FAQ
Find answers to the most common questions about MailLighter.
General
What is MailLighter?
MailLighter is an Outlook plugin that cleans your emails in one click. It removes unnecessary attachments, embedded images, and old reply chains to make your emails lighter and reduce your digital footprint.
Is MailLighter free?
Yes, completely free. No subscription, no premium tier, no in-app purchases. MailLighter is open-source under the MIT license.
Who is MailLighter for?
MailLighter is designed for any individual or organization that wants to reduce the environmental impact of its emails: individuals, private companies, public organizations, IT departments, CSR teams, or any actor committed to responsible digital practices.
What languages are supported?
MailLighter is available in English, French, and Spanish. The language is detected automatically from your Outlook settings.
Installation & Compatibility
How do I install MailLighter?
MailLighter is available on the Microsoft Marketplace. See the Installation guide for step-by-step instructions.
Which versions of Outlook are supported?
MailLighter is compatible with Microsoft 365 environments, including Outlook Desktop and Outlook on the Web, on Windows or macOS.
Can I deploy MailLighter across my entire organization?
Yes. MailLighter can be deployed at scale through your Microsoft 365 admin center, making it easy to roll out to all users in your organization.
Does MailLighter require any special configuration?
No. MailLighter works out of the box with no configuration needed. Each user simply clicks the MailLighter features in the Outlook ribbon to clean their emails.
Does it work with Outlook Mobile?
Not currently. Outlook Mobile does not support the add-in features MailLighter requires.
Does it work with Gmail or other email clients?
No. MailLighter is built on Office.js, which is specific to Microsoft Outlook.
Features
What does MailLighter remove from emails?
MailLighter can remove unnecessary attachments, embedded images (logos, banners, signature images), and old reply chains, keeping only the most recent messages in a thread. It can also remove everything that was not selected by the user, allowing them to keep only the essentials of the original email.
Does MailLighter modify the original email?
MailLighter cleans the content of the reply or forward email while it is being composed and before it is sent. The original received email remains unchanged in your mailbox.
Can I undo a cleanup?
MailLighter modifies the email draft. If you haven’t sent the email yet, you can use Outlook’s undo function (Ctrl+Z) to revert the changes.
Security & Privacy
Is my data safe with MailLighter?
Yes. MailLighter processes emails locally within your environment. No email content is sent to external servers.
Is MailLighter GDPR compliant?
Yes. MailLighter is fully GDPR compliant. It does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data or email content. See the Privacy & Security page for details.
Does MailLighter impact my organization’s security?
No. MailLighter operates within the standard Microsoft 365 security framework and does not require any additional permissions beyond what is needed to process email content.
Impact & CSR
How does MailLighter help with CSR reporting?
MailLighter provides a concrete action for organizations working on CSR/ESG. By reducing email weight across your organization, you demonstrate operational commitment to digital sobriety.
What is the environmental impact of lighter emails?
Every lighter email means less data stored and replicated on servers, less bandwidth consumed, and less energy and raw materials used. The individual impact is modest, but it becomes significant when everyone adopts the practice.
Troubleshooting
The add-in doesn’t appear in the ribbon
See the Troubleshooting guide for detailed solutions.
A command didn’t remove all expected content
Some email clients generate complex HTML that may not be fully parsed. If you encounter this, please report it using the contact form.