Office 2016 "RTM" was released to the public on September 22 2015. Office 365 Home, Personal, and University subscribers can download it now by logging into their account online and clicking Install, or wait until October 1 2015 for the automatic update. Office 2016 is expected to be released to Office 365 Business subscribers and volume licenses in February 2016. Office 365 First Release has access to it now. If you are on First Release, use the install link for the next version of Office. Anyone who used the Preview can leave it installed and will remain in the early release 'branch' (similar to Windows Insider program.)
Office 2016 Preview is now available to the public. The trial is the "click to run" subscription model, however Microsoft provided a key for those who aren't subscribed to Office365 software.
Home subscribers can get a copy of Office 2016 Preview by logging into the account at Office.com. Select Language and Install Options then Additional Install Options. Select Office 2016 Preview from the Version menu.
Office 365 Business subscribers (with a software subscription) can install it if their administrator enabled the First Release program. If so, install Office 2016 Preview from the My Software page (Gear icon, Office 365 Settings). Go to Try the next version of Office then click Install.
If you don't currently subscribe to Office 365, get the Preview trial key at //products.office.com/en-us/office-2016-preview.
Should you install it? While it's safe and very stable, I don't recommend installing it unless you are comfortable using Pre-Release software and are willing to possibly be inconvenienced. For example, don't install it if you are in the middle of writing your thesis.
Is there a BCM2016? No, and there will not be a BCM 2016. If you use BCM, you cannot use Office 2016.
Office 2016 Preview was released first to IT Pros and Developers. In order to use the beta you need a subscription to Office 2013/2013. Only the click to run version is supported at this time; an MSI version (for volume licensing) expected at a later date. A public preview for consumers will be released within a few weeks.
The most obvious change is the Colorful theme.
It’s not exactly what everybody who hates the whiteness of Office 2013 was asking for, but I like it. In the colorful theme, the title bar area is the color of the program icon – Outlook and Word are blue, Excel is green, etc. There is also a new darker gray theme. It's gray, it's darker. It's not the black many people hoped for.
The next most obvious change is with attachment handling. Attachments on messages you receive are big buttons in the attachment line. Each button has a menu with attachment options: open, save, preview, delete.
When you send a message and insert an attachment, the Insert menu lists the 12 most recent files you’ve worked with.
If the link you choose is stored online, you are offered the choice of Inserting links or a copy of the attachment. It needs a little (or a lot ) of work as it doesn’t offer to upload locally stored files to OneDrive or OneDrive for Business and add a link or use the link to files in the OneDrive sync folders. (The Insert Hyperlink function in all versions of Outlook works the same way, it's just not as "pretty".)
Outlook 2016 offers better small screen support in portrait mode. When Outlook is approximately 650 pixels wide, the folder list collapses. When a message is selected for reading, it covers the message list. It is great on 8” tablets but you don’t need a small tablet to try it out; just adjust the width of Outlook’s window to 650 pixels.
Click the Back Arrow in the upper left to switch to the message list.
One big change for some Exchange users is that Outlook 2016 only supports auto account setup for Exchange accounts; you can no longer create the account manually using the server names. If your organization doesn’t publish autodiscover information, you cannot create the account in Outlook.
Other things to look forward to in Outlook 2016: multifactor authentication support and improved search capabilities. On the junk mail filtering front, UK and EU TLDs were added to the Blocked Top-level Domain list.
LinkedIn is gone but Facebook contacts are coming to Outlook. The current Facebook provider is now called Facebook Feeds and is available to all Outlook users. Facebook contacts are available only to users with Office 365 Exchange mailbox that supports Facebook Contacts (the Business accounts). I’m still trying to figure out what Facebook Contacts bring to Outlook, besides profile photos.
Clay sparkes says
Hi, I have office 365 subscription with outlook 2016. I can't find any way of linking e-mails that I send or receive to their contact in my 'People'. Is this possible? I used to really like Business Contact Manager for Office 2003, but can't find how to replicate this great functionality.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Clay
Diane Poremsky says
No, not really. Activities was removed; the people pane/social connector will show a search box at the bottom of the contact with messages from that sender but it is disabled by default and will be removed from future versions.
Joann says
This morning my Outlook Inbox became a "Facebook Contacts" folder and my file organization sifted saved mails from one folder to another. All incoming mail lands in "Facebook Contacts." Is this a byproduct of the recent update? How do I get rid of the "Facebook Contacts" integration? I am not a social media user?
Chris says
Hi Ms Diane,
I have a problem attaching documents in outlook 2016.
when I click insert attachment, recent used documents are showing.
is there any way to get rid of the dropdown suggested attachment?
Thanks you in advance
Diane Poremsky says
You can reduce the number of items in the list by editing the registry. See https://www.outlook-tips.net/tips/change-modern-attachments-listed/ for details.
Dave says
Since upgrading a client to Outlook 2016 they have been unable to directly save attachments to their Sharepoint site. It's not the AV as that has been temp disabled. Drag and drop doesn't work either. Ok if you download to the PC and then upload. It's a real pain.
