> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.recruitier.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connecting Your Email

> Connect Gmail or Outlook to send outreach directly from Recruitier using your real email address.

## Why Connect Your Email?

Connecting your email provider to Recruitier unlocks several powerful capabilities:

* **Send outreach from the platform** -- Compose and send emails directly from Recruitier
  without switching to your email client. Messages are sent through your actual email
  account, so recipients see your real email address -- not a generic system address. This
  is critical for deliverability and trust.
* **Automatic signature import** -- Recruitier imports your existing email signature and
  includes it in outreach messages, maintaining your professional branding without manual
  copy-pasting.
* **Unified workflow** -- Keep your entire recruitment process in one place: find jobs,
  identify contacts, compose messages, and send them -- all without leaving Recruitier.

Recruitier supports two email providers:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Gmail" icon="google">
    Connect your Google Workspace or personal Gmail account using Google OAuth. Supports
    both @gmail.com and custom domain addresses.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Microsoft Outlook" icon="microsoft">
    Connect your Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com account using Microsoft OAuth. Supports SSO
    for organizations with Single Sign-On configured.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Connecting Gmail

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to email settings">
    Go to **Settings** in the left sidebar, then select **Email Connections**. You can also
    connect your email during the onboarding flow when prompted.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Connect Gmail">
    Click the **Connect Gmail** button. This opens a Google OAuth consent screen in a new
    window.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in to your Google account">
    Select the Google account you want to use for sending outreach emails. If you are
    already signed in, choose the account from the list. Otherwise, enter your Google
    credentials.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Grant permissions">
    Google will ask you to authorize Recruitier to access certain account features.
    Review the requested permissions and click **Allow**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirmation">
    After authorization, you are redirected back to Recruitier. Your Gmail account is now
    connected, and your email signature has been imported and cached. You will see your
    connected email address displayed in the settings.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Gmail Permissions Explained

Recruitier requests the following permissions from Google:

| Permission                    | Why It Is Needed                                              |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Send email on your behalf** | Required to send outreach messages through your Gmail account |
| **Read email settings**       | Used to import your email signature                           |

<Note>
  Recruitier does not read your inbox, access your contacts, or store your Gmail password.
  The OAuth connection only grants the specific permissions listed above. Your email
  credentials never pass through Recruitier's servers -- the OAuth2 protocol ensures that
  authentication happens directly with Google.
</Note>

## Connecting Microsoft Outlook

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to email settings">
    Go to **Settings** in the left sidebar, then select **Email Connections**. You can also
    connect during the onboarding flow.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Connect Outlook">
    Click the **Connect Outlook** button. This opens a Microsoft OAuth consent screen in a
    new window.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in to your Microsoft account">
    Enter your Microsoft 365 or Outlook credentials. If you are part of an organization
    with Single Sign-On (SSO), you may be redirected to your organization's login page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Grant permissions">
    Microsoft will show the permissions Recruitier is requesting. Review them and click
    **Accept**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirmation">
    After authorization, you are redirected back to Recruitier. Your Outlook account is now
    connected. Your email signature is imported and your connected email address is
    displayed in settings.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Outlook Permissions Explained

Recruitier requests the following permissions from Microsoft:

| Permission                  | Why It Is Needed                                                |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Send mail as you**        | Required to send outreach messages through your Outlook account |
| **Read your mail settings** | Used to import your email signature                             |

<Note>
  As with Gmail, Recruitier does not read your inbox or store your Microsoft password.
  Only the minimum permissions needed for outreach functionality are requested. The
  OAuth2 protocol handles all credential exchange directly with Microsoft.
</Note>

## Setting Your Preferred Email Provider

If you connect both Gmail and Outlook, you can choose which one Recruitier uses by default
when sending outreach messages:

1. Go to **Settings** > **Email Connections**
2. Under **Preferred Email Provider**, select either **Gmail** or **Outlook**
3. Click **Save**

The preferred provider is used whenever you compose a new outreach message. You can
override this on a per-message basis if needed.

## How Your Email Signature Works

When you connect your email provider, Recruitier imports your HTML email signature
automatically. This signature is:

* **Appended to outreach messages** -- Every email you send through Recruitier includes
  your signature, just as if you had sent it from Gmail or Outlook directly.
* **Cached for performance** -- Your signature is cached locally so it loads instantly
  when you compose messages.
* **Sanitized for security** -- The signature HTML is processed through DOMPurify to
  remove any potentially malicious scripts or unsafe elements, with a maximum size limit
  of 50KB.
* **Editable per message** -- You can modify the signature for individual messages if
  needed, without affecting your default signature.

