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How To Easily Export Email App Usage Report in Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 enhances the user's email experience by allowing access to Exchange Online emails from any device or app. However, this flexibility can pose potential security risks if not managed correctly. To maintain security, it is crucial to understand how email apps are being utilized, which helps in managing email app settings effectively. This guide provides the steps to export the email app usage report in Microsoft 365, ensuring proper and secure email access.

Native Solution

Microsoft 365 Permission Required

High

Global Admin, Exchange Admin, or Reports Reader.

Option 1 Using Microsoft 365 Admin Center

  • Login to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
  • Navigate to Reports»Usage»Exchange»Email app usage.
  • Here, you can find the email app usage report detailing user access to your organization’s Outlook using various platforms, applications, and protocols.
Using Microsoft 365 Admin Center

Option 1 Using Windows PowerShell

  • Connect to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell with the below permission.
  • Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell 
     Connect-MgGraph -Scopes Reports.Read.All
  • To get the Microsoft 365 email app usage report using PowerShell, execute the following command.
  • Windows PowerShell Windows PowerShell 
     Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserDetail -Period D<Report Period> -OutFile "<Output CSV File with Path>"
  • Replace <Report period> with 7, 30, 80, or 180 to get the Outlook app usage report.
  • This report includes the user’s last activity date and the usage of various email clients and protocols.
Using Windows PowerShell
AdminDroid Solution
More than 150 reports are under the free edition.

AdminDroid Permission Required

Delegated

Super Admin or any user with delegated access to reports.

StepsUsing AdminDroid

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  • Sign-in to the AdminDroid Microsoft 365 reporter.
  • Navigate to the Daily Email App Usage Statistics report under Reports»Exchange»Mailbox App Usage»Daily User Summary.
Using AdminDroid

This report provides email app usage details, including various email apps and protocols on daily basis. It helps you monitor user activity and their email app preferences to access Exchange Online.

chart-view
  • Utilize the inbuilt charts to analyze and understand the daily usage of Outlook for the web or Windows by tracking the number of users accessing these apps.
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birds-eye-chart
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exported-excel
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Explore a full range of reporting options

Quickly spot and block specific email apps!

Make use of Microsoft 365 mailbox app usage reports from AdminDroid to easily identify email access through various apps and protocols, such as POP3, IMAP, and SMTP, to swiftly block the least secure options!

Witness the report in action using the

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Exchange OnlineMonitor Email App Usage to Optimize User’s Mail Access Experience

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How to see the number of email apps connecting to Exchange Online? How to identify users not using the latest version of the Outlook app? How does monitoring Outlook mobile app usage enhance security? Why do admins prefer to disable Outlook web access in Microsoft 365? How do various Exchange Online email protocols help to access the emails? How to manage email apps in Office 365? What's the purpose of disabling POP and IMAP access in Exchange Online?

How to see the number of email apps connecting to Exchange Online?

You can use the email app usage insights in the Microsoft 365 admin center to determine the number of email apps connecting to Exchange Online. These insights help you to understand the email app usage trends and user preferences for different Outlook apps and versions.

Users Section

  • The Users section shows the daily count of users accessing various Outlook apps.
  • This chart helps you analyze the overall usage of mailbox apps and find the number of apps connecting to Exchange Online daily.
users-chart

Apps Section

  • The Apps section displays the number of unique users by app over the selected period.
  • This data helps you understand the different email apps used by the users most frequently to aid in resource planning and allocation.
apps-chart
Notes:
  • By default, all the charts and reports retrieve the email client usage data for the past 30 days. Use the calendar icon in the top right corner of the page to get data for the past 7, 30, 90, or 180 days based on your preference.
  • To download each visual insight as a CSV file, use the Export option available along with each chart.

Tip: Use Graph PowerShell cmdlets such as “Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageVersionUserCount”, “Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageAppUserCount”, and “Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserCount” to export email app usage stats based on app versions, app type, and user count.

For a more sophisticated data retrieval, AdminDroid offers dedicated reports to find out who are using Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, Outlook for web, etc. AdminDroid also offers reports on the users who accessed emails using various protocols, such as POP3, IMAP, SMTP, etc.

outlook-owa

How to identify users not using the latest version of the Outlook app?

As an admin, you can use the Versions section in the Email app usage page to see the current Outlook version of the users.