Diane Poremsky says
what version of sharepoint? Is it a synced library? I know they are making changes to the integration but thought it was all on the social connector side.
Dave says
It's 365, not sure about the synced library bit though. It was all good until the upgrade last week.
Diane Poremsky says
Well, if it wasn't synced, you'd need to save to a URL. This is possible in word & excel but I don't recall it was an option in outlook.
Margie Braun says
I started using outlook.com when I was told that my Windows Live Mail 2012 would no longer work for getting my email. I think outlook.com leaves a lot to be desired on many fronts but my biggest complaint is this....in WLM, I could sort my address book by last name, first name. In outlook.com, when I click on the "to" box to insert a name, it comes up first name, last name. I do NOT want it that way & cannot find a way to change it. In the "People" app it's sorted correctly but not in outlook.com itself. How can I make it sort the way I want it? Not being able to do so is a huge problem for me based on things I do. I also don't like the very limited colors for fonts but that is minor compared to the address book sorting. Please advise me if there is a way to sort in outlook.com to look like last name, first name. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Diane Poremsky says
I haven't found a way to change the sort order when you type in the To field. Sorry.
Susan Gipp says
I have in the past been able to set up groups of employees email addresses in 2016 I am not able to do this. The address book is not as user friendly as it has been. Or is it that I do not know how to use it anymore. I hate it when new ones come out and I have to learn all over again. So the real question is how to I set up a group of people in my address book in 2016?
larry says
I have used outlook since it was Hotmail. Now, I cannot open any emails, or go anywhere on the site. Most of my folders are missing, and it does no good to click on anything, as it does nothing. What is going on?? I need to open my emails. W\
Diane Poremsky says
You're using Outlook.com website or Outlook desktop?
Was it moved to the new server? https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
Did you remove the account from outlook and add it back?
larry says
Join the discussioI can't get the page to open right now, but, I believe it was the new version, looks different, says Outlook Mail. The emails are all listed there, but no box next to them to check, and I cannot open any of them. It was working fine, then bam, looked like this, and doesn't work. I have done nothing, and was prompted to do nothing.n
Diane Poremsky says
If it said "Outlook mail", it sounds like you are using a browser and connecting to the new server. Try using different browser, especially if you are using Edge.
screenshots here - https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/first-look-outlook-com-on-office-365/
sharon says
Also issue with font size when sending emails (not replying but opening new email). Font is set on calibri 11, yet looks like calibri 8 - if zoom to increase the font size to what looks correct, the recipient receives email in really large font..:( have lost too much work time to try to fix!!!
Diane Poremsky says
what is the font size in the Basic text group of the message tab? That is what you are using.
Click on the zoom button (format text tab) - what is it set at? It should be on 100%.
Are you using plain text message format or HTML? If plain text, the recipient controls the text size on their computer.
shannon says
I can't add my email account to outlook so I can e-mail word documents. When I put in my email info to try and register it says having trouble finding my settings. I have tried with 3 different email addresses.
Diane Poremsky says
Your email providers should have instructions for setting the up accounts yourself. I have server names and port numbers for popular free services here https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/config/online-services-in-outlook
gene bates says
Long time user of Windows Live Mail. Upgraded to win 10 when avail, but kept WLM 2012. Now rcvg mail from friend using OUTLOOK, but unable to open without converting to OUTLOOK. Poor choice of Microsoft in trying to force all e-m customers to use OUTLOOK. Look again folks.
Diane Poremsky says
Something is wrong - email is email. I'm guessing it's something your friend is doing, not anything on your side. Is he sending you attached messages? (There could be issues opening attached messages, since they are msg format.) Sending the messages using RTF formatting? What exactly happens when you try to open the message?
Mark Lemm says
This version of Outlook is worthless! After 5 years they best they can do is change the color and make things harder to read. I see no reason whatsoever to upgrade to 2016 over 2011. It's pretty much a joke imho.
simone says
cant open email says preview at top but cant open anything help
Diane Poremsky says
This is Outlook.com opened in a browser and it was moved to the new server? Which browser are you using?
Queenie says
I use my AT&T email address as my login for my MS account/outlook.com. In the past I have manually entered the MS email servers because outlook autodiscovery wizard always gets the AT&T email settings when I am trying to setup my OUTLOOK.COM email. Is there a way to force autodiscovery to look for the outlook.com server when I need to setup my OUTLOOK.COM account and then the AT&T settings for my AT&T account?
Diane Poremsky says
Not when you use a non-microsoft address for the Microsoft account. You have two choices: use manual setup (use eas.outlook.com or m.hotmail.com as the EAS servers) or add an outlook.com alias to your Microsoft account and log in using that address.
Richard says
When composing email, font size reverts to 6pt. I change font size for composing, but when I start to type, it reverts from 12pt Garamond to something 6pt?????
Diane Poremsky says
It's actually 6 pt, not just 12 pt really small (zoomed out)? Are you using stationery? Is it a reply? Replies will sometimes use the font settings the sender used.