<Tip>
  If your signature includes images, links, or formatting, make sure they render correctly
  in a test email before launching an outreach campaign. You can send a test message to
  yourself from the message composer. Signatures with complex HTML layouts may render
  slightly differently across email clients.
</Tip>

## Disconnecting Your Email

To disconnect a connected email provider:

1. Go to **Settings** > **Email Connections**
2. Click the **Disconnect** button next to the provider you want to remove
3. Confirm the disconnection

After disconnecting:

* You can no longer send emails through that provider from Recruitier
* Your signature for that provider is removed from the cache
* Any active outreach flows that use email steps will pause until you reconnect

<Warning>
  Disconnecting your email does not delete messages that have already been sent. It only
  prevents new messages from being sent through that provider. Make sure you have an
  alternative provider connected before disconnecting if you have active outreach campaigns.
</Warning>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="'Authentication failed' when connecting Gmail">
    * Make sure you are not blocking pop-ups in your browser. The OAuth window needs to open.
    * If your organization uses Google Workspace with restricted app access, ask your IT
      administrator to whitelist Recruitier.
    * Try using an incognito/private browser window to rule out extension conflicts.
    * Clear your browser cookies for accounts.google.com and try again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="'Authentication failed' when connecting Outlook">
    * Ensure your Microsoft 365 account has the appropriate license for sending email.
    * If your organization has conditional access policies, the OAuth redirect may be blocked.
      Contact your IT administrator.
    * Try clearing your browser cache and cookies for login.microsoftonline.com.
    * Some organizations require admin consent for third-party apps. Check with your IT team.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Emails not sending">
    * Check that your email connection is still active in **Settings** > **Email Connections**.
      OAuth tokens expire periodically and may need to be refreshed by reconnecting.
    * Verify that the connected email account has not been suspended or had its password
      changed. If it has, disconnect and reconnect the provider.
    * Check your outreach flow to confirm the email step has a valid recipient address.
    * Verify that you have sufficient credits -- outreach message generation costs 1 credit.
    * Check if you have hit your email provider's daily sending limits (Gmail: 500/day personal,
      2,000/day Workspace; Outlook: varies by plan).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Signature not appearing">
    * Signatures are imported at connection time. If you added a signature to Gmail/Outlook
      after connecting, disconnect and reconnect to re-import it.
    * HTML signatures with complex layouts may not render perfectly in all email clients. Test
      with a few recipients to verify formatting.
    * If your signature exceeds 50KB, it may be truncated. Simplify the signature by reducing
      image sizes or removing unnecessary elements.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Info>
  If you continue to experience issues, contact
  [support@recruitier.com](mailto:support@recruitier.com) with your account email and a
  description of the problem. Include any error messages you see on screen.
</Info>

## Advanced

### OAuth2 Token Lifecycle

When you connect your email provider, Recruitier receives an OAuth2 access token and (where
applicable) a refresh token. Here is how the token lifecycle works:

1. **Authorization** -- You grant permissions through Google or Microsoft's consent screen
2. **Token storage** -- The access token is stored securely on Recruitier's servers
3. **Token usage** -- Each time you send an email, the access token authenticates the request
4. **Token refresh** -- When the access token expires, Recruitier uses the refresh token to
   obtain a new one automatically
5. **Token revocation** -- If you disconnect your email, the token is revoked and deleted

If the refresh token itself becomes invalid (due to password change, admin revocation, or
extended inactivity), the connection status changes to "Error" and you need to reconnect.

### Signature Sanitization

Email signatures can contain HTML, CSS, and embedded images. To protect against security
risks, Recruitier processes all imported signatures through DOMPurify, which:

* Removes JavaScript and event handlers
* Strips potentially dangerous HTML elements (iframes, forms, scripts)
* Preserves safe formatting (bold, italic, colors, links, images)
* Enforces a 50KB maximum size limit

This means your signature looks the same as it does in your email client, minus any
dynamic or potentially unsafe elements.

### Email Connection and Onboarding

Connecting your email is one of the 4 universal onboarding steps (shared across all goals).
The system uses retroactive completion detection -- if you connected your email through
the Settings page before reaching this onboarding step, it is automatically marked as
complete.

## Related

* [Email Connection Settings](/settings/email-connections)
* [Building an Outreach Campaign](/workflows/building-outreach-campaign)
* [Setting Up Your Profile](/getting-started/setting-up-your-profile)
* [Troubleshooting](/faq/troubleshooting)