Forum Discussion
MicrosoftUpdate on Focused Inbox rollout for Outlook 2016 for Windows users
Allen seems to say that it will only be available on outlook.com, exchange accounts from Microsoft, and eventually gmail -- but can't explain why I can't use it for my IMAP accounts on Outlook 2016 desktop when my little Android running Outlook doesn't care what kind of email account I have. They say it will when Modern Authorization isn't required it will work on all accounts but then they contradict themselves and say it won't. I am as confused as you.
Simply put -- FI , in theory, should work on all devices regardless of email account type -- especially if it works on an Android version of Outlook with those same accounts. No one has explained that to me either.
I wonder if there is a 3rd party app for Outlook 2016 desktop that will do the same thing and help you prioritize email better.
(I have 12,000 items in each of multiple mailboxes and have problems getting through the clutter).
>> eventually gmail
When the "Microsoft cloud" is supported in outlook desktop, then it will work in gmail... because the ms cloud is outlook.com on the backend syncing with gmail and the account is added as exchange. At this time, other imap servers are not expected to be supported (they are using the gmail api to sync to the 'microsoft cloud').
I understand the process on the apps for separating focused that aren't on exchange is a bit different than it is for exchange accounts - basically bulk or not bulk. Could outlook desktop do this? Sure... but they need to update Outlook to add filters for it. It's easier to add the process to the server and tweak the algorithm as needed for millions of accounts at once, instead of adding the sorting process client side and pushing out updates to everyone.
If enough people request it, they might add it to a future version - https://outlook.uservoice.com/forums/322590-outlook-2016-for-windows/suggestions/31892239-focused-inbox-for-imap