From the mail outlook window, go to File, Options, Stationery & Fonts and make sure the fonts are set to 12pt.
Vince says
I've always used outlook but 2016 is driving me crazy. 2 immediate issues.
1- how do I move a complete email to a file folder in my documents file?
2- I have always used the task to-do feature for follow-ups. used to be able to move and email into the task folder and set a follow-up date. can't seem to do it in 2016. HELP
NIcholas says
Hi Diane,
My issue to is with the search feature for Outlook 2016. The feature is loading emails from may/june but nothing recent. This is a huge issue for me. I am using a imap email.
Diane Poremsky says
Have you tried rebuilding the search index? Instructions are on this page
Jim says
Diane, I rebuilt the index on my Outlook 2016 but it did not help. My problem is that I have two folders under Contacts and the entries in one of the folders are indexed but the entries in the other folder are not. I looked at the properties of each folder and they appear the same. Any advice? Thanks!
Theresa says
Have just bought a new laptop with windows 10 and the newest 2016 Microsoft home and business and it keeps saying it has stopped working, I have restored my computer to an earlier point to make it work again, gone online on how I can fix it, but it has done it again a few days later. None of the applications work (like the email), please help
Diane Poremsky says
Word and Excel won't work either? Try running sfc /scannow - see if any files are updated. (instructions here)
Theresa says
Have tried what you have suggested (twice) and it still doesn't work, not sure what to do next. And no Word and Excel don't work either
Bill S says
It appears they did not add the ability to export views, and then import into another installation. Correct?
Diane Poremsky says
You can't import and export views but there is a way to copy them - if you use a pst as default, copy the pst. You can open the copy and delete everything then compact to reduce the file size. If you don't use a pst as the default it's convoluted: you need to save the views as folder only views in a pst. See https://www.outlook-tips.net/how-to/copy-outlook-custom-views/ for the steps. Of course, current versions of outlook allow you apply a view to all folders at once., which makes restoring the views easier.
Bill S says
Diane - thanks for responding so quickly. I knew that you had a video for this. But I searched all over on your page and with google, and I could not find it. I now have it bookmarked. Please make this easier for us to find this on your pages. Thank you.
Bill S says
Now I understand. It is not on your website, it is on somebody else's. I found this one, but I was looking for the one you did.
Diane Poremsky says
it's actually my other site... I've been debating for months whether to merge the two or rebrand that one 'everythingoutlook.com - you just convinced me i should merge. :)
Bill S says
Thanks so much for your fast reply. Another question: the views are copied to Exchange accounts (two of them) and my hotmail account. But they are not copied to my IMAP accounts (one gmail and the other with 1and1). Any ideas?
Diane Poremsky says
imap uses different, imap specific views. You'll need to customize them separately.
Pierre says
Hello Diane,
I have just done the update of office 2016, I have just discovered a major issue in outlook, for the search tool, it seems that the sotware does not find email from now until approx 5-6 months back. Of course if I search manually it is possible to find it in the database but it does not make sense.
I have just done a test for a search after the update in 2016, it works fine,
Any clue what could be the problem ?
THanks
Pierre
Diane Poremsky says
what type of email account do you have configured? (I know there are search issues, but I'm not aware of this specific one.)
John says
Diane, my wife just purchased a new HP laptop, and was sold a subscription to Office 365. We use pop.att.yahoo.com for our server. I have not been able to complete the set up much less import the .pst file. Reading your comments, it looks like I can't right? Should I go back to Outlook2003 which I am sure I can load with no problems. She really doesn't use the email system to much on this pc, mostly on her IPad Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
It will work with 2013/2016. Copy the pst to the new computer. Use the manual setup option to add the ATT account to Outlook and select the copied pst as the default data file. If you are creating a new profile, see https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/how-to-create-a-new-profile/ or start at step 5 if you are setting up outlook for the first time.
Erik says
This is a really urgent situation for me that I can't figure out. How can I use email templates/stationery with Outlook for MAC. All I can find is a place to put in a simple signature, no full page templates or stationery. Or if there is a "work around" for this - I need to find it out now. Please help. Thanks.
Patrece May says
Diane, thank you so much for all your knowledge and help. I am currently using Outlook 2010 and have created custom fields and a custom contact form (to view/update these fields). Creating the custom form was a disappointment since the custom form template reverted to an older version of the form that looked awful compared to the newer default form. Additionally, none of the custom fields sync with the apple iphone contacts app or the iphone outlook app. So I was forced to use a third party app called DejaOffice to get the custom fields to sync. Is there any improvement in this area in 2016 (custom form creation and custom field sync). With all this talk of data portability, I am hoping this aspect has been improved.
Thanks for any insight!
