Outlook add-in — when TrustDID isn't running

The TrustDID add-in only adds the TrustDID buttons to Outlook. The signing and verifying are done by the TrustDID software on your own computer, which also serves the add-in's buttons and panels to Outlook. So when TrustDID isn't installed on the computer you're using, or its service isn't running, Outlook can't load the add-in and tells you so.

Your email is never held hostage. You can always send it; it just goes out without a TrustDID digital signature.

What you'll see

When you click Send. Outlook shows a dialog saying that TrustDID Sign & Verify is unavailable, or TrustDID's own message that it isn't running on this computer. Choose Send Anyway to send the email now, without a digital signature. Choose Try Later (or Don't Send) to keep the draft open, start TrustDID, and send again so the email is signed.

At the top of a message. A yellow bar: "We're sorry, we couldn't access TrustDID Sign & Verify. Make sure you have a network connection." Despite the wording, your network is fine: Outlook couldn't reach TrustDID on your own computer.

In the TrustDID panel. "Add-in Error — Sorry, we can't load the add-in." Same cause. Once TrustDID is running again, click Try Again.

Is my email still sent?

Yes, when you choose Send Anyway. Your recipients get it exactly as usual, only without the .vrfy signature file that lets them verify it came from you. If the email matters, take a minute to start TrustDID and send it signed.

Get signing back

1. Check that TrustDID is installed on this computer. On Windows, look for C:\Program Files\TrustDID\. On a Mac, open Terminal and run trustdid-service status; "command not found" means it isn't installed. To install it, see the Install Guides.
2. Check that the TrustDID Service is running. Run trustdid-service status, and start it with trustdid-service start (on Windows, in a terminal opened as administrator).
3. Check your identity. The service only runs with an activated identity and license. If it keeps stopping, run trustdid-setup.
4. Check the connection. Open https://localhost:8000/commands.html in your browser. A blank page is good; an error means the service still isn't reachable.
5. Back in Outlook, click Try Again in the TrustDID panel, or close and reopen the message.

Outlook on the web

Outlook on the web works, on a computer where TrustDID is installed and running. The first time you open a signed email or click a TrustDID button, your browser asks whether Outlook may reach applications on your computer — the wording is close to "outlook.office.com wants to access apps and devices on your local network". Choose Allow. You are asked once.

If the add-in shows "Something went wrong and we couldn't start this add-in", that permission is usually why. It can be set again:

• Edge — Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Site permissions → All permissions → Local network, then add https://outlook.office.com under Allowed.
• Chrome — Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → Local network access, same address.

Then reload the Outlook tab.

Private and Incognito windows can't work, whatever you allow: they do not keep site permissions. Use an ordinary window.

Outlook on phones and tablets

The mobile apps can't sign or verify. TrustDID runs on your computer, and the phone has no way to reach it. Choose Send Anyway, or send from a computer to sign.

I don't use TrustDID

Your Microsoft 365 administrator added the add-in for you. Choosing Send Anyway is always safe. To stop seeing these messages, ask your administrator to remove you from the add-in's users, or to install TrustDID on your computer.

For Microsoft 365 administrators

Assign the add-in only to people who have TrustDID installed and running on the computers they send from (Microsoft 365 admin center → Settings → Integrated apps → TrustDID Sign & Verify → Users). Everyone else gets the messages above, on every email they send.

Automatic signing on Send needs an Outlook that supports Smart Alerts: Outlook for Microsoft 365 on Windows, new Outlook for Windows and Mac, or Outlook on the web. Older versions such as Outlook 2019 keep the Sign Documents button but don't sign automatically.

The local network prompt in Outlook on the web. Since Microsoft Edge 143, Chromium browsers ask permission before a public site reaches a service on the user's own computer, and the add-in's panels are served by TrustDID on localhost. Users see the prompt once and allow it. On managed Edge you can answer it for them with the LocalNetworkAccessAllowedForUrls policy, listing https://outlook.office.com; see Microsoft's Local Network Access guidance.

Set that policy only if you want to suppress the prompt for everyone. It grants that site access to local network services generally, so it is a decision worth making deliberately rather than as part of a software install. Nothing in TrustDID's installers changes it. Outlook for Windows and Mac are not affected, and neither are the TrustDID browser extensions — browser extensions are exempt from these restrictions.

Need help?

Contact support@trustdid.ca with the output of trustdid-service status and your Outlook version (Help → About Outlook on a Mac, File → Office Account → About Outlook on Windows).