Attorneys don’t sit at their desks all day. You’re in court, at a client’s office, traveling between meetings — and your phone has become just as important to your practice as your laptop. The good news is that NetDocuments is genuinely well-suited for mobile use. The not-so-good news is that most attorneys only scratch the surface of what’s possible because no one has ever walked them through the whole picture.
Over the years, we’ve written several posts covering different pieces of the NetDocuments mobile experience. This guide pulls them all together in one place, in the order you should set things up.
Step 1: Set Up the NetDocuments App and Connect Microsoft Office
Before anything else, download the NetDocuments app from the App Store or Google Play and log in with your firm credentials. That’s the foundation everything else builds on.
But the app alone only lets you view documents. The real power comes when you connect it to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on your device. Once you do that, you can open a document from NetDocuments directly in Word, edit it, and save it right back — the same way you work on your desktop.
→ How to Download and Use the NetDocuments App
→ How to Use Microsoft Office with NetDocuments on a Mobile Device
Step 2: Set Up Email Integration (M365 Outlook Add-In)
This is where attorneys spend most of their mobile time — in email — and NetDocuments offers you an integration with Outlook on your phone.
The M365 Outlook Add-In works across Outlook on iPhone, Android, Outlook Web Access, Outlook for Mac, and the new Outlook for Windows. It requires your IT administrator to deploy it through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
For your IT:
→ Set Up the NetDocuments M365 Outlook Add-In
→ How to Update the NetDocuments Outlook 365 App
For you:
→ How to Save an Email from your Look to NetDocuments on your Mobile Device
Step 3: Learn How to Send NetDocuments Files as Email Attachments
One of the most common questions we hear from attorneys: “How do I attach a document from NetDocuments when I’m on my phone?”
There are actually four different ways to do it, depending on what you have installed and which workflow feels most natural. You can share directly from the NetDocuments app, browse to NetDocuments from within Outlook’s file picker, copy an internal link, or use ndKeyboard (more on that below). Each method has its place, and knowing all four means you’ll never be stuck.
→ How to Add NetDocuments Attachments to Emails on Your Smartphone
Step 4: Enable ndKeyboard — The Feature Most Attorneys Don’t Know Exists
ndKeyboard is probably the least-known NetDocuments feature, and it’s one of the most useful on mobile. It installs as a custom keyboard on your iPhone or Android device. When you’re composing a message in Outlook, Teams, or any other app, you can switch to the ndKeyboard and instantly search for and insert a link to any NetDocuments document — without ever leaving what you’re typing.
No switching apps. No copying and pasting links. Just tap the keyboard icon, find the document, and insert it.
It works on both iOS and Android, and setup takes about two minutes.
→ ndKeyboard: The NetDocuments Feature That Makes Sharing Documents from Your Phone Effortless
Quick Reference: What to Set Up and In What Order
If you’re starting from scratch, here’s the short version:
- Download the NetDocuments app and log in
- Connect Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to NetDocuments on your device
- Set up email integration — M365 Outlook Add-In
- Learn the four ways to attach documents from your phone
- Enable ndKeyboard for the fastest document-sharing workflow on mobile
Have questions about getting NetDocuments fully configured on your firm’s mobile devices? Contact Optiable — we’re happy to help.