Jim says
Thanks for the Ctrl+6 tip Diane. A search of one of the error messages led me to turning off Cached Exchange Mode. That instantly blew away my .ost file and all of the local e-mails that had yet to be sync'd. So I am in the process of re-importing from my .pst file with "do not import duplicates" turned on. This, it turns out, is an EXTREMELY SLOOOOWWWW process as (I assume) it is going direct to 365 and checking every entry to ensure it does not already exist. I may enable Cached Exchange Mode once 365 is up to date. Do you have any personal thoughts/recommendations on the use of Cached Exchange Mode that contradict or are in addition to the standard MS line on it?
Diane Poremsky says
Cached mode is recommended - it's faster and gives you access to your mail, calendar, and contacts when you are offline. If you use the new Groups feature, they sync to outlook only if you use cached mode.
Bill Hollins says
No sorry that did not work either. BUT I have a POP account as well and it works fine. It is only the Office 365/Exchange account that has this issue.
Diane Poremsky says
That's weird. It should work the same in both accounts. The big thing with Exchange is if you have two profiles or computers with the exchange account or use OWA, the views on that mailbox will change if you change it on the other computers.
Bill Hollins says
Diane - I know the date headers are only available when sort by date, but what is missing is the From header when I choose From order.
Diane Poremsky says
Oh. Resetting the view didn't bring the from field back? Right click on the row of field names and choose Field chooser or view settings (which menu you'll see depends on the view) and add the from field (Column in View Settings) to the view.
Jim says
I was running Outlook 2007. I am moving everything over to Office 365 (and Office 2016 to act as a local client). It seems the best way to move everything to Office 365 was to import from the 2007 .pst file into Office 2016 and let it sync up to Office 365. Unfortunately there are many folders on 2016 with data and the same folders on 365 show as empty. Is there any way to see if folders and files(e-mails) are still being sync'd? Groove is real busy in the Task Manager and the local folders properly show the different count of e-mails (per folder) locally versus on 365. Is there any way to force the syncing of a specific folder?
Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
Groove would be syncing files in the file file system, not outlook email. Check for sync errors in Outlook's folder list (Ctrl+6 to jump to the folder list) - that can give you a clue as to where the sync problems are.
cynthiaroney says
Diane, sorry, no I don't use browser-based Outlook.com....my email is hosted though GoDaddy servers. I'd like to keep it hosted there---the thought of uploading 5,000 contacts with attachments and 5 years of notes to browser-based Outlook.com will bring too many challenges---so I'll need to stick with my email hosted through GoDaddy. Any advice? thanks so much in advance for your help!
Diane Poremsky says
I'll check with the product team - since your initial post, i've heard from 3 or 4 others with the same problem.
cynthiaroney says
Re: Contact photos disappear after edits-using Office 365 + Outlook 2016
I have 5,000 contacts each with a thumbnail photo. I have several computers connected using Office 365 and Outlook 2016. Whenever I make any edits to the contact, and view the contact from another of my Office 365 connected computers, the contact photo disappears replaced by a blank thumbnail box----very frustrating! This means that over time ANY edits to my contacts will result in me losing my contact photos. It has taken me years to develop my Outlook contact database of contact photos and I don't want to lose them! I've attached a screen shot in link below showing before/after edits to explain my problem. Please help!
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/opeople-ocontacts/contact-photos-disappear-after-edits-using-office/0a2de851-8bea-4285-95bf-d65216647db9
Webmaster says
What type of email account? If it's an outlook.com account type, it's related to that - edit the contacts online to preserve the pictures.
Once the account is migrated to the new server on office 365 (hosted on Exchange server), the problem should be solved. You'll be able to use categories as categories and contact groups in outlook too. The migration will be sometime in the next 6 months (we're trying to get them to move all outlook users as one group, which could happen around the end of the year or early in 2016).
norbertlars says
so happy with office 2016 after the bright 2013 and got to outlook which had some retard beta testers :( - if they could miss this stuff
on a grey / black background you get a "lighter gray" - UNREAD MAIL COUNTER :(
on any of the other 2 themes this problem does not exists, but on this "Dark Gray" nobody can see that counter. i have a perfect 20/20 vision and i barely notice the new emails :((
Diane Poremsky says
I'll mention it to the product team. (I like the colorful theme and never noticed the lack of contracts in the gray theme.)
Bill Hollins says
Thanks for response Diane. The reset view "Compact" changes the search result to date grouped order and yes there are headers. But then if I choose say From or Subject it looses the headers again and I cannot sort. Using one of the other views like single likewise shows header as standard but then if use another order the headers go. Go back to date view and headers return.
Diane Poremsky says
The today etc headers are only available when you group by date.
Robert says
Any workarounds for the horrible way Outlook 2016 is rendering HTML email? Many HTML email is coming in as badly right justified and sometimes you can't even see the entire message. The same HTML email in Outlook 2013 looks fine.
Webmaster says
Right now, no. The product team is aware of at least two rendering issues (wide messages that don't wrap in the window and mobile format on high res screens). Some users found that doing things like disabling VBA addin or setting outlook to use compatibility mode fixed it short term - as in, until a reboot. (I don't recommend using compatibility mode as it can cause instability.)
