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Microsoft 365 Insider Blog
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Local folders now available in the New Outlook for Mac

Linda_C's avatar
Linda_C
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Aug 25, 2024

(Originally published on December 14, 2022 by Priya Ganta)

 

Hey, Insiders! My name is Priya Ganta, and I’m a Product Manager on the Outlook for Mac team. I’m excited to share that you can now save files in local folders as well as migrate local files from Classic Outlook to the New Outlook. 

 

Local folders in Outlook

 

In Classic Outlook, you could save data locally in the On My Computer root folder. Up until now, this was not possible in the New Outlook. We heard from many of you that this was something you needed, so we’re happy to deliver!

 

With the availability of local folders in the New Outlook for Mac, you can now migrate your local data from Classic Outlook to the New Outlook.  

 

How it works

There are two ways to start the migration of local data in the New Outlook:

 

  1. Select File > Import > On My Computer Data

    File menu with "Import On My Computer Data" command selected

  2. Locate the On My Computer folder and clicking the Import Now button.

    "On My Computer" folder contents

 

Tips and Tricks

If you don't see On My Computer root folder in your folder list, select Outlook > Preferences > General and confirm that the Hide On My Computer folders check box is cleared:

 

"Hide On My Computer folders" check box under Preferences

 

Known issues

  • Local tasks and notes are not migrated to the New Outlook. Only messages, contacts, and meetings/appointments are migrated.
  • Though Local Personal Distribution Lists can be migrated, they can’t be used as such yet in the New Outlook. We are actively working on adding support for Personal Distribution Lists to the New Outlook, which will in turn provide support for Local Personal Distribution Lists.

 

Availability

This feature is available to Office Insiders running Version 16.68 (Build 22111400) or later.

 

Features are released over some time to ensure things are working smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as an Insider, have had the opportunity to try it.

 

Feedback

We’d love to hear from you! To provide feedback in Outlook, please selectHelp > Feedback > Report a Problem or Help > Contact Support if you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber. To suggest a feature, select Help > Feedback > Suggest a Feature.

 


Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Updated Aug 25, 2024
Version 1.0
  • WATTSGJ's avatar
    WATTSGJ
    Copper Contributor

    I use Outlook 365 Legacy on my Mac. 

    I’m not sure I am in the correct thread.

    I have a lot of Outlook files and folders and can find some saved emails in those folders. 

    I have tried the search bar and get a "no results" when I enter a known email address. 

    Will the above import mentioned above help?

    There are several uninstall/reinstall steps on help and Google search. 

    Please help me figure this out.

    Are my email folders store on my Mac or in the Microsoft server?

    Thanks 

    John 

  • paolofior's avatar
    paolofior
    Copper Contributor

    Hi Linda,

    I'm trying to use New Outlook on MAC, but only some messages are migrated from local folders in Legacy version. How can I force a new import to migrate all messages? Consider I have a database of about 40 Gb and actually OMC folder is only 2 Gb. Thank you for your help