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Email new leads from Google Sheets via Outlook on a schedule

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Created by: Robert Breen || rbreen

Robert Breen

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Last update 23 days ago

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Send a templated outreach email to new leads in a Google Sheet on a daily schedule, then mark each lead as contacted so they won’t be emailed twice. Built with: Schedule Trigger → Google Sheets → Filter → Outlook Send Email → Google Sheets (append/update).

Who’s it for

  • Teams that collect leads in Sheets and want automatic, once-per-lead outreach
  • Solo founders/consultants running simple top-of-funnel follow-ups
  • Anyone prototyping CRM-lite flows in n8n

How it works / What it does

  1. Schedule Trigger runs daily (e.g., 09:00).
  2. Get rows (Google Sheets) pulls leads from your sheet.
  3. Filter keeps only rows where Contacted is empty.
  4. Outlook – Send a message emails each remaining lead (to = {{$json.Email}}).
  5. Google Sheets (appendOrUpdate) writes back Contacted = Yes (match on Email) to prevent re-sending.

How to set up

1) Google Sheets (OAuth2)

  • In n8n → Credentials → New → Google Sheets (OAuth2), sign in and grant access.
  • In Get rows: select your Lead Source sheet (e.g., “New Leads”).
  • In Append/Update: select the sheet you want to mark as contacted (can be the same sheet or a CRM sheet).
  • Make sure your sheet has at least: Email, Contacted (blank for new).

2) Outlook (Microsoft Graph) OAuth2

  • n8n Cloud (quick connect):
    • In Credentials → New → Microsoft Outlook OAuth2, choose Connect, sign in with your Microsoft account, and accept permissions.
  • Self-hosted (Azure App Registration):
    1. Azure Portal → App registrations → New registration.
    2. Add redirect URL: https://YOUR_N8N_URL/rest/oauth2-credential/callback.
    3. API permissions (Delegated): offline_access, Mail.Send, User.Read. Grant admin consent if required.
    4. Create a Client secret; copy Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID.
    5. In n8n, create Microsoft Outlook OAuth2 credential with those values and scopes: offline_access Mail.Send openid email profile.
  • In the Send a message node, select that credential and keep To mapped to {{$json.Email}}.
  • Customize Subject and Body to your brand (default provided).

Requirements

  • A Google Sheet of leads with an Email column (and an optional Contacted column).
  • A Microsoft account with permission to send mail via Microsoft Graph (Outlook).

How to customize the workflow

  • Email content: Edit subject/body (add variables like {{$json.FirstName}}).
  • Send window: Change Schedule Trigger time/interval.
  • Idempotency: Use the same sheet for read+write (match on Email) or separate source/CRM sheets.
  • Logging: Add a Sheet or Notion append step after send for an audit trail.

Security & best practices

  • No hardcoded secrets: Always use OAuth2 credentials (Sheets & Outlook).
  • Sanitize PII: If publishing, remove real spreadsheet IDs/URLs and personal emails/phone numbers.
  • Sticky notes are mandatory: Add a yellow sticky note in the workflow with this description and a short setup checklist. Use neutral sticky notes for per-node tips.

Troubleshooting

  • No emails sent: Ensure Contacted is blank for new rows and the Filter checks “is empty.”
  • Auth errors (Outlook): Reconnect credential; confirm Graph scopes and tenant consent.
  • Sheets errors: Re-select spreadsheet/tab; verify headers (Email, Contacted).
  • Duplicates: Confirm Append/Update uses matching column = Email.

Tags & category

Category: Sales & CRM
Tags: outreach, follow-up, google-sheets, outlook, schedule, dedupe, cold-email

Changelog

v1.0.0 — Initial release: scheduled outreach, Outlook email, de-dupe via Contacted = Yes.

Contact

Need help customizing (personalization, rate-limits, CRM sync, bounce checks)?