Bill Hollins says
When you do a search and sort by say From or Subject, in Outlook 2013 you had the option of collapsing the groups. But in 2016 the group header does not appear. Is there a new way of doing this now? Can the headers be displayed? Collapse group works in full folder view but not the search result.
Diane Poremsky says
It's working here in the view I'm using. Try resetting the view (for searches, reset the view on the search results).
Bill says
I am using office 365 and I have 3 google email accounts in outlook. After I downloaded office 365, two of them open fine but one does not. They are all imap servers. The two that will open are ost data files and the one that won't open is a pst data file.
Could that have something to do with the one not opening.
When I click on the one that won't open I get the message "The set of folders cannot be opened. The information store could not be opened."
When I was using outlook 2010 they all worked fine.
I have looked everywhere for an answer and am waiting for Microsoft to call.
Any thoughts.
Thanks
Diane Poremsky says
Are is the 'bad' one using Google Apps utility? If not, all 3 should be IMAP and all should use ost files. Did you try deleting the account from File, Account Settings and adding it back? That should fix it.
Bill says
I did what you said to try and it took about three attempts of putting the password and other information in before it would accept it, but it finally did with the ost file and the email now works.
Thanks a lot.
JackiDance says
Hi Diane, Thanks for the great article. I have office 2016 pro for windows and it works great in my windows 10. I have a laptop that does not have a touch screen cause I am not ready for that yet.
I tried the colorful, and the gray and the white. I like the colorful but I can't see the upper right hand corner (for closing, full screen, etc) .. is there a way to change just the borders? Remember when there was a drop down box for all the changes to: active menu, active border, fonts for all these things? where did that go?
Diane Poremsky says
No, you can't change it. The missing display dialog to customize windows isn't related to this - Microsoft decided to remove it. I don't recall why, other that it's not something that many people changed.
File, Exit can be used to close Outlook. Yeah, I know, an extra step. (I don't think the Exit command can be put on the ribbon, but its worth looking at.)
Per Schunnesson says
The new 2016 looks awful in my opinion. White everywhere and no contrast between panes. (The new dark gray theme is even worse...huugh). And why has Microsoft removed category colors from the calendar items in the task pane like it was in 2013? Now every item just has a boring gray background.
2016 feels like a step back when it comes to design compared to 2013.
Or have I missed some custom settings somewhere to improve the appearance...?
Diane Poremsky says
Categories colors in the peek should work for timed appointments but aren't supported in all day events.
Katie Vaughan says
Is there still a known issue with previewing a an attachment from Excel, Word, etc. in Outlook 2016? I am getting an error message that reads "The file cannot be previewed because there is no previewer installed for it." I read that this was an issue they were trying to remedy but cannot see how to fix it.
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, it's still a problem. I'll bug them about it (again), if only to find out which monthly update will fix it.
Katie Vaughan says
Thanks. Also, do you know how to correct all the white space that is showing on the emails? Some of my emails have a ton of white space to the left of the message, some have white space between images? I reset the view and it doesn't seem to help.
Diane Poremsky says
if the white space is in the message body, the view won't affect it. If this is Outlook 2016 on Windows 10 there is a known issue with some messages being badly formatted. At this time there is no fix for it. Sorry.
Bryn Kaufman says
Any improvement to the Quick Parts in terms of sharing or storing in the cloud?
Everything these days is being pushed to the cloud, and everything is supposed to be able to be shared, yet the Quick Parts for 2013 allows no sharing, no saving in the cloud, and you can't even back it up when Outlook is running.
Please tell me Quick Parts is still not stuck in the 90's.
I find Quick Parts is one of my most used features in Outlook.
Diane Poremsky says
At this time, quick parts are not stored in the cloud or in the exchange mailbox. I believe it's under consideration, but i have no idea if or when or if it will be limited to Exchange mailboxes or stored in onedrive.
Jeff says
I have downloaded and using Outlook 2016, I have multiple email accounts and tried using the reg edit to force account selection from 15.0, doesn't seem to be working in 16.0
Diane Poremsky says
I tested it here and it's working. Did you restart Outlook?
E. Roberts says
I am a long-standing home user of Outlook 2002 and considering upgrading. However, I do have an Outlook.com account and have tried importing my contacts to that account using .csv file format ( I don't have any account at the other options listed for importing). Problem I have encountered appears to be the text limit on the notes section i.e. on the contacts main page, where I have tended to type additional notes in the main body section. The text for these notes seem to be curtailed when I import to Outlook.com. Any suggestions for a work-around or alternative method of capturing all the data in my existing Outlook 2002 Contacts and bringing into Outlook.com?
Diane Poremsky says
Correct, at this time there is a limit to the amount of notes you can store on contacts. I would create a pst file in Outlook 2016 and import the old 2002 pst file into the new pst. These contacts will be local only. If you need contacts online to sync with other computers or devices, import the CSV. Over the next 6 months or so, Outlook.com is moving to Office365 hosting - when your account is moved you'll have an Exchange account and the restriction on text will be gone (as will a number of other issues). When the account is migrated, move the contacts from the pst to the mailbox.
