DEV Community: Adewale Megbabi

CATCH ALL EMAILS IN EXO: NEVER MISS A MESSAGE AGAIN.

Adewale Megbabi — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 09:57:19 +0000

There is a feature called 'Catch all' that is not supported by Microsoft Exchange Online. This feature ensures that no email sent to your organization has a Non Delivery Report(NDR) status.

So here is the thing with ' catch all' (no pun intended): usually, senders can omit some characters or make a mistake when entering email addresses, and this would ordinarily lead to a Non-Delivery Report (NDR) as the email address entered was either incorrect or does not exist.

What I mean is that a sender may type Cain@contoso.com instead of Caine@ncontoso.com. This will return an NDR. To capture and make sure such mails deliver and do not return an NDR, most mail providers provide the catchall mailbox. Now this is an unsupported feature in Exchange Online, but there is a workaround for it. The following explains how:

Set up the catchall mailbox (it is preferable to use a shared mailbox to conserve licenses, but user mailbox works as well)
Create a security group and add other mailboxes so they are separated from the catchall. This is so that we can exclude the other mailboxes from redirecting to the catchall mailbox.
Go to the Exchange admin center. Click on Mail flow> Accepted domain and select your default email domain. Set it as internal relay.

Check the box, and new page opens up for you to select the 'internal relay' option then save.

Click on Mail flow >Rules >Add a rule

Create a new rule

Give the rule a name, and give it the following conditions:

i. Apply this rule if : The Recipient + domain is (you specify your domain)

ii. Do the following : Redirect the message to + these recipients (you specify the catchall mailbox)

iii. Except if: the recipient + is a member of this group (specify the name of the group in step 2 above)

iv. Click on Save.

You can test your emails now and see that emails sent to wrong or nonexistent mailboxes on your domain are all caught by this mailbox.

I hope this helps someone.

Auto-reply Automation: Scale & Resilience (pt.5)

Adewale Megbabi — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 23:30:16 +0000

My Mission: To Add Error Handling, As Well As Summary Report.

✅ 1. Implementing Retry & Error Handling in Power Automate.
The flow works just fine, but what happens if it fails? In this article, I will be iterating further the tool built so far by adding scalability and resilience to the product to make it fail proof, and whenever it fails, there is always a message log notifying you.

Configure Retry Policies

Go to each action (e.g., “Send email”, “Create item”, “Post message in a chat or channel”).
Open the settings (⋯) → Settings → set retry policy to Automatic (4 retries) with exponential intervals.

The image above is a configuration for just one out of the seven actions. Complete the set-up for others as shown above.

Add a “Scope” Step for Error Logging

Wrap your main steps in a Scope action.
Add another Scope labeled “On Error” using the “Configure run after” option.
Set to run if the main scope fails or is skipped.

Log Errors to SharePoint or Teams.

Inside the error Scope, add “Create item” in a new SharePoint list (Email Error Logs) or send a Teams message indicating failure.
Include dynamic details: Flow name, timestamp, error message.

✅ 2. Add Daily Summary Report.

Store execution logs in SharePoint list from previous steps.
Create a Scheduled Flow:

Trigger: Recurrence (daily)
Action: "Get items" from your SharePoint logs.
Action: Send an email summary, listing today's activity or errors to a designated inbox.

Expression: ReceivedTimes eq '@{formatDateTime(utcNow(),'MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm tt')}'

Integrating Microsoft Teams Notifications (pt.4)

Adewale Megbabi — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 21:06:26 +0000

Hi,

I have successfully enhanced my M365 auto-responder with conditional logic in my previous posts. Today, I am further elevating my automation process by integrating Microsoft Teams notifications, ensuring real-time alerts for specific email triggers.

By the completion of this project, I shall be having Outlook mailbox, Power Automate, SharePoint, and Teams all configured into a product meant to enhance productivity in the business space.

Mission: Send Teams Notifications for Urgent Emails

✅ 1. Set Up a Microsoft Teams Workflows

Create a Teams Channel: If you haven't already, create a dedicated channel in Microsoft Teams for notifications.

Add an Incoming Workflows:

Hover your mouse on the created channel, and on the three horizontal dots that appear at the far right of the channel's name, click for more options, and choose the workflows option

In the second part of this project, remember that I created a flows in Power Automate called, "Email Automation", this comes up when I click the "view all flows" button.

