Things to know about the new Outlook for Windows
Published May 17 2022 12:00 PM 4.5M Views
Microsoft

Editor's note 9/28/22: We have updated the "known gaps" table to reflect the latest status.

As we announced today here, the new Outlook for Windows is now available for customers who are opted into the Office Insiders Beta Channel.

 

Use the new Outlook for Windows to be more productive and stay in control of your inbox. This version has new intelligent features like message reminders and a new calendar board that puts your email, calendar, and to-do in the same view. And now with Microsoft Loop components, you can collaborate across Outlook and Teams while staying in the flow of your work.

 

If you are a paid customer with a commercial or education mailbox as your default sender account in classic Outlook for Windows and are in Beta Channel, you will see a “Try the new Outlook” toggle in the top right corner of that Outlook for Windows app. Switch that toggle to start using the new Outlook for Windows.

 

This is an early preview of the new Outlook and hence, not all functionality from the classic Outlook for Windows is available in this version yet.

 

If you encounter any issues in this early Beta Channel build, please report it through the feedback icon in the upper right corner.

If any of those limitations are critical for your work, we recommend you stay in the classic Outlook until they are resolved, or you can switch the toggle to go between apps as often as you want.

 

Known gaps:

 

New Outlook for Windows capability

Status

Multi-account

In development

Offline

In development

Account support (@outlook.com)

Updated to: Available

3rd party account support (Gmail, Yahoo!, iCloud and other IMAP accounts)

In development

POP support

Investigating

Support for accounts in US Government clouds

Planned

Outlook data (.pst) files

Planned

Continuous Access Evaluation

Updated to: Available

 

Delegation and shared mailboxes

Updated to: Available

Quick Steps

Updated to: Available

Search Folders

In development

Folder reordering

Updated to: In development

Programmability

In development: web add-ins

*There is no plan to support COM/VSTO Add-ins at this point, but the investments to enrich the Web Add-in platform to offer similar capabilities will continue. Please share any outstanding gaps here.

Note: this is not an exhaustive list.

 

The new Outlook for Windows is enabled by default for all users with a Microsoft 365 account in the Office Insider Beta channel.

If you are an organization’s admin and you would prefer to disable your users from syncing their accounts to the new Outlook for Windows, please follow these PowerShell instructions:

 

To change the syncing permissions to the new Outlook for Windows for your whole tenant, run the following script:

 

  1. Run the PowerShell app as an administrator
  2. Input: Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName <administrator email>
  3. Input: Get-CASMailbox|Set-CASMailbox -OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled <$true> if enabling or <$false> if disabling

To change permissions for a single user:

  1. Run the PowerShell app as an administrator
  2. Input: Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName <administrator email>
  3. Input: set-CASMailbox <Email being enabled/disabled> -OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled <$true> if enabling or <$false> if disabling

 

You can also use the following command in PowerShell to confirm that the new Outlook for Windows is disabled for the specified account:

Get-CASMailbox <email being checked> | Select *

 

Go through the list of mail clients and confirm that OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled has the required value next to it.

 

Keep in mind that even if users are not part of the Beta Channel but are able to download and install the new Outlook for Windows, they could connect their work or school accounts. The only way to, surely, prevent that is running the PowerShell commands above.

 

For additional information on managing employee access to the new Outlook for Windows, click here

Thank you!

801 Comments
Iron Contributor

What I am confused about is if this is a new way to bring the Windows and macOS together, why do they look and feel so different?  The new Outlook for Mac does not have a lot of the features that were mentioned in the new Windows version today.  Is the macOS version of Outlook going to get these features and UI updates this year as well or is there another new version coming for macOS?

 

The messaging on this is confusing around why there are so many different options for different versions of OS; Windows, macOS, and mobile.

Bronze Contributor

Aren't COM add-ins all the add-ins in existence (over decades), at least on Windows? I didn't even know there was another category of add-ins on the client, but really, relative to the existing body of COMs how many web ones can there be at this point or even when the new Outlook is released? Even the Teams one shows as COM.

Brass Contributor

When do we expect a full rollout or complete change?

 

Steel Contributor

I agree with - @Will Wilson 

Iron Contributor

What if I already have multiple accounts?

What if I am using outlook beta with two or more pop or imap accounts?

I envy people who have just one commercial m365.

It is easy to push the non-m365 accounts to mail for Windows, but there is no solution for those with multiple commercial m365 accounts. 

Iron Contributor

Do you really expect to be able to replace COM/VSTO addins with the joke that is OfficeJS? It doesn't support the most basic of things like drag and drop. Many Outlook addins have deep system-level integration, which will be impossible to replicate with OfficeJS. 