TM says
I have meetings that the organizer has changed the time for and in my local outlook calendar (live.com account) they update, but the changes aren't syncing with the calendar in outlook.com. Are there sync issues with the preview?
Diane Poremsky says
it's not so much the preview, but with the ActiveSync connection and Outlook.com. This is one of the known issues. The problem will go away once your account is moved to the new server (on Office 365).
TM says
Thanks. Seems strange that a major requirement (calendar sync) remains a major gap, especially in this ecosystem. Since I am definitely not interested in Office 365 (net dependent subscription), probably not going away for me any time soon. Thanks again for the reply and info.
Diane Poremsky says
With outlook.com accounts moving to Office365 hosting, calendar sync issues should improve as it will be on an Exchange server. Outlook.com addresses seem to be moving first and we're bugging them to move Outlook desktop uses in one big push since they are one group that will gain major improvements with the move. Beyond that, it looks like all active accounts should be moved within 6 months or so.
TM says
Good to know. Thank you.
izzyoni says
I'm automatically seeing this "preview" and I don't want it because the beta is actually making it so that I can't see all of my e-mails, it's been selectively showing me only certain e-mails from certain contacts even if I've subscribed to a news letter they won't show up in inbox, junk or anywhere! but I know that I should be getting my weekly news letters.
Diane Poremsky says
Unfortunately, all accounts are moving to the new server. Are they in the mailbox online? If not, are you sure it was sent to your address?
Marcio says
Is the IMAP account management the same way they did on Outlook for Mac with a single view for all inboxes instead of each account with its own?
What about BCM, any support?
Diane Poremsky says
No, it's one data file, one view per account just like its always been. (The mac has it both ways - you can use the unified inbox view or the regular view).
Current versions of BCM don't work with Outlook 2016 but there are working on something.
Jesson says
Install yesterday and looking awesome, When you reply and forward mail its open in same window, Preview mode...
Dave says
Any word on the email attachment size limit for 2016 for Mac? 2011 had that strange cap that ended up being about 20 or so MB. Didn't know if they took that restriction out or resolved the issue were it could only use half of what Windows could basically.
Diane Poremsky says
I haven't heard and keep forgetting to check. :( Outlook on the windows side is 20MB but if using exchange, it gets the size from exchange and adjusts accordingly.
Liju says
are emails sent out of outlook 2016 responsive? do they render correctly irrespective of form factor?
Diane Poremsky says
It depends on the stationery or theme you use. The plain theme (which is the default) is responsive as are most of the others included with outlook.
wendy says
thank you so much for your reply
when he logs into his email (outlook) it says Outlook mail (preview) - how do i configure so it DOES NOT add as an exchange account? I also have an email account there and mine does not put me in preview.
I appreciate your help :)
Diane Poremsky says
Every outlook.com account is moving to the new server. Yours will move eventually (within 6 months or so). Is Outlook on the desktop locking up or the web browser? If outlook on the desktop, how is the account configured in outlook currently? look in file, account settings. it'll say to the right of the account name.
wendy says
My husband and I both use outlook for email (formally hotmail) but his account keeps opening in Preview mode and within clicking on a few emails and download will lock up and have to force quit and try again. My email is fine. Whats up? thank for the help!!
Diane Poremsky says
Where is it opening in preview mode? If he logs in online and it says 'outlook mail (preview)' at the top of the page, his account moved to the new outlook.com server. That is running on exchange. If you have it configured in outlook, it should be added as an exchange account.
Rich says
The crashing (Outlook just closes) is once every day or two, but she's had it <1 week so far so it's hard to say. This was the problem you warned me about before.
It's a plain vanilla install so probably default add-ins. She's using mouse mode on a top-end iMac (don't think those do touch do they?)
She says when the selection focus bug happens she restarts Outlook and all is fine again.
OST? I thought that was only a Windows thing... does OFM'16 use OST's now?
Diane Poremsky says
ost is a windows thingy - I wasn't thinking when i said that, or i read the ofm and still thought windows. :) Did you try rebuilding the cache? I know that fixed it for some people, a few builds ago. I thought they fixed it in more recent builds. Also, do you have the update from last week - 15.12.x - that is the official Outlook 2016 for mac release.
Rich says
Hi Diane,
First let me just say once more, thanks for everything you've done over the years to support the Outlook/Exchange community. Vendors often fall short in this regard and people like you pick up the slack. Big time!
So, to my question... Is there any bugfix list for OFM'16?
I've only found the "Known Issues" page https://support.office.com/en-za/article/Known-issues-in-Outlook-2016-for-Mac-af547e5c-4310-4d41-9944-08b1e842ebe4. But that's not comprehensive.
It doesn't include known bugs like the application crashing/closing on a daily basis, or a new one I just heard about from my first OFM'16 user, where the item selection won't stick (she clicks on an item, then Outlook will move the focus to another item!)
