What admin approval means for Gravyty in Office 365

When you install Gravyty — a third-party tool that works with Outlook and Teams — it needs permission to read and send emails on your behalf. Admin approval means a person with administrator rights in your Office 365 account has reviewed what Gravyty wants to do and allowed it. Without this approval, Gravyty cannot function, and you will see an error message when you try to use it.

The approval process protects your organization by making sure only vetted applications can access company email and data. Your Office 365 administrator (often someone in IT or HR) is the person who grants or denies this permission. If you are the administrator of your own account or a small business, you may be the one doing the approving.

Key Takeaways

  • Gravyty requires an Office 365 administrator to approve its access before it can read or send emails in your account.
  • The approval happens through the Azure portal, where the admin reviews what permissions Gravyty is requesting and clicks a single button to allow it.
  • If you are not an administrator, you will need to contact your IT department or the person who manages your Office 365 account and ask them to complete the approval.
  • After approval is granted, Gravyty will work when ready in Outlook and Teams without any further setup on your end.
  • The approval is organization-wide, so once one administrator approves Gravyty, all users in your company can use it without repeating the process.

How to learn about you are an Office 365 administrator

Not everyone has the rights to approve third-party applications. To check whether you do, open Office 365 in a web browser and look at the top right corner of the screen. Click the gear icon (Settings) and then select "Admin center" from the dropdown menu. If you see "Admin center" as an option, you are an administrator. If the option does not appear, you are a regular user and will need to ask your IT department to approve Gravyty for you.

Administrators in Office 365 can be Global Admins (full control over everything), process Admins (can approve apps), or Cloud process Admins (can approve cloud apps). Any of these roles can approve Gravyty. If you are unsure which role you have, the Admin center will show you under "Users" or "Active users" when you search your own name.

Steps to approve Gravyty through the Azure portal

If you are an administrator, you will approve Gravyty through the Azure portal, which is where Office 365 manages permissions for third-party apps. Start by going to portal.azure.com and signing in with your Office 365 administrator account. On the left side of the screen, click "Azure Active Directory" (sometimes labeled "Entra ID" in newer versions).

Next, look for "Enterprise applications" in the left menu and click it. Search for "Gravyty" in the search box at the top. When Gravyty appears in the results, click on it to open its details page. On that page, you will see a button labeled "Grant admin consent" or "Permissions." Click this button, and a window will appear showing what Gravyty wants to do — typically read emails, send emails, and access your calendar.

Review the permissions listed. These are standard for email management tools and allow Gravyty to function as intended. Once you have reviewed them, click the "Accept" or "Grant" button at the bottom of the window. The system will process your approval, usually within seconds. You will see a confirmation message, and Gravyty will now be active for your entire organization.

What to do if you see an error after approval

Sometimes Gravyty still shows an error message even after you have granted approval. This usually means the approval has not fully synced across all Office 365 servers yet. Wait 5 to 10 minutes and then close and reopen Outlook or Teams completely. Do not just close the tab — close the entire process and start it fresh.

If the error persists after 15 minutes, try signing out of Office 365 entirely and signing back in. This forces your account to refresh its permissions. If you are still seeing an error after that, contact Gravyty's support team directly with a screenshot of the error message. They can check whether the approval went through on their end and troubleshoot from there.

How to revoke Gravyty's approval if you need to

If your organization decides to stop using Gravyty or you want to remove its access for security reasons, you can revoke the approval just as easily. Go back to the Azure portal, find "Enterprise applications," search for Gravyty, and open its details page. Look for a button labeled "Remove" or "Delete" and click it. Confirm the removal when prompted. Gravyty will stop working when ready for all users in your organization.

Revoking approval does not delete any emails or data — it straightforward cuts off Gravyty's access going forward. If you want to use Gravyty again later, an administrator will need to go through the approval process a second time.

What happens if your organization does not have an administrator

In very small businesses or personal Office 365 accounts, you might be the only person with access. If that is the case, you are automatically an administrator and can approve Gravyty yourself by following the steps above. There is no separate approval request or waiting period — you can do it when ready.

If you have a Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Business Standard subscription (the most common small-business plans), the person who set up the account is the administrator. If you are not sure who that is, check your original setup emails from Microsoft, or contact Microsoft support with your account details and they can tell you who the administrator is.

Why Gravyty needs admin approval in the first place

Office 365 requires admin approval for any app that wants to read or send emails because email often contains sensitive business information, customer data, or financial records. By requiring an administrator to review and approve each app, Microsoft makes sure that no malicious or poorly designed software can access that information without someone in your organization knowingly allowing it.

Gravyty specifically needs approval because it integrates directly into Outlook and Teams, which means it has to connect to your email server and calendar. The approval process is a security checkpoint — it does not mean Gravyty is unsafe, only that it has been reviewed and intentionally allowed by someone with authority in your organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a regular user request admin approval for Gravyty?

Yes. If you are not an administrator, you can ask your IT department or the person who manages your Office 365 account to approve Gravyty for you. Send them the name "Gravyty" and let them know you need it for work. They can then follow the approval steps in the Azure portal on your behalf.

Does approving Gravyty give it access to everyone's emails in my organization?

No. Admin approval allows Gravyty to work in Office 365, but each individual user still controls what Gravyty can see in their own account. Users can set their own privacy settings within Gravyty to limit what data it accesses. Approval is organization-wide permission; individual access is user-specific.

How long does admin approval take to go into effect?

Approval is usually when ready, but it can take up to 10 minutes for the permission to sync across all Office 365 servers. If Gravyty still does not work after 15 minutes, try closing and reopening Outlook or Teams, or signing out and back into Office 365.

What if my organization's security policy does not allow third-party apps?

Some organizations have strict policies that block all third-party applications. If that is the case, your administrator will not be able to approve Gravyty, and you will need to request an exception from your IT security team or management. They can review Gravyty's permissions and decide whether to make an exception for your department or team.

Can I approve Gravyty just for myself, not for the whole organization?

No. Admin approval in Office 365 is organization-wide. Once an administrator approves Gravyty, it becomes available to all users in your company. Individual users cannot be excluded from the approval, though they can choose not to install or use Gravyty in their own accounts.