There are some basic settings that you need to do, before you start synchronizing the contact, task and calendar events.

Sign In to Zoho CRM Plug-in

Sign In Using Zoho CRM Login Credentials

To get started, first you need to sign in to the Zoho CRM Plug-in using your Zoho CRM login credentials. You can also sign in using your Google Apps, Google, Yahoo or Facebook login credentials but with a different password. See Also Sign in using other login credentials

To sign in to Zoho CRM plug-in

1. In Microsoft Outlook, click Zoho CRM > Sign In.
   
2. In the Sign In dialog box, enter your Zoho account's Email/Username and Password.
3. Select the Stay signed in check box if you want to automatically log in to Zoho CRM for the next session.
   
4. Click Sign In. After you sign in, the Zoho CRM Plug-in options will be enabled.
   

Sign In to Zoho CRM Plug-in When Two Factor Authentication is Enabled

Two Factor Authentication (TFA) is an additional security measure that uses your mobile phone to protect your Zoho account. If you have enabled TFA, you have the option to set application specific passwords. Set a password to sign in to the Zoho CRM Plug-in for MS Outlook.

To sign in to Zoho CRM plug-in, if the two factor authentication is enabled

1. Go to https://accounts.zoho.com
2. Click the Two Factor Authentication link.
3. In the Two Factor Authentication page, click Manage Application Specific Passwords.
4. In the ApplicationSpecificPasswords popup, do the following:
   • Enter the Device (or) App Name in the text box.
     
   • Specify the Current Password that is used to log into Zoho.
   • Click Generate. A random password will be generated.
     You can use the email address used to log in to Zoho and this generated password to sign in to Zoho CRM Plug-in for MS Outlook.

Sign In Using Google Apps, Google, Yahoo or Facebook Login Credentials

Users who use Google, Google Apps, Yahoo or Facebook account credentials to log in to Zoho CRM, can also use the Plug-in for MS Outlook but with different login credentials. You can use the same email address but you need to generate a new password to use the Zoho CRM plug-in.

To sign in to Zoho CRM plug-in, if you use Google Apps, Google, Yahoo or Facebook credentials to log in to Zoho CRM

1. Go to https://crm.zoho.com
2. In the Sign In page, click the ForgotPassword link.
   
3. In the Password Reset Request page, specify the registered email address from Google Apps, Google, Yahoo or Facebook that you use to sign in to Zoho CRM.
4. Enter the characters for Image Verification and click Request.
   An email with a link to reset password will be sent to the email address that you specified.
5. Reset the password and use it along with the email address registered with Google Apps, Google, Yahoo or Facebook that you use to sign in to Zoho CRM.

Set Up Categories and Folders for Contacts, Tasks and Calendar

When you set up a synchronization of contacts, tasks or calendar (events), you can specify the category and folder from which the records should be synchronized. See Also Categorize Records as Zoho

To set up category and folder for Contacts

1. In Microsoft Outlook, click Zoho CRM > Settings.
2. In Settings dialog box, click Contacts tab.
   
3. Choose a folder from Contacts Folder.
   The records will be synchronized from the selected folder only.
4. For Choose Category option, select the categories of your choice to sync only the records under this category.
   By default, the Zoho Category will be selected to sync only the records belonging to the Zoho category. You cannot clear the Zoho checkbox.
5. Select the Automatically sync the changes made in Outlook Contacts to Zoho CRM checkbox.
   On selecting this option, contacts from MS Outlook will be automatically synchronized in Zoho CRM.
6. In the Choose the type of Zoho CRM Contacts to sync with Outlook section, select one of the following options as per your requirement:
   • All Contacts - refers to contacts owned by you and your subordinates in your Role hierarchy as well as contacts shared with you via data sharing rules and territories. (i.e, contacts in the All Contacts view in Zoho CRM).
   • Contacts owned by me - refers to contacts owned by you (i.e, contacts in the My Contacts view in Zoho CRM)
   The same will be applicable to Tasks and Events.
7. Click Save.

Configure Mail Settings

From the Emails tab, you can configure the settings for outgoingemails and also for the AddEmailoption in the Plug-in.

Outgoing Emails settings - You can specify whether the outgoing emails should be automatically added to the contact in Zoho CRM.

Add Email Settings - Based on the email address of the recipient, the right contact or lead is searched in Zoho CRM and the email is associated to the matching record. If the recipient's email address does not match a record in CRM, you have the option to automatically create a record and associate the email to it. You can define whether the email should be associated to a contact or a lead in Zoho CRM.

To configure mail settings

1. In Microsoft Outlook, click Zoho CRM > Settings.
2. In the Settings dialog box, click the Emails tab.
3. For outgoing emails, do the following:
   • Choose a Sent Item Folder where outgoing emails are stored.
   • Select the Automatically add outgoing emails to Zoho CRM checkbox, if required.
4. For mail setting, select the following checkboxes, if required:
   • Search the recipient's email address in contacts and associate the sent email to the matching contact(s).
   • Search the recipient's email address in leads and associate the sent email to the matching lead(s).
     If there are no matching leads/contacts, then select Contacts or Leads from the drop-down list to create a new record.
     
     
5. Click Save.

Configure Conflict Resolution Settings

The conflict resolution settings are used when there are duplicate records with a conflict in the field values during a sync. With such conflicting records, the option selected will be applied provided the records are being updated. Note that these options are not applied when new records are added.

To configure conflict resolution settings

1. In Microsoft Outlook, click Zoho CRM > Settings.
2. In the Settings dialog box, click the ConflictResolution tab.
3. Choose the Conflict Resolution from the following:
   • A pop-up alert will help me decide - You can manually select, which information needs to be added
   • Let MS Outlook Win - The values from MS Outlook will overwrite the Zoho CRM values.
   • Let Zoho CRM Win - The values from Zoho CRM will overwrite the MS Outlook values.
     
     
4. Click Apply > Save.