Claude integrates with Microsoft 365 in two main ways as of October 2026: the Microsoft 365 connector, which lets Claude search and read SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook and Teams through delegated Microsoft Graph permissions, and the Claude for Microsoft 365 add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook, which work on the file or message open in front of the user. The add-ins need a paid Claude plan, and the connector needs a Microsoft Entra tenant on a business plan where a Global Administrator grants admin consent. The connector is read-only by default and write tools need separate consent, so the rollout decision is really a permissions decision.
This guide lists what each integration reaches, the permissions it requests, how consent works and what to check before anyone in the company connects it. Outlook, SharePoint and Excel are sections here because the permission model is shared. Custom integrations built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) are a third route, reviewed in our MCP connector security review.
Which Claude integrations exist for Microsoft 365?
| Integration | What it reaches | Claude plans | Who enables it | Read or write |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 connector (Claude chat and Claude Cowork) | Search and read across SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook and Teams, including calendar, meetings, chats and channels | Free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise | Owners on Team and Enterprise (Organization settings > Connectors); individuals on Free, Pro and Max; a Microsoft Entra Global Administrator grants consent in every case | Read-only by default; optional write scopes for mail, calendar, files and Teams messages |
| Claude for Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook add-ins | The file open in Excel, PowerPoint or Word, or the email or event open in Outlook | Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise | Installed from Microsoft AppSource; member access can be managed in the Microsoft 365 admin center; cross-app mode is set under Organization settings > Office agents | Reads and writes the open file or item; cannot open, close or switch files |
| Custom MCP connectors | Whatever the server exposes, for example a line-of-business system hosted in Azure | Free (one connector), Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise | Team: Owners and Primary Owners; Enterprise: Owners, Primary Owners or a custom role with Manage access to Libraries | Depends on the server's tools |
Sources: Anthropic's Microsoft 365 connector setup article, its Office add-ins documentation and its custom connectors article, read on October 17, 2026.
What permissions does the Microsoft 365 connector request?
The connector uses delegated permissions only: Claude acts as the signed-in user, inside that user's existing access, and Anthropic's security guide states that service principal authentication is not supported. A Microsoft Entra Global Administrator grants one-time admin consent, through Claude or manually, for two app registrations named "M365 MCP Client for Claude" and "M365 MCP Server for Claude." The read scopes requested, grouped by workload:
- Identity and profile: User.Read, User.ReadBasic.All, openid, profile, email, offline_access.
- Outlook mail and calendar: Mail.Read, Mail.ReadBasic, Mail.Read.Shared, MailboxFolder.Read, MailboxItem.Read, MailboxSettings.Read, Calendars.Read, Calendars.Read.Shared.
- Teams: Chat.Read, Chat.ReadBasic, ChatMember.Read, ChatMessage.Read, Team.ReadBasic.All, Channel.ReadBasic.All, ChannelMessage.Read.All, and the online meeting scopes for transcripts, recordings, artifacts and AI insights.
- SharePoint and OneDrive: Files.Read, Files.Read.All, Sites.Read.All.
Write scopes are optional and separate: Mail.Send, Mail.ReadWrite, Calendars.ReadWrite, Files.ReadWrite.All, MailboxSettings.ReadWrite, ChatMessage.Send, ChannelMessage.Send, Chat.Create and People.Read. Enabling them takes two decisions by two people: an Entra administrator consents to the write scopes, and a Claude organization owner turns the write tools on. Organizations that used the connector before write tools existed have them blocked by default, and Enterprise can limit write tools to a subset of users through custom roles. Teams write tools (send, post, reply) are set individually to Ask or Blocked, and starting a new chat can be set to Allow.
Read the scope list the way an auditor would. Files.Read.All and Sites.Read.All mean Claude can retrieve anything the user can already open anywhere in SharePoint, and the setup article confirms SharePoint search is tenant-wide with no site-specific restriction. If your SharePoint permissions are loose, the connector exposes that immediately, so fix sharing before you connect anything. The mail scopes reach shared mailboxes only where the user has delegate access, and the Online Archive is not searched.
How does the Claude Outlook integration work?
There are two different Outlook integrations and companies mix them up. Through the connector, Claude in chat or Cowork can search and read the user's mail and calendar, and with write scopes can draft and send mail; emails Claude sends carry an agent-initiated attribution header, attachments are not supported in write tools and per-user write limits apply. Through the Claude for Outlook add-in, Claude works on the single email or event currently open, which is a narrower and more predictable surface for most staff. If the goal is "help me answer this message," the add-in does it without granting tenant-wide mail read; if the goal is "find every thread about this client across the mailbox and the team channel," that is the connector.
How does the Claude Excel integration work, and what should finance teams know?
Claude for Excel is an add-in from Microsoft AppSource for Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. It reads and writes the workbook that is open and cannot open, close or switch files. Three facts matter for a finance team before it touches live financial models. First, Anthropic's retention documentation lists Claude for Excel as not currently eligible for zero data retention, and the add-in documentation says inputs and outputs are deleted from Anthropic's backend within 30 days. Second, the add-ins do not inherit Enterprise custom data retention settings, their activity is not included in Enterprise audit logs or data exports (sessions are included in the Compliance API, in public beta), and chat history is stored locally in the browser. Third, "Claude in Office" is listed among the beta features not covered by Anthropic's Business Associate Agreement, which matters to any practice handling patient billing in spreadsheets. Microsoft 365 Copilot is Microsoft's own assistant inside Excel, so decide which one finance uses for which task and write it into the usage policy rather than letting both run on the same model file.