Click on the "Email Automate" flows and save. Also, note that the connection is successful.

✅ 2. Update the Configured Flows Power Automate
Enhance the existing flows to send a Teams notification when an urgent email is received:

Add a New Step: After sending the auto-reply for urgent emails, add a "Microsoft Teams" connector then, "Post message in a chat or channel" action .

Input the required parameters and save the updated flows configuration. Note that you can dynamically add the mailbox of the sender and the mail subject into the body of the message to be sent to the Teams channel.

✅ 3. Test and Validate
Send a test email with "urgent" in the subject line.

Confirm that:

The appropriate auto-reply is sent.

A new entry is logged in SharePoint.

A notification appears in the designated Teams channel.

Implementing Conditional Auto-Replies Based on Email Content (pt.3)

Adewale Megbabi — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 21:36:41 +0000

Hi guys,

This is the third part of my project build, which by the way is a tool built around solving a real world challenge. In this project, I will be defining conditions for my auto-replies, updating my Power Automate flow, "Email Automate", then testing and validating the new build.

✅ 1. Define Conditions for Auto-Replies

Decide on specific criteria that will trigger different auto-replies. For example:

Urgent Requests: If the subject contains "urgent" or "ASAP".
Support Inquiries: If the body contains "support" or "help".
General Inquiries: All other emails.

✅ 2. Update Your Power Automate Flow

Modify your existing flow to include conditional branches:

Add a Condition: After the trigger, insert a condition to check if the subject contains "urgent".
Yes Branch: Send an auto-reply indicating that urgent requests are being prioritized.
No Branch: Add another condition to check if the body contains "support" or "help".

Yes Branch: Send a support-specific auto-reply.
No Branch: Send a general auto-reply.

This structure ensures that each email receives a context-appropriate response.

✅ 3. Test and Validate

Send test emails that match each condition:

An email with "urgent" in the subject.
An email with "support" in the body.
A general inquiry.

Verify that each email receives the correct auto-reply and that the event is logged appropriately in SharePoint.

Log Auto-Reply Events to SharePoint (pt.2)

Adewale Megbabi — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 00:53:10 +0000

Hi there,

This is a continuation of my previous project where I triggered auto reply mail from outlook to the sender's mailbox when certain conditions are satisfied using Power Automate.

In this project, I will be logging my auto-reply events to a SharePoint site.

Navigate to your SharePoint site and create a new list named "Email Auto-Reply Logs", (You can name your list any name that's okay for you).

Add the following columns:

Sender Email (Single line of text)
Subject (Single line of text)
Received Time (Date and Time)
Reply Sent (Yes/No)

This list will serve as a centralized log for all auto-reply events, making it easy for tracking and auditing.

Next is that you will update Your Power Automate Flow, the flow called "Email Automate" which was created in the previous post.

Enhance your existing flow to include a step that logs each auto-reply event to the SharePoint list:

After the "Send an email (V2)" action, add a new step: "Create item" in SharePoint.
Configure the action:

Site Address: Your SharePoint site URL.
List Name: "Email Auto-Reply Logs".
Sender Email: Use dynamic content to insert the sender's email.
Subject: Use dynamic content to insert the email subject.
Received Time: Use dynamic content to insert the received time.
Reply Sent: Set to "Yes".

This enhancement ensures that every auto-reply is recorded, providing a clear audit trail.

Test and Validate

Send a test email to your Outlook inbox.
Verify that:

The auto-reply is sent successfully.
A new entry is created in the SharePoint list with accurate details.

Thank you.

Automated email responder via Outlook + Power Automate (pt.1)

Adewale Megbabi — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 23:53:18 +0000

Hi there,

I am building an automated workflow that mirrors a real world scenario where you set an auto reply to a mailbox, and we all definitely must have come across mails of this nature at one point or the other..

This automation takes charge of a user's outlook inbox.
Detects incoming emails that match certain conditions. For example, if the subject contains words like "Support", "Urgent" as in this project.
Then sends back a custom auto-reply.
Also optionally logs the interaction to a SharePoint list or Excel file for records, which I shall be doing at another time.

For this project, the steps to be taken are

Trigger: When a new email arrives (Outlook trigger).
Condition (optional): If subject contains “support” or “urgent”.
Action: Send a reply email with a template response

Needed is a Power Automate license to access the Power Automate portal, and which is free at this point in time. You also need an outlook mailbox provisioned for the user.