  • This section provides an overview of the different versions of Outlook Windows used by your users over the past ‘n’ days.
  • This chart helps to identify how many Windows users are not using the latest version of Outlook.
versions-chart

For a more comprehensive analysis, use AdminDroid to determine the daily usage of the Outlook app by version.

  • The Daily Outlook App Usage by Version report details the number of unique users who have accessed different Outlook versions each day.
  • It can enumerate the number of users of Outlook M365, 2019, 2016, 2010, 2007, and other undetermined versions.
outlook-versions

Tip: Download the report in CSV file format for further offline analysis, data backup, or sharing insights.

How does monitoring Outlook mobile app usage enhance security?

While the Outlook mobile app offers convenient access to emails, it also presents potential security risks.

  • Offline Mail Storage: The app stores emails offline via the Exchange ActiveSync protocol, posing a risk if the device is lost or stolen. Unauthorized individuals could access or delete sensitive information from mobile devices.
  • Ease of Access: Unlike the web interface, the Outlook mobile app allows users to login with a simple tap, potentially leading to unauthorized access if the device is left unattended.

How to mitigate these risks?

Monitoring user activity on the Outlook mobile app for Exchange Online access enables the implementation of effective risk mitigation strategies.

  • Enforce strong password requirements: Implement mobile device mailbox policies to enforce robust password requirements, including mandatory changes and wiping data after a specified number of failed attempts.
  • Wipe data on inactive mailboxes: Identifying inactive mailboxes logged into the app allows admins to remotely wipe sensitive data from lost or compromised devices.

How to identify users with Outlook mobile app activity?

While the admin center allows you to find the number of users using Outlook for mobile, it doesn't pinpoint individual users who have accessed it.

To address this concern, AdminDroid provides you with the flexibility to identify users who have accessed Outlook via mobile apps.

  • Leverage AdminDroid report to get a list of all active users based on their last activity in 'Outlook for mobile'.
  • In addition to this, you can find users who use other mobile apps to access Exchange Online in your organization.
outlook-for-mobile

Handy Hint: Use the ‘Last Active Date / Inactive Days’ filter to easily identify users who accessed Outlook through mobile devices in the last ‘n’ days.

Why do admins prefer to disable Outlook web access in Microsoft 365?

Although Outlook for web and desktop are popular email clients, some admins opt to disable Outlook web access (OWA) due to specific security concerns. Here are the most common reasons why admins might restrict OWA access for their users.

  • Lesser Login Points: Disabling Outlook web access (OWA) removes a web-based entryway for accessing your company's email system. This makes it more difficult for attackers to gain unauthorized access through OWA by tricking users into revealing their credentials using phishing attempts.
  • Restricted Access: Restricting OWA ensures users can only login using the desktop app or mobile app, preventing them from signing in on anonymous devices through a browser for immediate access.

Points to be considered before disabling the Outlook web app

  • When a user or a shared mailbox is restricted from accessing the Outlook web app, delegates also can't access it using the web browser.
  • As the new Outlook desktop client is built based on Outlook web, restricting Outlook web access also disables users' access to this new Outlook app.
  • The ‘share to Outlook’ feature in Microsoft Teams won’t work if you disable the Outlook web app for the users.

Disable Outlook web access using EAC

  • Login to the Exchange admin center.
  • Navigate to Recipients»Mailboxes»Respective user»General»Manage email app settings.
  • Turn off the Outlook on the web toggle and click on the Save button.

Disable Outlook web access for all users

While the Exchange admin center can be used to restrict Outlook web access for a single user, PowerShell offers the possibility to restrict the OWA access for a set of users or all Microsoft 365 users.

  • To disable Outlook on the web for a specific set of users, create a CSV file with the column name “MailboxUPN”.
    disable-owa-for-users
  • Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell and run the following command, replacing <CSV File Path> with the path to your file. 
    Import-Csv <CSV File Path> | 
ForEach-Object { 
	Set-CASMailbox -Identity $_.MailboxUPN -OWAEnabled $false 
	Write-Output "OWA is Disabled for the mailbox '$($_.MailboxUPN)'" 
}
  • To disable the Outlook web access for all Microsoft 365 users, execute the following command sequence. 
    Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -RecipientTypeDetails UserMailbox | ForEach-Object { 
	Set-CASMailbox -Identity $_.UserPrincipalName -OWAEnabled $false 
	Write-Output "OWA is Disabled for the mailbox '$($_.UserPrincipalName)'" 
}

Note: To enable Outlook web access in Microsoft 365 for a set of users or all users, set the ‘OWAEnabled’ parameter to ‘$true’ in the above snippets.