-Rich
Diane Poremsky says
No, there isn't a fix list yet, mostly because it's a moving target. It definitely shouldn't be crashing daily and the selection should stick. is she using touch mode or mouse mode? (look on the QAT) For the crashing, what addins are installed? If no addins beyond the default Microsoft addins, delete the ost and let outlook rebuild it.
Karen N. says
Yes, a brand new month-old iMac, so it's one of the newer screens. The display font is probably 12 or 14 pt on the screen, but I have some vision problems so I need a larger font on screen and a stronger contrast than light blue on white background for it to be visible without putting my nose right up to it. Rather frustrating, but thanks for your help.
By the way, do you have any idea why my email accounts don't show up in the Folder window? I have three accounts for separate businesses, so I'd like to handle them individually. I have the "Group similar folders" option turned off, but it doesn't show any accounts at all, just one in-box where incoming email from all accounts is being dumped. Weird! Not quite ready for prime time, I guess!
Diane Poremsky says
What types of email accounts are in your profile? I'm wondering if they are pop3 and all using one data store. I have imap and exchange accounts and they are split into separate folders.
This is what i see with group similar enabled and with it off, the folders at the top disappear.
Karen N. says
Hi Diane, nice article. My Outlook 2016 looks nothing like your screen shot, the fonts of the incoming messages are tiny and light blue - nearly impossible to read, and I can't find any option to change them. I've tried both "themes" but they appear to be identical, even after restart, so I presume that's some sort of bug. Do you happen to know of a way to make the display fonts for the stacked list of incoming mail larger and not light blue? Thank you! Best, Karen
Diane Poremsky says
This is in the message list? Try resetting the view (View tab).
Karen N. says
Hi Diane, Thanks, but there's no option to reset the view. I'll have to call them anyway to sort out why the separate email accounts aren't visible in the Folder Pane.Thank you though, Karen
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using Windows or Mac? Mac version of Outlook 2016 has blue text for unread mail but i don't think it's small - at least its not on my mac. If you have a hi-res screen it could be smaller. I don't think it can be changed.
boss1599 says
Does Outlook 2016 fix the problem of having too much vertical whitespace in Outlook 2013? I still use Outlook 2010 because I can see so much more of my folders and e-mail in it as opposed to 2013.
Diane Poremsky says
No, it's just as bad in 2016 as in 2013.
cclakeman says
Diane, Now that the GA release of Office 2016 is available (since July 9), any hope for Outlook for Mac ever supporting CalDav / CardDav? And, is this solely a Microsoft issue or a Google / Apple / Microsoft issue all combined? Seems like they have it figured out on PC, but not on Mac. Guessing the common thread is Apple but looking for an opinion from someone a little more knowledgeable about these things.
Diane Poremsky says
This version, no, it's not going to be supported. Future versions, possibly. CalDAV and CardDav isn't supported on the pc side - it's currently not a priority for Microsoft, or is behind other things Microsoft considers more important.
I'm not sure what the holdup is, although I also know at least 2 addins creatros said they were working on the issue - and I have yet to see the anything. I know people would buy it, so its possible there are issues trying to support multiple servers.
Mike says
I have a question about a configuration problem with Outlook 2016. I have Office 365 Home on my computer at work. Our company email system uses an Exchange server. This past May I downloaded and installed Office 2016 Preview. After the installation was finished I clicked the Outlook icon. The program opened and I was able to use Outlook 2016 for about a month without any problems logging on/off. Then I downloaded a newer update. During the update I got a 'Something Went Wrong' prompt. I've restored Windows to a new 8.1 state. I reinstalled Office 2013. Afterwards, I downloaded the Office 2016 preview again. However, when I try to open Outlook 2016 I get a prompt about not being able to locate the specified server. Why? I was able to use it before but not now. This is important because Outlook 2016 doesn't let me use a manual configuration to our Exchange server.
Diane Poremsky says
You'll need to use auto-account setup to configure the Exchange account. I believe the problems probably stem from MAPI/HTTPS support and RPC/HTTPS is disabled in Outlook 2016 - and your server doesn't have MAPI/HTTPS configured. There is a registry setting you can try to enable RPC support. I have the keys here somewhere. I'm not 100% sure it will fix your problems and unfortunately, I don't have an on prem server to test.
Michael says
Does Outlook 2016 improve the process of dragging emails to either OneDrive, SharePoint Site Mailboxes, or file shares? For us, Site Mailboxes are promising, but limited in terms of size and metadata capability.
Diane Poremsky says
No, there is no change in this regards - it works the same as older versions. I've never considered it a difficult process that needed to be improved though - where is it giving you problems?
Chris C says
Simple project/task management? - that thing that many of us do every day. Please let us have Tasks (Projects) with sub tasks. I know there are various workarounds using Categories etc. but none work across users etc. This would be a massive productivity boost to people who tend to work from Outlook everyday and need to keep on top of countless tasks. Please let's have more productivity improvements.