I understand the reasoning for wanting a cross-platform addin architecture. But it needs to match what you can do today with VSTO. Also, .NET is cross-platform today, why not use that.

 

Also, you link to the suggestions forum for OfficeJS. That place is a joke. There has been no response to multiple requests for adding drag and drop support: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-developer-platform/support-drag-and-drop-to-fro... https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-developer-platform/drag-and-drop/idi-p/2377183 

Copper Contributor

I'm in the Beta channel. Have Outlook setup with just an @live.com account but not getting the toggle to try the preview. Are live.com accounts in the same category as outlook.com accounts?

Steel Contributor

Installed it on a test VM. A few thoughts:

 

* I hate that I can't keep its views separate from Outlook on the Web, since the new Outlook is basically Outlook on the Web in a desktop wrapper. I like to keep the reading pane off and in a more compact view on the desktop, and roomier with reading pane enabled on Outlook on the Web. I had different preferences for different scenarios, and now it's converged and I have to pick one for both.

 

* The account switchover logic when changing to the new Outlook app needs tweaking for users with non-matching UPN and primary SMTP.  When it makes you re-authenticate to your mailbox before first launch, it drops your primary SMTP into a web-based authentication window even if the account was originally added via UPN. This makes users get a "can't find account" error if they just click continue without explicitly re-typing their UPN in the sign-in field.

Bronze Contributor

@RonMann7 I definitely expect so. @hotmail.com and the rest, too, since they're all synonyms of each other. They should have just used the word "consumer" and left it as that. The other article phrased it as "Microsoft Accounts."

Iron Contributor

If OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled isn't set, does it default to True? Because that's what I'm seeing in my tenant, that it isn't set.

( I'm trying to troubleshoot err: Error: Authentication.addNewAccountAndGetAuthToken:Invoked method failed )

Also, what is the difference between OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled and UniversalOutlookEnabled? The doc you link to (Enable or disable employee access to the new Outlook for Windows) says to verify access by checking that UniversalOutlookEnabled is set to True. Confusing.

Iron Contributor

How will this New Outlook client be serviced? It seems this Outlook client is a PWA, will it just like Teams get an own updater to keep up with the Exchange Online client? Do perpetual Office users get this client? Thanks!

Brass Contributor

Will this one be de-coupled from other Microsoft 365 apps (aka Office) ? Will it continue to block installation of additional apps like Project or Visio ? Is it still ClickToRun ?

And/or will this app replace the Mail and Calendar apps currently shipped with Windows 10/11 ?

 

Brass Contributor

Will public folders be supported?  I don't see a way to get to them currently and it is not listed as a known gap above.

Iron Contributor

I don't see a word about encryption and digital signatures (S/MIME). Encryption is available in the web version of Outlook but in this New Outlook both features seem to be missing and they are not mentioned in the list of planned / in development features.

Steel Contributor

@Malatheon Outlook on the Web (which is the basis of One Outlook) already supports S/MIME.

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/encrypt-messages-by-using-s-mime-in-outlook-web-app-2e57e...

 

EDIT: I misread your post... Disregard comment.

Please don't introduce support for POP. Even 5 years ago, it was already legacy and should not be used anywhere anymore. Keep the modern Outlook client modern!

Iron Contributor

Microsoft used to make great products.

Now, apparently they are not happy with the billions of profits they make every quarter if they need to save every little penny and sell the web interfaces as full blown clients (take Teams as an example, it's a resource hog and a joke of product. The real reasons why Teams work are SPO/EXO that are entirely what they call "legacy" code).

 

That, or they are hiring too many Architects/PMs/Developers from Google and Facebook that lives in the silicon valley bubble and outside of planet Earth.

Brass Contributor

Is this a PWA? If so, sad. Efficient software is a thing of the past, also thanks to bloated and needlessly complex Ms dev tools and libraries or lack there of.

 

Outlook always was a bloated nasty app with complex steps for basic things and missing features and lacking public open standards for long time. Heck, even it's GAL browser is stuck in the early 90s. However MS business marketing did its trick. Businesses now rely on addins (which are a nightmare for programmers since Ms went .NET VSTO whose memory model just doesn't match COM at all.  And now Ms says: sorry no support for local and native addins. Use that sorry excuse of web addins (always online, bad integration, bad deployment, lacking features).

 

Guess the current Outlook is here to stay for a long time.

 

ps if you want a better GAL in the current Outlook: https://wizardsoft.nl/products/companycontactsoutlook

Brass Contributor

This won't load for me. It switched my Outlook but it fails to load, now I cannot get back to the old outlook. Is there a setting somewhere else I can manually change to reset this back?

