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:
May 02 2017 04:06 PM
May 03 2017 01:20 AM
Many Thanks Allen for the updated info !
May 03 2017 03:01 AM
Thanks for this update, it's really appreciated.
May 03 2017 05:58 AM
May 03 2017 08:18 AM
Current Channel First Release with Focued Inbox enabled in OWA with Modern Auth. Outlook 16.0.7927.1020 tells me I'm all caught up on updates though. No Focused Inbox.
May 03 2017 11:06 AM
May 04 2017 03:02 PM
Can you shed any light on why the perpetual version of office 2016 will not be getting Focused Inbox?
It's a very frustrating position for Microsoft to take and not at least explain why.
I'm a consultant with a variety of clients and some have a strong BYOD aspect. I'm having trouble defending the idea to those BYOD clients that 'despite the fact that all their users have outlook 2016, the ones with perpetual licenses will not get Focused Inbox'. Especially since it's working so well on Outlook for iOS and Android.
May 05 2017 01:01 PM - edited May 05 2017 01:02 PM
We have latest Outlook 2016 and the used PowerShell to make sure tenant had Focused Inbox as true and modern authentication, and yes, First Release and still no Focused Inbox. What gives? Thanks!
May 05 2017 01:06 PM
Are you on Outlook 2016 16.0.7967.2xxx? I believe that's the required version, it's still not available to our tenant despite FR Current Channel and Modern Auth.
May 05 2017 01:09 PM
I believe so as we are what shows as version 1704 (Build 8067.2032)
May 05 2017 06:31 PM
Hey Geoffrey,
Sorry for any issues we are causing you. I'm happy to explain it, and glad you find it to be working well on other platforms.
Customers have two options when they choose to buy Office. They can buy:
Every customers has that choice when they choose to buy office. Do I want to pay for the version that updates? Or do I want to buy the version that doesn't?
A question for you - can you share more about why the users in the company are on different types of Office? Am I correct in I'm assuming that, despite our marketing/websites, your response is that they didn't read to understand the difference between the two?
May 05 2017 06:38 PM
Hey Jeffrey - bizzare. Let me follow up a moment.
May 05 2017 06:40 PM
@Allen Filush wrote:Hey Jeffrey - bizzare. Let me follow up a moment.
Thanks Allen!
May 09 2017 12:14 PM
I'm seeing some odd behavior here. My home computer (Win10 1703 Enterprise, O2016 1703 7967.2139) has Focused Inbox enabled.
My office desktop and Surface have the same software config but they do not Focused Inbox.
The only difference between the two setups are that the home computer is connected via AAD and the office machines are domain joined.
Any ideas?
May 09 2017 12:50 PM
Thanks Allan,
That is actually a reasonable reply. Though I have to admit that I don't recall ever seeing clear copy anywhere that made it quite as clear as that. On the otherhand, I've been at this for 32 years and I don't read marketing things as closely as I once did. I was not aware of difference between the two. Can you point me to that language online so I can share it with my client?
The situation remains problematic but at least it's clear. I would suggest updating that table though to make it clear that "like all feature updates, the perpetual license version of the software will not be getting Focused Inbox". The way it read to me (in my ignorance) was that it was not being rolled out to Perpetual for some arbitrary reason.
To answer your question "can you share more about why the users in the company are on different types of Office?": The issue for this specific client is that they have a large number of remote workers and the comany has minimal centralized IT. These workers typically bring their own computer equipment (BYOD or Bring Your Own Device). Because many of these workers already own the perpetual license, it's making people mad that the only way they can take advantage of the Focused inbox is to walk away from the perpetual license they may have only recently purchased (such as Office 2016) and start paying for that license all over again as a subscription.
Bottom line, This may be the first time in the last 10+ years where a feature has come out between major releases that I or any of my clients has cared enough about to pursue. It's frustrating that it will not be made available but it is what it is.
I don't think there is a way for MS to thread this needle unless it was to modify the position to say that feature updates are not guaranteed outside of the current major version. That would be a line that I could reasonably accept.
Cheers,
May 09 2017 06:35 PM
May 09 2017 06:37 PM
May 10 2017 07:39 PM
What am I missing here? Still no focused inbox on Outlook 2016 First Release Current Channel. Version 1703 Build 7967.2161 CTR.
https://www.screencast.com/t/NsBqmoRgp
Modern Auth enabled for Exchange Online.
May 13 2017 01:27 PM - edited May 13 2017 01:28 PM
I wanted to seek some clarification. I am an office 365 home user and looking to utilize focused inbox. I am a windows insider running Office 365 ver 1704. But I dont see any focused inbox. Since I use OWA/outlook.com as by backend email service, I thought using that with Outlook 2016 would enable focused inbox. I obviously dont have the ability to change OWA and turn on modern authentication. Is it just not available for us home users yet?
Thanks