Use Microsoft Outlook to create incidents and VTB tasks

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read
  • Create an incident or VTB task or chat with a virtual agent directly from within Microsoft Outlook using ServiceNow icons.

    Before you begin

    You must activate and deploy the ServiceNow Add-in for Microsoft outlook. For more information, see Configuring Microsoft Outlook to create incidents and VTB tasks

    Role required: none

    Procedure

    1. On the Microsoft Outlook Home tab, click the ServiceNow icon (OutlookAddInIcon) and select Create Incident or Create VTB Task.
    2. In the ServiceNow IT Service Management pane, click Login and enter your ServiceNow credentials.
      You may need to reauthenticate if your session has expired.
    3. For an incident record, fill in the following fields and click Submit.
      Table 1. Incident form
      Field Description
      Number Auto-generated incident number.
      Caller Current logged in user (default).
      Short description Subject of the current email (default).
      Additional comments Email body in text format (default).
      Category Category of incident.
      • Inquiry / Help
      • Software
      • Hardware
      • Network
      • Database

      You can add or remove fields directly on the Incident form for users with the itil role by customizing the Outlook view form layout.

      Note:
      For users that do not have the itil role, the configured Service Catalog form for creating new incidents is shown.
    4. For a task record, see fill in the following fields and click Create.
      Table 2. VTB Task form
      Field Description
      Select Board VTB board to which task belongs.
      Select Lane Lane of the VTB board.
      Short Description Short description of the task.
    5. To chat with a virtual agent, select the Chat with Virtual Agent UI action to open the chat window.