 

HELP!

Brass Contributor

It seems to me that the new version of outlook is enormously inferior to the current program. I do not understand this policy of weakening a flagship product and widespread use. Overlooking the quality of the interface, removing the features that most companies still use doesn't seem like a great idea. I hope that the development will give us a product that lives up to its predecessors.

Copper Contributor

The application looks cool so far. Is it done with electron/typescript? If yes any chance there will be a linux version?
I am using the web version of outlook.com and got a office365 account, would love to use it with fedora.

Brass Contributor

How to switch back to old style Outlook? Few days ago there was the "Try new Outlook" slider, but currently it's gone and I can't go back. I have 6 different accounts and unfortunately in the new style Outlook I see only the Office365 account - all the others are gone and this is a showstopper for me.

Btw why it was so necessary to launch this preview only with support of O365? Most of the civilised world uses Gmail, Outlook.com, own domain accounts and not everybody is using corporate O365 or only 1 account at all...

 

Iron Contributor

@dominikzoggAFAIK new outlook is written in WebView2, so theoretically Linux version would be technically possible.

Iron Contributor

@IgorHx just restarting the Outlook app / computer brought back the switch for me. You can actually use both versions along side if you pin the icons to Start menu / Taskbar.

Iron Contributor

Did somebody manage to import / save an .ics event into the New Outlook calendar? Yet another rather important feature that is not mentioned anywhere... How can Outlook exist without it, even Google has a way to import events...

Iron Contributor

Does this thing support the enterprise management capabilities that current Outlook have?

I mean, just for starters:

- GPO (don't say use MDM CSP because it's far away from being enterprise ready; no rsop, limited settings, buggy reporting and I can go on)

- LTSC versions and long lifecycle

- no VSTO plugins so I think extensibility is dead from the start (no enterprise email archiving or integration with CRMs..)

 

Please be clear: the plan is to replace the consumer app "Mail" to have a sort of "Outlook Express 2022" or to cripple the current full blown Outlook?

@LucaCavana PWA is not a bad thing these days. As the web client is currently the best working and best performing Outlook client after the Mac client (and then miles away in terms of performance the native Windows client), it totally makes sense to bring the web experience to the desktop. They only need to find a way to make updates transparent and seamless for the user.

All the legacy concepts like GPO's, LTS versions, etc. make no sense anymore in a zero trust world, so as management should be completely done on O365 and the version should always be the latest stable one (and beta on preview groups) this is the right way to go.

Iron Contributor

@jandamaschke in terms of performance, I don't see the OWA client being anywhere near as performing as Outlook, even ignoring the fact that it just works online and has perhaps 1/100 of the functionalities (and 1/1000 of the manageability, even with Office Cloud Policy Service). Zero extensibility (doesn't even works with AIP and I know a lot of big corporate customers using it).

 

I'm not inclined to thinking that the things that I mentioned are "Legacy", probably it's just not the technologies that the cool kids on the block are using these days, but are the ones that are keeping the world spinning.

The cloud-only dreams (both in term of operational maturity of the platform and manageability) are far far away from what the Microsoft corporate propaganda heralds. They are surely fine for simpler deployments and are a blessing for those realities who have a simple IT (SBS anyone?), but they are just not ready for the corporate, mission critical world. It has diverging requirements from a cloud deployment, you just can't give that control away or the first time Microsoft botch a patch or a service you are in big trouble (even with all the cool stuffs like KIR...).

If that wasn't true they would not be offering SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, Skype for Business Server and System Center and Configuration Manager (and I can go on) all of which have received and are still receiving tons of new functionalities with every release.

 

The future, for the foreseeable future, is a hybrid one. Microsoft knows that. Just sometimes they try to push too hard...

@LucaCavana I appreciate you took the time to answer, but please do a bit more research, before going into deeper topics the next time. 

1. We are not talking about the OWA, but the modern web client, which is a difference.

2. OWA as well as the normal client has offline support since forever, it was introduced in Exchange many years ago

3. The online client actually has more feature than the offline client (like server side delayed send or server side inbox rules), is more performant (especially on things like searching) and I know many enterprise customers that actually denied access the Outlook desktop client for these and security reasons.

4. It is completely extensible, all plugins and extensions for modern outlook work on the web and the web client is even more compatible with AIP (which was btw superseded by Microsoft Information Protection/MIP) and supports more use cases to open encrypted mails than the Windows client does (just had this at a customer)

5. Going with the time and not becoming irrelevant because you are adopting current day tech isn't something for the "cool kids", it's a requirement for all companies today

6. All of the products you just pointed out are more or less dead from my perspective (SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, Skype for Business Server and all System Center Tools). I have seen no customers that introduced these in the last years, only projects to get rid of them, MS just does maintenance updates with no new features to get the yearly version number up and all new features, especially security wise are partially not even implemented for on-premises products anymore.

