May 02 2017 04:04 PM - edited Nov 10 2017 01:02 PM
Edited: Nov 10, 2017 with updated information.
Focused Inbox is coming to an Outlook near you! Here is an update on our status for Outlook 2016 for Windows. If you want to see our latest for other platforms, see our blog post, as these details haven’t changed.
Note: we have provided admins the ability to control the rollout of Focused Inbox in their organizations. For more details, read our blog post on admin controls.
Rollout status
As a reminder, there is a client and service side component required for Focused Inbox to appear in Outlook. The user’s mailbox in Office 365 & Outlook.com must receive a service side update to be Focused Inbox enabled. Secondly, the user must have a build of Outlook that includes the client-side updates necessary for Focused Inbox to appear.
Service side status:
We deployed to 100% of Office 365 (Exchange Online) and Outlook.com mailboxes. This is no longer a factor in availabilty.
Client side status:
There are a few client side requirements:
Oct 31 2017 01:27 PM - edited Oct 31 2017 01:28 PM
This isn't the issue. You can still meet all the public requirements for Focused Inbox (version 1703 and above, modern authentication, and enabled for your tenant) and still not have it. This problem is that FI in only available for certain release channels, with no advanced notice at all (until this thread) of when the main release channels will get it.
Oct 31 2017 04:50 PM
Oct 31 2017 04:56 PM
Oct 31 2017 04:59 PM
Oct 31 2017 05:02 PM
Nov 03 2017 04:51 AM - edited Nov 03 2017 04:52 AM
Hey Today i started my outlook 2016 and i noticed the inbox for @hotmail.com account suddenly had the focused inbox enabled, however the button to disable it, is not visible under view so i added it myselve to a new group by editing the ribbon. However the button is always disabled and i'm unable to disable focussed inbox on my consumer hotmail.com account.
How can i disable this focused inbox again i don't want that ? I now see priority and other tabs in my inbox and i want it gone. Googling this problem does not provide any information.
you can see a screenshot of it here https://imgur.com/z5YqXd6
Nov 06 2017 04:13 AM
If you disable it in Outlook.com options, does the change sync to Outlook?
Nov 06 2017 04:44 AM
No it had no impact, but i figured out the problem.
I temporary added my hotmail account to my outlook 2016 at work to test something but at work i'm using insider versions of office 2016 and thus outlook 2016. In the insider version the option to enable / disable focussed inbox on hotmail / outlook.com addresses is not greyed out. It must have changed something server sided, because at home i'm not using an insder version of outlook 2016 and could not disable it. So i suscribed to insider versions at home as well updated my office / outlook 2016 and i now had the option to disable focussed inbox.
It seem's we have to watch out which accounts we add to insider versions as it seems to save certain things server sided (like in this case) with no option to turn it back off (unless you also install an insider version)
Nov 06 2017 05:21 AM
Yeah, the build matters, but if it's supported client side, the option to turn it off should be client side too.
Nov 09 2017 08:30 AM
Why is this only accessible on ProPlus, and not on the Office 365 Home edition of Outlook 2016?
When can we expect it for the Home edition?
Nov 10 2017 12:47 PM - edited Nov 10 2017 12:57 PM
Hey Patrick - sorry for the confusion. It is available for all versions of Office 365 - ProPlus, Business, Home and Personal. I typically use ProPlus in this thread as this is a commercial customer forum, so that is what most people are familiar with.
Just remember, as noted in the original post here, that Focused Inbox is a service-side feature in addition to a client side feature. Meaning, you need to be using an Exchange Online mailbox in order for this to work.
We are in the process of enabling for Outlook.com mailboxes...those will work in 16.0.8730 Version 1711.
Nov 10 2017 12:56 PM
Nov 10 2017 12:57 PM
Nov 10 2017 01:18 PM
Thanks, i'm on 1711 insiders build now and finally have Focused Inbox, oh happy day!
Nov 22 2017 08:36 AM
So I'm on version 1708 Semi Annual Targeted. I meet the Outlook version requirement, but it looks like you need to be on the Monthly channel to see the Focused Inbox.
At what point will Semi Annual or Semi Annual Targeted installs (which I imagine is a large percentage of Enterprise users) be enabled for the Focused inbox? And how does enabling Focused Inbox for the Office 365 tenant in Powershell affect us right now? Does it not matter unless we switched to Monthly Channel?
Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Nov 27 2017 02:49 PM
Nov 28 2017 08:16 AM
Nov 28 2017 10:02 AM
Lets be honest, Microsoft has done a horrible job with this focus based inbox roll out.
First off i hat the fact that i am now forced to use outlook clients an all devices, some users specially IOS ones like the native client which does not support the focused inbox. Then they go and discontinue clutter without providing notice for hosted clients last weekend. Little to no docs on it available on how to troubleshoot this. Whats sad is that it works great on MAC office version or IOS outlook client but they cant get it right on their own windows versions. Worked 2 hrs with support to get it fixed with no luck. So that tells you there is issues. One would expect that if you move from cluter to focused inbox you give users a transition period to make sure it works before you force it down their throat. But i guess this is to much to think of at the new Microsoft.
On that topic, are the focused or other messages tagged so one can write a rule to move it to a folder ?
Nov 28 2017 01:16 PM
I can also verify that Clutter stopped working for our entire tenant with no warning or explanation, and no action taken by us. We're on the deferred channel, Version 1705 Build 16.0.8201.2209 with no FI.
Terrible communication from MS here.
Nov 28 2017 01:20 PM
Ditto Alex on this one. Communication has been terrible, but the decision underlying to abandon Clutter which then eliminates all non-Outlook mail apps is unforgivable given the lack of development and features the mobile Outlook apps contain.