Windows

On Windows you can connect Outlook using ActiveSync. You can synchronize:

  • Files

  • Outlook Calendar

  • Outlook Contacts

  • Outlook E-mail

Outlook / Windows 10

Note: This guide describes Outlook but this kind of ActiveSync account also works for the Windows 10 Mail, People and Calendar app.

To setup an ActiveSync account take the following steps:

  1. Open Outlook and click “File”.

  2. Then click “Add account”.

    ../../_images/1-add-account.png

  3. Select “Manual setup” and click “Next”.

    ../../_images/2-manual-setup.png

  4. Choose “Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service” and click “Next”.

    ../../_images/3-eas.png

  5. In the next screen you must adjust your server settings. It will prefill the username with the e-mail address and the server name with the domain from your e-mail address. This is most likely incorrect. Please adjust to your GroupOffice username and enter the Server hostname. When done click “Next”.

    ../../_images/4-server-settings.png

  6. Outlook will test your settings. If all is well you should see the following screen.

    ../../_images/5-test.png

  7. Now you must give it some time to sync everything. Then check your contacts, e-mail and calendar for your GroupOffice data!

Files - GroupOffice assistant

The GroupOffice Assistant is a small program that you can install on your Windows, MacOS or Linux computer. It will automatically download files opened from GroupOffice and monitor it for changes. When the file is saved it automatically uploads it back to GroupOffice.

Click here for a video of the installation proces

Click here to download GroupOffice Assistant for Windows.

After installing it you can use it as follows:

  1. In GroupOffice right click on a file and choose “Open with”.

  2. Select the “Your desktop application” option to use the assistant.

    ../../_images/4-select-application.png

Note

If the Assistant doesn’t start you might need to install the Microsoft Visual Studio Runtime library: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

Note

For Chrome users. You might be annoyed by the popup dialog everytime you open a file. Here’s a solution for that: https://superuser.com/questions/1481851/disable-chrome-to-ask-for-confirmation-to-open-external-application-everytime

Automated install

For advanced options for installing please look at this page:

https://jrsoftware.org/ishelp/index.php?topic=setupcmdline

Debug

If you want to view debug output from the assistant for some reason. You can launch it from the command prompt with these flags:

"c:\Program Files (x86)\GroupOffice Assistant\GroupOffice Assistant.exe" -c --console

WebDAV

Additionally you can map GroupOffice as network drive using WebDAV. Connect your client to

https://[Server hostname]/webdav

WebDAV client issues

Unfortunately there are some known issues with the native Windows WebDAV implementation:

  1. Basic authentication is blocked since updates in 2023: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/security/basic-authentication-prompts-blocked . You can no longer use Microsoft’s WebDAV implementation for third party services.

  2. When opening office files you have to re-authenticate: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2019105/authentication-requests-when-you-open-office-documents

  3. There’s a path length limit in both windows and office. So long paths will fail. The URL of your GroupOffice counts as path too.

We recommend to use a WebDAV client:

  1. The GroupOffice Assistant if you don’t need it mapped as a drive

  2. Mountain Duck WebDAV client, It offers excellent webdav speed and you can also sync your files offline. The downside is that it brings extra costs per user.

  3. RaiDrive, A good client that is free to use but does not have offline synchronisation.