDrive account.

XQ add-in settings: change to Offload Messages To OneDrive, Connect Account, and sign in to Microsoft

To disable this setting, select Never Offload Messages.

You can see the connected One Drive account along with one new option in the settings menu.

XQ add-in settings with Offload Messages To OneDrive and the connected account shown

  • Offload Long Messages Only – When enabled, this setting offload only long messages to OneDrive. Messages with images or long signatures will not offload to OneDrive if you choose to enable this setting.
  • Always Confirm Insecure Send – When checked, you’ll get a pop-up box in the middle of the screen when you send a message asking if you want to send the message with or without encryption. When unchecked, it will send messages without encryption (unless there’s a policy that captures some of the content).
  • Automatically Encrypt Messages – When enabled, this setting automatically encrypts all messages sent via Outlook.
  • Dark Mode – When enabled, this setting changes the appearance of the add-in to Dark Mode.

Make sure to click Save after changing the settings to ensure your add-in settings are updated.

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