Inside your Microsoft 365 account

Open Power Automate
Create a new flow → Automated cloud flow

Give a name to your flow, scroll down, and use the Outlook connector (When a new email arrives (V3)) as the flow's trigger then create.

Add a condition

Drop down the options to check the boxes applicable.

It is important to note here that the words set to trigger the auto reply might be in uppercase, lowercase, it might be in the body of the message or might be combined with other words. To bring all scenarios into one basket, it's better to use a function to trigger the auto reply
Function for Subject: contains(toLower(triggerOutputs()?['body/Subject']), 'test report')
Function for Body: contains(toLower(triggerOutputs()?['body/Body']), 'test report')
PS. 'test report' here should be replaced with your desired keyword or an array of words.

After saving the settings, you can now go ahead to test the flow you just created by sending a mail with either the subject "Support", "Urgent" or any other word you might want an auto reply to trigger. You should receive an auto reply based on your settings you have configured.

🔥 From a Mixologist to Builder: The Mission Begins

Adewale Megbabi — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:01:07 +0000

I spent years behind a bar, mixing drinks for people chasing a good time. It paid the bills, sharpened my people skills, and gave me stories—but I always knew I was meant for more.

When that chapter ended, I didn’t collapse. I reloaded.

I’ve since studied HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, AWS, Cybersecurity, and now Microsoft 365.

Still unemployed. Still unknown. But not for long.

Right now, I’m finishing my M365 course and building public projects to earn visibility, skill, and momentum. My path:

→ Microsoft 365 Admin → Full-Stack Builder → Product Creator

I’m not here to be “realistic.” I’m here to become undeniable.

I'll be sharing my work, my wins, and my lessons publicly.

If you're hiring, building, or betting on underdogs — let’s connect. I’m just getting

started.

TechJourney #Microsoft365 #Builder #CareerChange #PublicLearning

Migrating your Mailbox from G Suite to Exchange Online

Adewale Megbabi — Fri, 30 May 2025 04:26:08 +0000

Migrating from G Suite to EXO can be a smooth process if you follow these steps carefully.

Here’s a detailed guide to help you through:

Step 1: Naming a Project and Accessing the Cloud Resource Manager

➡️ Open the Cloud Resource Manager.
➡️ Create a new project: Click on 'Create Project' and name it whatever
name that feels convenient with you.

Don't worry if you have No Organization, click on 'Create' to create the project.

Confirm the creation of your project.

➡️ Check the project's name box, a section appears by the right side of
the screen for you to 'Add Principal'.

Step 2: Creating a Service Account

➡️ Clicking on the 'Add Principals' button pops-up a section that requires you to input either one of your, Google Account Email, Google Group, Service Account, or Google Workspace Domain.

➡️ Also clicking on 'Assign Roles' gives you the option to choose the role you want for the project. Then save the setting.

Step 3: Enable APIs

➡️ Select the 3 horizontal lines depicting menu.

➡️ Select APIs & Services.

➡️ Select Enabled APIs & Services.

Then

➡️ Enable the following APIs:

Gmail API
Google People API
Google Calendar API

➡️ Click on Enabled APIs & services to view list of APIs

Step 4: Set Up Migration from Exchange

➡️ From the Exchange admin center, click on 'migration', then 'Add migration batch'

➡️ Name a new migration batch and choose the option, 'Migration to Exchange Online' since the migration is from G Suite to EXO.

➡️ Select migration type as 'Google Workspace(Gmail) Migration'

➡️ Start

➡️ Sign-in when prompted.

Step 5: Check Prerequisites

Confirm Prerequisites are all checked green, and click next.

Step 6: Configure Migration Endpoint

➡️ Create a new migration endpoint.

➡️ Name the endpoint and customize the default settings

➡️ Specify the service account and check 'Skip Verification'

➡️ Import the JSON file downloaded

Status: Endpoint is created

Step 7: Import Users

➡️ Click on 'Import Users'

➡️ Go to the Google console to confirm the users you have

➡️ Open Excel app to create a CSV

➡️ Update the CSV

Batch successfully started

Confirm status.

Step 8: Confirm Completion

Confirm that the migration batch has been successfully completed.