The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on October 9, 2025.
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Today's Highlights »
- Opt out of Microsoft 365 Companion Apps?
- Find Forgotten Outlook.com Address?
- Remove the Junk Email Filter in Outlook?
Opt out of Microsoft 365 Companion Apps?
A Microsoft 365 admin asked how to opt out of the automatic installation of the Microsoft 365 companion apps. These are three apps – File, Calendar, and People – that are automatically installed for users with Microsoft 365 software subscriptions in a business tenant.
On the admin side, it can be disabled in Device Configuration settings.
1. Sign in the admin portal and go to https://config.office.com/officeSettings/configurations
2. Select Modern Apps settings tab then click on Microsoft 365 companion apps (preview).
3. Uncheck “Enable automatic installation of Microsoft 365 companion apps (preview)” then click Save.
For end users who have it installed, the apps can be disabled in Task Manager> Start up apps. Select Files in the app list then right click and choose Disable. Repeat for Calendar and People apps.
My previous EMO article on the Companion apps from May: M365 Companion Apps.
Microsoft 365 companions apps overview - Microsoft 365 Apps
Get started with Microsoft 365 companions
Find Forgotten Outlook.com Address?
A user wanted to know how to look up an address they forgot: “I forgot my outlook email address. I used the form but it only shows the first two characters. Is there a way to get the full address? “
Did you write the address down or create a contact for it? Send another account you have an email from it? Those would be the only way you could find the full address.
The Recover your username form lets you enter an address or phone number that may be linked to the forgotten address. Microsoft then sends a security code to the address or number you enter in the form to verify you have access to the account.
The full address is not returned, just the first two letters of the alias and the domain: di*****@outlook.com. In my case, it returned that hint five times. At least I have a chance of guessing what one of those aliases is!
Why not give you the full address? Security and privacy. One hacked account could expose all your addresses if you used them as security accounts for each other. If you used a phone number then got a new number, the person who gets your old number could get a list of your addresses.
Microsoft Support article: Forgotten your Microsoft account username
Remove the Junk Email Filter in Outlook?
A user wanted to know if they could disable Outlook’s junk email filter. “The junk email filter constantly sends messages I need to junk. This has been a problem for years but is bad now because I’m applying for jobs. “
Your options depend on which Outlook you’re using and if you are using outlook.com email or an IMAP account.
The easiest solution: check the junk email folder daily. Add it to the Favorites list in Outlook to make it easily accessible. Delete the spam that is in it frequently so its easier to see if there is new mail in the folder.
When you find valid messages in the Junk mail folder, add the address or domain to the safe senders list.
In classic Outlook: make sure the Junk filter is set to “No Automatic Filtering. Mail from blocked senders is still moved to the Junk Email folder.” Classic Outlook’s Junk filter hasn’t been updated in close to ten years and should not be used.
If you are using new Outlook or Outlook on the web, use the Standard filtering setting in View tab > View settings > Mail > Junk Email.
If you are using an IMAP account, the filters on the IMAP server are moving the mail.
New & Updated Outlook Support Articles
Known issues with classic Outlook Desktop Shared Calendar Improvements - Microsoft Support
Outlook GPO Update for “When sending a message” policy - Microsoft Support
Other Resources
Move Deleted Items to Another Folder Automatically
A user wanted to know how they could move deleted messages out of the Deleted Items folder, to avoid the automatic 30-day deletion limit. I share some methods.
Auto-Archiving for Exchange Online | Microsoft Community Hub