email tracking plugin ruins performance of outlook 2016 (for desktop PC)

[prozakis]

After we installed the email tracking plugin in Outlook 2016, the outlook app for desktop takes ages to load a new mail screen, or even worse to load the reply or forward screen.

We uninstalled plugin and office and and re-installed. No difference in behaviour.

It is totally unproductive to click reply and wait for like 10-15 seconds for the mail to load.

Please advise

[CarlssonElkins]

I can't believe we are just about to begin October 2020 and no one in HubSpot has managed to fix the terrible Office365 plugin - it's a disgrace for a system that's supposed to record all of your customer interactions, and this is coming from a HubSpot 'evangelist'...

My sales team have all begun uninstalling the plugin and whilst the old version works, it's old and gets removed by HubSpot updating itself so requires reinstallation.  Plus, surely we should have a slicker, more efficient version for O365?

Please, HubSpot, address this - paid customers are leaving because of it.

[73Oldie]

Same issue here. We liked the sophistication available in marketing etc but the constant Outlook crash is a deal breaker. What surprises me most is the company appears to be almost in denial about the issue, When you talk to the reps they make out they haven't heard of it being an issue before. Also they suggest that GMail is the only way to go - sorry but no.

[jennysowyrda]

Hey @73Oldie, 

Are you using the Outlook plug in or add in? If you have access to the add-in, I would recommend downloading it as your extension. More information available here.

If your Outlook is crashing, HubSpot has documentation regarding this matter.

Thanks,
Jenny

[Nwclark85]

Thanks for that, I was using the plug in and have downloaded the add in and that now seems to improve performance.

There are two issues with the add in however:

1. It seems to not remember your preference in terms of logging and tracking emails so you have to remember to tick it every time. I cannot see a settings where I can change this default.
2. Likewise, when I open an email, the HS tools sidebar does not seem to open automatically so I have to click the tools button within the menu bar.

Both of these issues are with using office 365 in outlook, although at a glance, it seems the same in office 364 desktop app.

Thanks

Nick

[73Oldie]

@Nwclark85

Agree with your points. These inconveniences add a lot of time to each email if you want the connection to Hubspot, making it basically unusable in my view.

[73Oldie]

Also tried Sidekick version of Hubspot Outlook connection (Windows tray app) - it  looks great but unfortunately kills Outlook - major delays when opening emails, navigating within Outlook.

[winetest]

I just read this entire thread.  I installed the Outlook plugin last week.  It's a great convenience, but it just KILLS the speed of Outlook.

I am thinking of uninstalling. I don't see any help coming from Hubspot, and I have so many emails, I can't afford to have even 5 seconds of added delay on EVERY email.

The loading of the plugin is waaaay to slow. 
Personally, I don't see why it has to load all the junk in the side panel.  I don't need that.  I just want it to capture the email.  I've already got the client name in the system, so it should be just a flag to capture it.  Opening that side bar is what takes time.
I don't see any option to disable the sidebar.

[DaanV]

It's the middle of March 2019, still no progress?! This is a deal breaker, for my salesteam (15 people)

[jennysowyrda]

Hi @DaanV,

Are you encountering a specific issue in regards to using the Outlook plug in? There have many changes and improvements made since this post was last updated. 

I would recommend following @prozakis's suggestions and reinstalling as a first step.

Thank you,
Jenny

[JeremieS]

Thank you for keeping that thread alive. 
It seems that performance fluctuates with add-in updates. 

I did not have issues with it in the past year (apart from a few times it got deactivated by Outlook) but then this week (maybe since last week) it started acting up. 
Outlook freezes right after hitting "Reply", with "not responding" message displaying for about a minute and a half in the top left corner of the window.
Update: no, it actually crashes Outlook occasionally (I gave up after 4 minutes waiting). 

[jennysowyrda]

HI @JeremieS,

I wanted to share this resource which walks through how to resolve the issue of Outlook crashing.

Thank you,
Jenny

[JeremieS]

Hello, 

I tried it and successfully deleted all the files under %appdata%\Sidekick, but the program still freezes when hitting Reply. 

Thank you.

[jennysowyrda]

Hi @JeremieS,

Thank you for the information! Do you mind sending along the following information: 

1. A screenshot of the extension within your inbox

2. A screenshot of what you see in the %appdata%\Sidekick folder on your computer

I appreciate your help regarding this matter!

Thank you,
Jenny

[JeremieS]

Hi Jenny, 
I just sent you a message with the screenshots. Thank you.

UPDATE: FOUND THE CULPRIT
It was not HubSpot (my apologies!!!). 
The culprit was Adobe Send & Track for Microsoft Outlook - Acrobat. 

I tried with and without and it consistently crashed my Outlook when enabled. 
Everything was fine when disabled. 

Sorry for bothering you with this but maybe my answer might be useful to people who like me assumed HubSpot was the source of the problem (as I never use this Adobe program).

[Bombadil]

I am having the same issue. Ever since installing Hub Spot I am at a CRAWL. 

Switched to Office 365 no difference.

There has to be a way to fix this!

[AdamLPW]

Hi @Bombadil,

After a couple of weeks of back-and-forth with HubSpot support, I've now got Outlook working at full speed again... albeit by installing the legacy add-in!

I'd noticed there was a constant flickering busy cursor while composing emails with the Office 365 add-in enabled and the HubSpot sidebar open.

Here's my latest support email:

"...after further research and checking internally, it looks like this may be a clash between your setup and the way that the Outlook 365 add-in sets up tracking in the background. As the tracking constantly scans to find the invisible tracking pixel in the email, even though most configurations will not see an issue, it can definitely cause issues like we are seeing here.

In this instance, we do think it may be better to switch from the Outlook 365 add-in and go to the Outlook desktop add-in as this will track the email in a different way and wont show issues in the compose as we are seeing here.

Here's some more instruction on how to uninstall the O365 add-in ( Link ) and how to install the Outlook desktop add-in ( Link )"

I've re-installed the old add-in (which I used for over a year with no issues) and, unsurprisingly, it's all much better now.  

Please give this a go and let me know if it helps you, too!

[miles267]

How do we get the "old" plugin version?  This thread is still going in August 2020 and the performance of the Outlook 2016 plugin is terrible.  Version 1.0.0.199.  This problem needs to be addressed.

[AdamLPW · Accepted solution]

Hi @miles267,

This worked for me - 

Here's some more instruction on how to uninstall the O365 add-in ( Link ) and how to install the Outlook desktop add-in ( Link )"

Agree - the Office 365 plugin really needs fixing.  HS tell me it's something about tracking and Internet Explorer running in the background.  TBH the old plugin works PERFECTLY for me... in fact, it's actually more functional as it has right-click context menus that allow you to drop meeting links and snippets into the body of an email (which the new add-in doesn't).  

Hope this helps.

[Brennon]

We just started using the sales tool plug in for 365 and my team is complaining that both outlook (desktop) and MS teams are very slow to load and sometimes do not work all together. I don't know if this is a HubSpot plugin issue or if this is a MS issue. Anyone else having these problems? I've advised some of them to remove the plugin to see if it helps, while continuing to bcc HubSpot emails. 

[AdamLPW]

Hi @Brennon,

There's a problem with the o365 add-in, for a minority of people (it would appear).  I'm one of them and looks like so are you!

I can see your post has been merged with this mega-thread... nothing you try will fix this issue, you'll need to follow the steps in this post, reverting to the older add-in.  In truth, the older add-in is better anyway - more seamless integration of snippets and meetings in emails.  That said, it's a bit shocking that the dev team haven't sorted this out yet!

Hope this helps.