How do various Exchange Online email protocols help to access the emails?

A mailbox’s contents can be accessed via various protocols that regulate how messages are sent and received across the internet (servers and email apps). Native and third-party email apps, such as Mozilla Thunderbird, rely on protocols such as POP3, IMAP4, MAPI, and others to access Exchange Online. Below is an overview of the working methodology of a wide range of protocols supported by Exchange Online.

protocol-table

In order to find each mailbox's protocol settings such as POP3, IMAP, ActiveSync, MAPI, EWS, etc., Admindroid assists you in a better way.

  • Head to Reports»Exchange» Mailbox Protocols»Protocol Features report in the AdminDroid Microsoft 365 reporter.
  • This report gives you an overview of mailbox protocol settings, showing which protocols are enabled or disabled, aiding in decisions to disable unnecessary ones.
protocol-features-report

Handy Tip: Utilize the Schedule option to get the report regularly delivered at specified intervals via email for the respective admins.

How to manage email apps in Office 365?

Managing email apps in Microsoft 365 allows you to control how users access their email. This can be helpful for security reasons or if you want to restrict users to specific email apps. You can use the Microsoft 365 admin center, or PowerShell to achieve this. Here's how to do it.

Using the Microsoft 365 admin center

To enable or disable an email app setting for a user using the Microsoft 365 admin center, follow these steps.

  • Navigate to Users»Active users and select the respective user.
  • Go to the Mail tab and click the ‘Manage email apps’ link.
  • Enable or disable access to each email app for that specific user and click on the Save Changes button.
disable-owa

Using Exchange Online PowerShell

To manage the email app settings for a user using the Exchange Online PowerShell, you can refer to the following examples.

  • Set-Mailbox -Identity "peter@contoso.com" -MAPIEnabled $true

    The above execution will enable Outlook desktop app access for the user ‘Peter’.

  • Set-Mailbox -Identity "peter@contoso.com" -OWAEnabled $false

    The above execution will disable Outlook web access for the user ‘Peter’.

You can use parameters such as PopEnabled, ImapEnabled, ActiveSyncEnabled, and SmtpAccessEnabled to enable or disable POP, IMAP, Exchange ActiveSync, and SMTP access, respectively.

What's the purpose of disabling POP and IMAP access in Exchange Online?

Organizations prefer to disable POP3 and IMAP4 in Microsoft 365 because these older protocols are less secure. You can also refer to the points below to know some specific cases to disable them.

  • Mostly organizations disable POP3 to prevent clients from deleting messages from the server or cloud after they are accessed.
  • Organizations also opt to disable IMAP because it isn’t inherently compatible with multifactor authentication and provides attackers the opportunity to conduct password spray attacks.

You can refer to Admindroid reports on IMAP settings and the POP settings to analyze and identify the enabled protocols for the users. Subsequently, you can disable the unwanted protocols using the Exchange admin center (EAC) or PowerShell.

  • The mailbox protocol settings report provides insights on whether each protocol is enabled or disabled for individual mailboxes.
  • These reports provide sliced-and-diced configuration data such as the MIME format for message retrievals, read receipt suppression state, etc.
detailed-protocol-setting

Pro Tip: Use the combination of ‘Ctrl+Shift+F’ to search and find your required Microsoft 365 report within AdminDroid.

How to disable POP3 in Microsoft 365?

  • To disable POP3 for all users in Microsoft 365, execute the following cmdlet in the Exchange Online PowerShell. 
    Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -RecipientTypeDetails UserMailbox | 
ForEach-Object { 
	Set-CASMailbox -Identity $_.UserPrincipalName -PopEnabled $false 
	Write-Output "OWA is Disabled for the mailbox '$($_.UserPrincipalName)'" 
}

How to Disable IMAP4 in Microsoft 365?

  • To disable IMAP4 for all Microsoft 365 users through a simple and single execution, use the following command. 
    Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -RecipientTypeDetails UserMailbox | 
ForEach-Object { 
	Set-CASMailbox -Identity $_.UserPrincipalName -ImapEnabled $false 
	Write-Output "OWA is Disabled for the mailbox '$($_.UserPrincipalName)'" 
}

AdminDroid Exchange Online ReporterManage email app settings in Microsoft 365 like a pro!