Cross-app mode, "Let Claude work across files," is on by default for Pro and Max and off by default for Team and Enterprise; an owner controls it under Organization settings > Office agents, and it is not supported when Claude is reached through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Azure AI Foundry or an LLM gateway.
How do SharePoint, Conditional Access and the audit log fit?
Anthropic's connector security guide says content stays in the tenant, the connector does not cache file content and fetches on demand, tool results that become part of a stored chat are retained with that chat, tokens are encrypted while cached, access tokens expire in 60 to 90 minutes and refresh tokens expire after 90 days of inactivity by default. Because the permissions are delegated, Microsoft 365 data loss prevention policies apply, and the connector's Graph calls appear in the Microsoft 365 audit log, which is how an administrator later answers what Claude read.
Conditional Access needs care. Group-based assignment and MFA requirements work, and device compliance is checked at connect time against the device record from the most recent connection. Location, network and sign-in-frequency policies are not supported, because the server-side requests come from Anthropic's address range 160.79.104.0/21 rather than the user's device; a tenant that blocks sign-ins outside its offices will block the connector. Revocation is immediate: users remove the connector under Customize > Connectors, owners remove it in organization settings, and an Entra administrator can revoke at scope or tenant level. Google Workspace has an equivalent set of connectors (Google Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar on Team and Enterprise), and the same checklist applies.
What should you check before rollout?
- Confirm the tenant is a Microsoft Entra tenant on a Microsoft business plan; personal Outlook.com or Hotmail accounts cannot connect.
- Decide the Claude plan first. On Team and Enterprise only owners can enable the connector and write tools, and Enterprise adds audit logs, custom roles and the Compliance API; our Claude Team vs Enterprise comparison covers the rest.
- Audit SharePoint sharing and permissions before consent, following our SharePoint permissions checklist and the oversharing guide; tenant-wide search will surface whatever is overshared.
- Have the Global Administrator review the exact scope list in the consent prompt and record the two app registrations in your application inventory.
- Start read-only. Leave write scopes unconsented until a specific workflow needs them and a named owner approves it.
- Review Conditional Access: assign the policies that should apply (MFA, group assignment, device compliance) and document that location-based policies do not cover it.
- Check that DLP policies cover the labels and content types you care about, because they are the control that follows the data into Claude.
- Confirm the unified audit log is on and retained, so Graph calls by the connector can be reviewed; our Microsoft 365 security audit checklist lists the exports.
- Write the usage rule: which roles may connect, which data classes may be queried, who approves write tools, and what to do if Claude surfaces something the user should not have seen.
- Pilot with a small group, read the audit log after two weeks, then expand.
How does NetSys help with a Claude and Microsoft 365 rollout?
NetSys reviews the identity, connector, data and permission side of a Claude deployment as part of its AI security assessment: which integrations are enabled, which scopes were consented and by whom, how SharePoint sharing looks before tenant-wide search is switched on, and which Conditional Access and DLP controls actually apply. Where a workflow needs more than the native connector, we build scoped integrations, as in our Microsoft Graph connectors case study, and custom Claude applications that read from your systems with access scoped per user. One published engagement covered a Copilot and Claude rollout for 25 employees with usage policies, connector access controls and staff training. Setup and reviews are scoped after a call; NetSys does not publish prices.
Frequently asked questions
Does Claude integrate with Microsoft 365?
Yes, in two ways as of October 2026: a Microsoft 365 connector that reads SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook and Teams through delegated permissions, and add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook that work on the open file or message. Custom MCP connectors are a third route for systems the native connector does not cover.
Is the Claude Microsoft 365 connector read-only?
By default, yes. Anthropic's setup article says permissions are read-only by default; write tools need an Entra administrator to consent to the write scopes and a Claude organization owner to enable them, and Teams write tools are controlled one by one.
Can Claude read SharePoint?
Yes, within the signed-in user's existing access. Search is tenant-wide and cannot be restricted to one site. Readable file types are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and plain text; OneNote is not readable, and the connector fetches content on demand rather than caching it.
Does the connector need admin consent?
Yes. A Microsoft Entra Global Administrator grants one-time admin consent for the two Claude app registrations, either through the Claude prompt or manually in Entra. The tenant must be an Entra tenant tied to a Microsoft business plan.
Does Claude for Excel keep our spreadsheets?
Anthropic says add-in inputs and outputs are deleted from its backend within 30 days, chat history is stored locally in the browser, and Claude for Excel is not currently eligible for zero data retention. Enterprise custom retention settings do not apply to the add-ins, and the Office add-ins are outside the Business Associate Agreement.
Does Claude integrate with Google Workspace too?
Yes. Anthropic's Team and Enterprise plan articles list connectors for Google Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar alongside Microsoft 365, GitHub and Slack, and the review steps above apply unchanged.
NetSys sets up and reviews Claude alongside Microsoft 365 for small and mid-sized companies, with the permissions documented before anyone connects. Discuss a Claude application with a NetSys engineer.
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