Mike Alvarez says
I have Office 2007. If I upgrade to the 2016 trial, will the .pst file migrate into 2016 OK? Will my contacts, calendar and multitude of message, folders etc be useable?
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, everything in your profile will migrate to the office 20156 profile. You won't lose anything.
Anthony Walker says
Anthony Walker says
Diane Poremsky says
Anthony Walker says
goldie says
My outlook is in (preview) mode, the emails in my inbox are separated by dates in rows now is this normal? it's only happening to one of the 3 of my hotmail email addresses.....
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, when you sort by date, you'll have the day groups in OWA - if you sort by other fields you'll have groups for the field.
qnext@jasland.com says
Thanks Diane.
so Outlook.com or office 365?
With outlook.com. two questions.
1) Does it allow for multiple POP mailboxes?
2) When I set ti up, would/could it grab everything from the PST files, or start fresh?
I just accidentally installed the Office 23016 preview, and it just auto upgraded my outlook 2007, and rendered that not working. It's ok i guess, About time., But my real goal is to get it all on line. And my problem, is ginormous pst files.
Thanks Diane.
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, you need outlook.com office 365 exchange online or another exchange provider or imap accounts.
Yes, outlook (desktop) supports multiple accounts, including multiple pop3 accounts.
if you have pst files, you can open them in outlook, just like you did in the past. if you want the mail on the server, you'll need to use imap or exchange - at this time, the outlook.com eas accounts don't upload to the server. You'll also need an account that has a mailbox quota large enough for the mail you want to upload. Outlook.com is limited to 5 GB, office 365 has 50gb if you buy through microsoft.
qnext@jasland.com says
I have Outlook 2007 (yes 2007) . I want to put all my email in the cloud, so I can access everything, in different locations as I travel without a laptop.
Would Outlook 2016 be the way to go? Are the data files and setting etc in the cloud, Sign in, log on and its all there?
Diane Poremsky says
You need an imap, exchange, or outlook.com account if you want your mail in the cloud. The version of Outlook won't have an effect on it.
You can't store the pst file in the a cloud service - it will corrupt it.
Lorenzo says
I am running the Office 2016 beta. If I have suggestions and/or bug reports, how do I submit those to Microsoft?
Diane Poremsky says
You are supposed to post them in the forum you were directed to use - either Answers (Home subscription) or Office365 forums (Business subscription) and someone (probably me :)) will pass it along.
Lorenzo says
When viewing the calendar in the To-do bar, will category colors show up for all-day events (as they did in Outlook 2010, but not in Outlook 2013)? Also, can the monthly calendar be removed (again, as was possible in 2010 but not 2013)?
Diane Poremsky says
Nothing has changed in this area. No color categories for all day events in the to-do bar. The navigation calendar in the to-do bar can't be removed but the one in the calendar module can be hidden or expanded to show multiple months.
Phil Burton says
Any improvements to the awful, simply awful Rules features?
Diane Poremsky says
No, sorry, they remain awfully awful. :)
Ermanno says
That would be a shame... HiRes displays are gorgeous, but without proper scaling they become almost ridiculous. IMHO Microsoft should require much more stringent requirements for desktop apps...
Ermanno says
Hopefully the 2016 edition fixes these issues... Would love to see much better support for HiRes screens from Microsoft (i.e. Skype desktop).
Diane Poremsky says
I wouldn't hold my breath on the issues within Outlook but they should fix issues sharing desktops via skype. I know GoToMeeting used to have problems sharing hi-dpi screens but they fixed it awhile ago.
Ermanno says
Well, I get many artifacts on my XPS 15. It's zoomed at 250% by default and not all parts of the UI are scaling well.
Diane Poremsky says
I figured it a the high zoom - there are issues over 125%.
Ermanno says
Thanks Diane for your answer. How is support for HiDPI displays? Right now Outlook 2013 doesn't look too good on my XPS 15.
Diane Poremsky says
it should be the same as Outlook 2016. What is wrong with how it looks? The only issue I was aware of is items always opened at full screen if the zoom (Control panel, Display) was above 125%. The only other problem is why people need higher % - many of the fields are too darn tiny.
Jeewan says
Any word on creating customs themes for Outlook? Outlook 2016 does not scream must have if I already own 2013.
Diane Poremsky says
No, there won't be the ability to add custom themes in this version. Eventually we might be able to customize the 'Office background' but I'm not expecting the ability to change the colors.
Ermanno says
Hi Diane, thanks for the nice article. How is it with CardDAV and CalDAV support? Is there any support for Gmail? Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
No, no carddav or caldav support at this time and it's doubtful it will be added in this version. Sorry. :(
Gherardi Giorgio says
As far as you know Outlook 2016 allows the user to insert multiple addresses and phone numbers (ie: mobile1, mobile 2, mobile 3, .......) as with Google and iOS?
Diane Poremsky says
Nothing has changed in Contacts - it's the same as with all previous versions. You'll need to use mobile, car, other or some of the other 9 fields for additional mobile numbers.