The AdminDroid Exchange Online reporting tool provides you with a streamlined solution for email app management. It enables you to track daily active email users based on the platforms, apps, and versions they use to access the mailbox in your Microsoft 365 organization.

Standalone functionalities of AdminDroid that make email app management better:

The Daily User Summary report on email app usage gives insights into the mailbox apps used by each user in your Microsoft 365 environment. It helps to make informed decisions to disable or enable the respective email app and the mail protocols.

A Quick Summary

Quick Glimpse of Mailbox Connection

Take advantage of the mailbox app usage dashboard to quickly visualize the daily stats of Exchange mailbox app connection and protocol usage.

Daily Summary of Microsoft 365 App Usage

In addition to the email client usage statistics, use the Microsoft 365 app usage reports to get complete details of the apps accessed based on platforms and devices.

Overall Summary on Mailbox Protocols Enabled

Refer to the Protocol Enabled Mailboxes report to get a glance at the number of Exchange Online mailboxes enabled with different protocols.

Get All Microsoft 365 User Email Statistics

Use the user email activity report to gain valuable insights into the number of emails sent and received to understand user communication patterns in Microsoft 365.

Automated Mail App Usage Monitoring

Make use of AdminDroid’s scheduling feature to ensure that the mail app usage insights are sent to respective admins at specified intervals without any forgetfulness.

Internal vs External Traffic Analysis on Shared Mailboxes

Leverage the Overall Shared Mailbox Email Traffic report to analyze the total number of emails sent and received by all the shared mailboxes in your organization.

Overall, AdminDroid’s Exchange Online management tool provides you with the capability to check the usage statistics of Microsoft 365 mailbox apps. This helps you analyze which version of Outlook the users are using to access your Microsoft 365 tenant and enables you to adjust the methods to meet security needs.

Kickstart Your Journey with AdminDroid

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Common Errors and Resolution Steps in Monitoring Email App Usage of Microsoft 365 Users

Here's a list of common errors in monitoring and configuring email client usage, along with causes and troubleshooting hints to help you quickly resolve them.

Error: Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserDetail : {"error":{"code":"S2SUnauthorized","message":"Invalid permission."}}.

This error arises when you haven’t connected to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell with the required "Reports.Read.All" scope.

Troubleshooting hint :Use the following cmdlet to connect to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell using the “Read.Reports.All” scope. 

Connect-MgGraph -Scopes Reports.Read.All

Error: Ex6F9304|Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.ManagementObjectNotFoundException|The operation couldn't be performed because object 'X' couldn't be found on 'BM1P287A01DC003.INDP287A001.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM'.

This error occurs when you run the Set-CASMailbox cmdlet with the wrong user’s UPN in the Exchange Online PowerShell.

Troubleshooting hint :Check the spelling of the user’s UPN and rerun the cmdlet.

Error: Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserDetail : {"error":{"code":"InvalidArgument","message":"Invalid period value specified: X. Supported values are: D7,D30,D90,D180"}}.

This error occurs when unsupported values are provided for the period parameter.

Troubleshooting hint :Ensure you provide one of the supported values (D7, D30, D90, or D180). 

Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserDetail -Period D90 -OutFile <Output CSV File with Path>

Error: Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserDetail: The ‘Get-MgReportEmailAppUsageUserDetail’ command was found in the module ‘Microsoft.Graph.Reports’, but the module could not be loaded. For more information, run ‘Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Reports’.

This error occurs when you have an older version of the Microsoft Graph module.

Troubleshooting hint :Update the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module using the following cmdlet. 

Update-Module -Name Microsoft.Graph

Error: 400 Bad request. VGhlIG1haWxib3ggYmVpbmcgYWNjZXNzZWQgZG9lc24mIzM5O3QgaGF2ZSBhIHZh bGlkIGFjY291bnQgc3RhdGUgKCYjMzk7UHJvdG9jb2xEaXNhYmxlZCYjMzk7KS4= (Base64).

This error occurs when you try to access your mailbox using Outlook on the web, but web access has been disabled by your admin.

Troubleshooting hint : Ask your admin about the email app settings and access your mailbox using any enabled method.