Calling them legacy is not only overdue, but just being realistic interpreting the MS publications of the last years.

 

Cloud is definitely the way to go and from an enterprise perspective M365 is the most enterprise ready environment you can get with far more security and features than the current on-premises products have and the gap will continue to grow.

Iron Contributor

@jandamaschke I know very well what I'm talking about, don't assume somebody it's ignorant just because he does not agree with you.

 

1. Which is essentially a wrapper of the existing OWA. Like Teams is to his web app (that's Electron ok, but soon it will be WebView2, hopefully).

2. It indeed has, but it's a joke compared to what Outlook can do while offline

3. If an Enterprise customer is concerned about data at rest security the answer is BitLocker, but who am I to tell? Server side inbox rules are not a feature of the client but rather Exchange.

4. I'm sorry but here you are clearly out of your waters. AIP is part of MIP, is not being superseded. The client has been put into maintenance mode but there are still wide gaps (right click support for Explorer, advanced policies, scanner to name the first that comes to mind but there are more). Maintenance mode does not mean dead. Please take a look yourself: Announcing AIP unified labeling client maintenance mode and sunset of mobile viewer - Microsoft Tech... 

5. I concur with you with that. But requirements vary upon industry and not everything because it's in cloud is just better. Some time it is, some time it's not. The same with applications.

6. I encourage you to go and take a look at the "what's new" for the products you listed. They are alive and well. Again, this depends on the industry you are working in.

 

Cloud is definitely the way to go and from an enterprise perspective M365 is the most enterprise ready environment you can get with far more security and features than the current on-premises products have and the gap will continue to grow

I agree 100% on this, but still it depends. Sooner or later the market will find a balance.

I also find that young system administrators who only work on SaaS products does not grasps some of the complexities behind and I'm not sure how this will translate in the long run. Also debugging of some issues is much more complex since you don't have as many control over the technology.

 

I get the feeling you consider me a dinosaur or that I lived in a cave for the last 10 years, ignoring how the IT landscape changed. I'm sorry to disappoint but most of my consulting work is around M365.

Criticizing Microsoft because too often these days it's sputtering half-baked products or services and selling them as magical innovations I still think it's withing my rights, as well stating that there are circumstances where the on-premises counterpart still have a role. It's not blasphemy.

Copper Contributor

Thanks for launching something that doesn't support CAE and the security holes that can create 😞 Means I have to block this in my tenant , and also add more to block any new starter mailbox we create.  

 

Any timeline on CAE? 

Copper Contributor

My Templates feature is missing. Please bring it back! 

Copper Contributor

When will we have Gmail account support in this new version?

Brass Contributor

Sad you are so slow to get your own outlook\hotmail accounts working.

 

Well, given how bad the spam features (non working features) are with that product, it's no wonder you are slow to add in consumer accounts.

 

You are a sad place now Microsoft. I long for the days of the old XP mail client that came with the Live bundle of apps.

The Outlook for Windows available in the Microsoft Store as well. Link Outlook for Windows app on Microsoft Store -> https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NRX63209R7B

 

There is no support for multiple/Gmail/Hotmail/personal accounts when I tested last time. 

Copper Contributor

Outlook is more than an email client.  The features being considered are email centric.  If email is the only future for Outlook, it will quickly loose relevance.  I'd like to see more integration with first and third party productivity applications.

Iron Contributor

@TrackDaddyI think that with web plugins this could be achieved if implemented effectively.

 

I have to be the devil's advocate and say that few updates down the line the responsiveness and overall experience have been improved significantly up to the point, that I am using it as the main client now. However, any hint on S/MIME would be very welcome. Since the Mac version does support it via integration with the Mac OS X keychain features, I can't envision the world where Mac version of the Outlook is fundamentally more capable than the Windows version.

Copper Contributor

For sure!  However, deeply integrated web plugins are several years away.  After the architecture is evangelized  accelerator organizations will need to implement the web plugins.  Then enterprises will need to evaluate them and roll them out.  Finally, the end consumer will benefit from the change.  In the mean time alternative communication channels and workflow patterns will gain a foot hold.

I love Outlook.  I hope it continues to add value to the consumer.

Brass Contributor

@IgorHxYou're right.

Just got an automatic update and the new outlook beta was pushed. Multiple accounts? Gone; Add-ins (i.e. Grammarly)? Gone or I’m not looking in the right place; Insert quick parts? Gone or I’m not looking in the right place.

