Microsoft Outlook Automation

This guide demonstrates how to automate the Microsoft Outlook desktop application using the pywin32 library. This allows you to send emails, read inbox messages, and manage folders directly through the installed Outlook client on Windows.

Note: This script requires Windows and the Microsoft Outlook desktop application to be installed and configured.

Modules Used:

pywin32: Provides access to the Windows API and COM objects (specifically win32com.client).
argparse: To handle command-line arguments.

Installation

pip install pywin32

The Code

Save this as outlook_bot.py.

import win32com.client as win32
import argparse
import sys
import os

def get_outlook():
    try:
        # Connect to the running Outlook instance or start a new one
        outlook = win32.Dispatch('outlook.application')
        return outlook
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error connecting to Outlook: {e}")
        return None

def send_email(to, subject, body, attachment=None):
    outlook = get_outlook()
    if not outlook: return

    try:
        # 0 represents a MailItem
        mail = outlook.CreateItem(0)
        mail.To = to
        mail.Subject = subject
        mail.Body = body

        if attachment:
            if os.path.exists(attachment):
                mail.Attachments.Add(os.path.abspath(attachment))
            else:
                print(f"Warning: Attachment '{attachment}' not found.")

        # mail.Display() # Uncomment to show the email window instead of sending immediately
        mail.Send()
        print(f"Email sent to {to}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error sending email: {e}")

def read_inbox(count=5):
    outlook = get_outlook()
    if not outlook: return

    try:
        # GetNamespace("MAPI") is required to access folders
        mapi = outlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")

        # 6 refers to the Inbox folder
        inbox = mapi.GetDefaultFolder(6)

        messages = inbox.Items
        messages.Sort("[ReceivedTime]", True) # Sort by received time descending

        print(f"\n--- Latest {count} Emails ---")

        # Iterate through the first 'count' messages
        for i, message in enumerate(messages):
            if i >= count:
                break

            try:
                sender = message.SenderName
                subject = message.Subject
                received = message.ReceivedTime
                print(f"[{received}] From: {sender} | Subject: {subject}")
            except Exception:
                # Some items might not be MailItems (e.g., meeting requests)
                print(f"[{message.ReceivedTime}] <Non-Mail Item>")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error reading inbox: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Outlook Automation Tool")
    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", help="Command to run")

    # Send Command
    send_parser = subparsers.add_parser("send", help="Send an email")
    send_parser.add_argument("to", help="Recipient email")
    send_parser.add_argument("subject", help="Email subject")
    send_parser.add_argument("body", help="Email body")
    send_parser.add_argument("--attachment", help="Path to attachment file")

    # Read Command
    read_parser = subparsers.add_parser("read", help="Read latest emails")
    read_parser.add_argument("-n", "--count", type=int, default=5, help="Number of emails to read")

    args = parser.parse_args()

    if args.command == "send":
        send_email(args.to, args.subject, args.body, args.attachment)
    elif args.command == "read":
        read_inbox(args.count)
    else:
        parser.print_help()

Usage

# Read the last 5 emails
python outlook_bot.py read

# Send an email
python outlook_bot.py send recipient@example.com "Hello" "This is an automated message."

programming/python/python

Created: March 17, 2026 • Last Modified: January 28, 2026

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Microsoft Outlook Automation

Installation

The Code

Usage