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BriefCatch for Outlook: Setup & User Guide

BriefCatch Guides

BriefCatch for Outlook brings the full BriefCatch Next editing experience into your inbox. This guide covers installation, first-time setup, day-to-day use, and a few important notes about how the add-in behaves differently in desktop Outlook versus Outlook on the Web.

Contents

    Video Walkthrough

     

    What's New in this Release

    This release brings the Outlook add-in to full parity with the BriefCatch Word add-in. Highlights:

    • Inline highlights and underlines in the email body, color-coordinated by category

    • Auto-scrolling: selecting a card scrolls the email to the relevant text

    • Express Editing: the new lightning-bolt button accepts all suggestions at once with tracked changes

    • BriefCatch Next features: Scores, Reports, and BriefChat are now available in Outlook

    • Expanded rule set: thousands of new style, clarity, and precision suggestions

    • Context-based suggestions: feedback tailored to the type of writing — emails, briefs, motions, contracts

    • Zero data retention: text is processed in RAM only — nothing is stored, cached, or used for training

    Installation

    First-Time Install

    1. Open Outlook and start composing a new email.
    2. In the email window, look for the Apps icon in the ribbon. (Or click Manage Apps if it doesn't appear in the ribbon directly.)
    3. Search for "BriefCatch" in the Apps panel.
    4. Click Add to install the add-in.
    5. When the BriefCatch panel appears, click Sign In (existing customers) or Sign Up (new users).

    Tip: If your firm has centralized add-in management, your IT team may have already deployed BriefCatch — check your Outlook Apps panel before installing manually.

    For a more detailed setup and installation walkthrough, refer to our full BriefCatch for Outlook Installation Guide.

    First Time You Open the Add-In

    To open the BriefCatch for Outlook add-in, compose a new email or open an existing draft.

    Under the Message tab in the Outlook ribbon, click the BriefCatch icon. If the icon is not visible, click Apps in the ribbon and select BriefCatch from the list of installed add-ins.

    bcn-outlook-ribbon-load-new

    The first time the add-in loads, you'll see a quick tutorial overlay pointing to the two key controls:

    • Editing your email — Your changes save back to your Outlook draft automatically. Close this window when you're done.
    • Back to Outlook — Closes the editor and returns to your draft.

    This tutorial appears only on first launch. It will not show on subsequent opens. Click the 'Start Editing' button to dismiss the tutorial.

    bcn-outlook-preview-screen

    Using the Add-In

    Reviewing Suggestions

    Suggestions appear in the right-hand panel, grouped by category:

    • Style — word choice, tone, voice

    • Clarity — readability, sentence length, flow

    • Proofing — typos, punctuation, mechanics

    • Citations — citation form and conventions

    Use the filter pills at the top of the panel to narrow by category. Each suggestion card shows the original text, the proposed change, and (where helpful) example usage from top legal writers.

    bcn-outlook-suggestion01

    bcn-outlook-suggestion02

    Express Editing

    Click the  lightning-bolt-icon  icon at the top of the panel to accept all current suggestions in one click. If needed, you can use Undo to revert the changes.

    Scores and Reports

    Click the  scores-icon  icon to view score-based diagnostics from BriefCatch Next. Get an at-a-glance read on the writing quality of your email and the categories where you can sharpen the most.

    Note: Scores are only available in the main BriefCatch panel within Outlook. They are not available in the popup editor.

    BriefChat

    Click the  briefchat-icon-1  icon to ask BriefChat a question about a passage in your email — phrasing alternatives, tone calibration, or substantive feedback. Available from the panel toolbar.

    Note: BriefChat is only available in the main BriefCatch panel within Outlook. It is not available in the popup editor.

    Important: How the Pop-Out Editor Works

    BriefCatch's editor opens in a separate window for the best editing experience.

    How that window opens depends on whether you're using the desktop Outlook app or Outlook on the Web.

    Desktop Outlook (Windows / Mac)

    The editor opens automatically when you launch the add-in. No additional steps are required. This is the recommended experience.

    Outlook on the Web

    Browser security policies block automatic pop-up windows by default. To launch the editor when using BriefCatch from a pinned panel in Outlook on the Web, click the 'Open editor' link in the BriefCatch panel.

    bcn-outlook-open-editor-panel-update

    If your browser blocks the pop-up, you may see a small icon in the address bar indicating a blocked window. Click that icon and choose "Always allow pop-ups from this site" to remove the prompt going forward.

    When the editor is open, the main BriefCatch panel will display the following message:

    bcn-outlook-editor-open-message

    If you don't see the editor window, it may be hidden behind Outlook or another application. Check your open windows and bring the editor to the foreground to continue editing.

    Recommendation: For the smoothest experience, we recommend the desktop Outlook app. Outlook on the Web is fully supported, but the pop-out behavior requires the user-initiated click described above.

    Quick Tips

    • Pin the panel so it persists across emails — click the pin icon at the top of the BriefCatch panel.

    • Use filters to focus on one category at a time when triaging long emails.

    • Express Editing lets you accept everything fast and review surgically.

    • Preferences are managed from the panel itself — click the gear icon to adjust rule sensitivity, language, and other settings.

    • Editing happens in the pop-out editor — The pinned panel is best for browsing suggestions; the editor is where you apply them.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Does BriefCatch work on Outlook for Mac?

    Yes. BriefCatch supports Outlook for Mac, Outlook for Windows, and Outlook on the Web. The pop-out editor experience is most seamless on the desktop apps.

    Are my emails sent to BriefCatch's servers?

    Text is processed in RAM only. BriefCatch does not store, cache, or use your email content for training. Nothing leaves the processing window.

    What if my IT team blocks third-party add-ins?

    BriefCatch supports centralized deployment through the Microsoft 365 admin center. Have your IT team contact your BriefCatch account manager for deployment guidance.

    What's different from the Word add-in?

    The Outlook add-in is at near-parity with Word as of this release. Both share the same UI, code base, and rule engine. Some advanced features (deep document-structure analysis, certain large-document optimizations) remain Word-specific.

    Help & Support

    Need help? Our support team is happy to assist you!