@Gabriel_Valdez HELP How to roll back to the previous version until all features are back available?

Iron Contributor

@KK_Marc try a repair installation or merely uninstall and reinstall.

We knew this was going to happen but didn't know it was going to be that bad.

It is supposed to replace the mail app not the official microsoft outlook app.

Brass Contributor

@KK_Marc Did they remove the switch to go back? 

markdon_0-1655936961168.png

Uninstall your BetaChannel apps and install a release channel otherwise...
You're complaining that an unreleased, incomplete product is missing features.

Brass Contributor

@markdon, yes it is that bad. The toggle is no longer there.

KK_Marc_2-1655981846703.png

 

KK_Marc_0-1655981642824.png

The version I have is 2207 Build 15407.20000.

I uninstalled it already, but once you reinstall I get again the latest version.

 

Iron Contributor

@markdon@KK_Marc 

I have both New Outlook and Office365 Outlook in Beta running alongside each other happily on the same machine.

Just look for Outlook.exe in your Program Files, on my machine it is in:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE

 

You can disable the New Outlook switch there. If you want to keep both version, just pin the New Outlook in the Start menu or at the Taskbar. The New Outlook sits in your User profile under the name olk.exe, if you want to look that one up.

I am growing every day happier with the new outlook, but the S/MIME functionality missing and not mentioned anywhere in the works is troubling me for the future. That is why I keep both versions and switch between them according to my current needs. So far, everything works.

Brass Contributor

@Malatheon 

Thanks, you made my day, week, and month. The "old" outlook.exe is indeed still available next to the olk.exe.

All my accounts back in one place, together with my quick parts and add-ins. Once adding multiple accounts is made available, I'll surely give it a go again.

Take care.

 

Copper Contributor

It is IMPOSSIBLE to change account for the new Outlook if you have multiple 365 accounts. I'm not talking about switching profiles, I just want use the new Outlook with one particular 365 account but it is IMPOSSIBLE. I removed all other 365 accounts, signed out everywhere, even delete ALL traces of other 365 accounts in registry but it keeps prompting me for password for a 365 account that I don't want to use. Uninstall and reinstall doesn't work either. I think the only option left here is to reinstall the windows and this reminds me of some kind of stubborn malware

Iron Contributor

@rzzzzzI don't think your problem is related to the New Outlook, but I will try to provide some help nonetheless. I have come across stubborn Office account in the past, it was quite a headache, I agree.

 

Firstly, make sure to use Office Removal Tool to completely  remove all traces of Office from your computer.

This probably will not remove the said account, but is an important step so you will be able to start with a clean sheet.

 

In the second step you have to remove the Office accounts from the Windows Credentials. Follow this guide:

Re-installation of Windows is not necessary and if not done correctly, it will not help you as the credentials could be carried over from previous installation and you will land in the same mud as you are now.

 

Hope this will help you

 

Deleted
Not applicable

The "Daily Task List" in Calendar view is a missing feature from Outlook Desktop Version. It is interesting to see the entire week tasks instead of one "My Day" list in the new Outlook Version.

Copper Contributor

Hola, cuando sale la versión para la cuenta @outlook.com? cada vez que salgo del trabajo ya no me permite ingresar al outlook y me pide la contraseña de la cuentra del trabajo a cada momento a pesar de que la pongo.

Iron Contributor

We need yet another completely different inferior product called "Outlook"  to support like a hole in the head! Why do Microsoft keep doing this?  Onenote windows 10 app/ 2016 all over again.  How about actually finishing feature parity in the *NEW* mac client first or the *NEW* Exchange admin console or the *New* Teams client before you start on releasing another thing with half the features missing.

 

The Compliance/Security/Office 365 security console/Exchange Admin console is a total mess right now of things that tell you they are sort of deprecated and have to go to some other console and there are many mail related things that you can do in the office admin console that you cannot do in either version of the exchange admin console - such as controlling sent item behaviour on shared mailboxes and being able to turn smtp auth on or off in the app settings. 

 

Microsoft just get bored and keep re-inventing the wheel.

 

And 2 and a bit years on, we are no nearer to seeing roaming cloud signatures in outlook - this is what happens when you don't work together as just one Exchange team on the product.

 

Brass Contributor

Malatheon

 

Tried it, didn't work. 

 

New Outlook now has given us an option to remove our O365 account in Settings > Email accounts. Once I removed my old email account, I am able to sign in with the right account.

 

 

 

Version history
Last update:
‎Nov 09 2023 11:08 AM
Updated by: