Focused Inbox for Outlook

MVP

Hi,

 

Microsoft announced the rollout of Focused Inbox and mentions for Outlook 2016 (for Windows):

https://blogs.office.com/2016/07/26/outlook-helps-you-focus-on-what-matters-to-you/

 

But will this be only available for Outlook 2016 or also for Outlook 2013?

 

Thanks,


Peter

17 Replies

I guess if you have clutter now in Outlook 2013 then focus will also be available.

 

kr,

 

Paul

Thanks for the replyPaul, but I need to be sure so I know what to tell my customers what to expect.

kr,

Peter
Thanks Paul, same text as this article "All versions of Outlook that receive updates will soon become Focused Inbox capable,"
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Focused-Inbox-for-Outlook-f445ad7f-02f4-4294-a82e-71d8964e3...

but further they only talk about version 2016.
I guess we have to wait till it is rolled out :)

Kr,

Peter
Unlike Clutter, its more than just a folder. Outlook needs tweaked to add the tab so it will only be in outlook 2016 initially. I'm not sure if/when it will be added to 2013 subscriptions.

Hi Diane,

 

Thank you for the information!

 

Kr,

 

Peter

am trying to find this out as well. No consistent message from Microsoft. One post says all versions everything else talks about 2016 and online versions.

Probably never!  Office 365 ProPlus 2013 (15.0) does not get any updates after February 2017.

 

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt422981.aspx#Anchor_5

Hello all - I wrote the blog, so sorry for the confusion. I'd love feedback on what is most confusing - the language in the blog or our SKUs.

To clarify, the blogs says "All versions of Outlook that receive updates will soon become Focused Inbox capable, including Outlook 2016 for Windows and Mac as well as Outlook on the web and Windows 10." Since Outlook 2013 (as part of Office 2013) is a perpetual product that doesn't get feature updates, this will not get Focused Inbox. If you buy Outlook 2016 as part of Office 2016, you also will not get the update. You need Office 365 in order to get feature updates.

Does that make sense? With that clarification, can you share what I can do to make it clearer in the future?
It answers it somewhat

If you are on outlook 2013 on you client basé, but are connecting it to office 365 for email.
What happens to clutter?
Since clutter was added to the outlook 2013 client.

While it does require Office 365 email (known as Exchange Online), what I'm referring to here is that you also having to be using Office 365 client apps (known as Office 365 ProPlus). Those client apps will update.

 

So if you are using perpetual, non-updating Office 2013 with Exchange Online, you will not get the update.

To clarify:

"Since Outlook 2013 (as part of Office 2013) is a perpetual product that doesn't get feature updates, this will not get Focused Inbox. If you buy Outlook 2016 as part of Office 2016, you also will not get the update. You need Office 365 in order to get feature updates. "

 

If you use a subscription version of Office 2013 or 2016 aka "Office 365" software, you get feature updates. Only those who purchased the semi-perpetual not-a-subscription versions won't get feature updates. However... some features are built into security updates, so it's possible it might become available in a later update. Subscribers will definitely get it first.

 

(I call it semi-perpetual because it is not perpetual in the way that older versions were. It is tied to the first computer its installed on - you are supposed to be able to move it to a new computer, once. )

This still does not completely answer my question unfortunately, thanks for the responses.

 

My customer currently is running Outlook 2013 pro plus - with mailboxes on 365.

 

They currently have a clutter folder and emails are already goijng into that folder.

 

What happens when focused inbox is implemented. From the responses, ok I understand out outlook 2013 desktop client does not get focused inbox.

 

What happens to all the email that is currently going to clutter?

Existing clutter will stay there I guess. 

Anything that was marked as clutter where does it go? back into the inbox or continue to go to the clutter folder?

 

My users are going to get totally confused if emails start flowing back into their inboxes. We need to communicate this.

 

If this is the case you have basically taken a step backwards for existing customers.

I understand it is not always possible to capture all the scenarios. We are not all on the latest and greatest version of software.

 

Also putting out conflicting information about which versions this applies too is just confusing. The main info says Office 2016 and the blog entry says all versions of outlook, which is not the case.

Previously Cluttered items will stay in the Clutter folder. After the change is implemented, items that previously went to the Clutter folder will stop going there and go to the inbox instead. Customers will be able to continue using Clutter for a period of time during the transition. You should consider staying with Clutter and not rolling out F.I. until you can move users to a more modern version of Outlook. This process had not yet started, you will see more communications for IT Admins on this rollout, and how you can manage it, in the Office 365 Admin Center and on our blog in the coming two weeks.

 

Sorry for the confusion about versions. Having been around for so many years, we have so many versions it is often hard to explain it succinctly. The line from the blog "All versions of Outlook that receive updates" was supposed to cover the statement at a high level. I assumed most would be aware if had a version that is always up to date or not. I'll be more explicit in future posts.

Many thanks for that Allen that clears that for my customer.

Hey all - I just wrote up a new update for Focused Inbox roll-out. It has lots of details about how this will show up in Outlook 2016 on Windows. Take a look!

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Outlook/Update-on-Focused-Inbox-rollout-for-Outlook-2016-for-...

Well, I spent some time with a support tech. to conclude that IT IS NOT available for 2013.

 

Microsoft: Please be CONSISTENT. If a product is still in its life-cycle and it is supported and you change a piece of functionality on the back-end, YOU MUST KEEP IS IN THE FRONT END FOR ALL SUPPORTED CLIENTS!