Volume 29 Issue 10

Issue Date: March 14, 2024 « Previous Issue | Next Issue »

The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on March 14, 2024.

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Today's Highlights »

Remove All Apps from Ribbon?
Moving OneDrive and Outlook Email to a new account
Templates (OFT) in new Outlook for Windows
Moving Calendar and People to New Outlook

Remove All Apps from Ribbon?

A user wanted to know how to remove the “All Apps" button from classic Outlook’s ribbon. The user customized the ribbon and removed it, but it eventually came back.

The All Apps button was added by the same changes that added the vertical navigation bar on the left.

So… you can remove the "All Apps" button by disabling the left sidebar, which moves the navigation buttons to the bottom of the folder list. Make this change in File > Options > Advanced and uncheck Show apps in Outlook at the top of the dialog box.

If you want to keep the left bar, you can remove the apps from the button by removing them from the Office Web Store (but not remove the All Apps button). In classic Outlook: File > Manage Add-ins. Some of the apps can be removed from the All Apps menu by right-clicking on the button and choosing Uninstall.

The user also asked about removing the now-defunct “Find Time" button as it’s features are now built into Outlook. (It should have disappeared on its own.)

Removing defunct Office add-ins is a little more work.
1. Open file Explorer, go to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef
2. Search the files in the manifests subfolders for “button name”
3. When you find it, copy the file you can easily access it and add .xml to the filename
4. In Outlook go to File > Manage Add-Ins and open the Addins site
5. Click on My Add-ins. Scroll to the bottom of the pane. Under Custom add-ins click on + Add a custom add-in -> Add from file ...
6. Select the renamed xml file and install it
7. This installs the add-in under Custom add-ins.
8. Click on the 3 dots and choose Remove

Moving OneDrive and Outlook Email to a new account

A client needed to move his OneDrive and Exchange online mailboxes to a new tenant and asked how to do it.

OneDrive is pretty straightforward. If you are moving between personal accounts, sync the files to the computer using “Keep on my computer”. Files and folders will have a green checkmark when fully synced. Unlink the account in OneDrive Settings then link the new account. It can use the same OneDrive folder and will sync the files already in the folder.

For business and school accounts, add both accounts to the OneDrive app then move files from one OneDrive to the other. If you moved the files, unlink the old account when its finished syncing the deletions.

Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 mailboxes: add the accounts to classic Outlook desktop software that is installed with Office then export to a pst and import.

Before you export, you need to confirm Outlook is syncing all mail. To do this, open File > Account Settings > Account Settings. Double click on the account and check the sync slider. You need it set to sync all. After it is done syncing, export the mailbox to a pst file from File > Open & Export > Import and Export. Import the .pst into the new account.

If you need to move OneNote notebooks in personal accounts, you can export the notebook and import it into the new account. Microsoft has the instructions in this article: Export and import OneNote notebooks

Unfortunately when you use OneNote in Business (or school) accounts, its not as simple as export and import. Add both accounts to the OneDrive app then move (or copy) pages or sections to a notebook in the other account.

To move the page or section, right click on the page or section tab and choose Move or Copy…

Tip: If the page did not sync properly, it will error when you try to move it but copy usually works.

Templates (OFT) in new Outlook for Windows

Support for Outlook templates (*.oft) is coming to new Outlook. The rollout is beginning this month. Along with templates, new Outlook will be able to open EML and MSG files. Both double clicking on the file or drag and drop on the reading pane will work.

There are a few other updates coming for new Outlook (and classic Outlook, Outlook for Mac). Users with the insider builds will see the changes first, with general availability in a month or so.

The full list is available in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap

Moving Calendar and People to New Outlook

I’ve seen a lot of complaints from people who moved to new Outlook and don't have their calendar and contacts.

For users with Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud accounts, the calendar and contacts in the Mail app should be syncing up to the server. New Outlook connects to the same Microsoft cloud mailbox – so everything in the Mail & calendar app should be in new Outlook.

There is no export option in the Mail & Calendar app, so any events and contacts stored locally will not be transferred. You will need to recreate those items.