The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on October 1, 2026.
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Today's Highlights »
- New Outlook Calendar Enhancements
- Farewell to the Microsoft 365 Companion Apps
- Share Files by Email in Office Apps
- Share Meeting Availability
New Outlook Calendar Enhancements
The new Outlook team has continued improving the calendar module, bringing it closer to feature parity with classic Outlook. These updates should now be available to everyone.
The new features are:
- Two thumbnail calendars: You can now display two calendars in the left pane. Click the expander at the bottom of the calendar to show a second calendar, then click it again to return to one.
Select multiple dates in the thumbnail calendar: In Day or Week view, you can display up to 14 selected days. Use Shift+Click or drag across adjacent dates. Use Ctrl+Click for noncontiguous dates. This is a feature I use frequently in classic Outlook.
Sort calendars alphabetically: Right-click a calendar group and select Arrange by name.
Show multiple categories on an event: When an event has several categories, their colors appear as blocks in the lower-right corner.
Filter calendars by category: Filter the calendar view by category in your own or delegated calendars.
Conditional formatting: Highlight events in different colors based on the organizer, subject, or presence of attachments.
Save events as ICS files: Open an event and select the download arrow on the right side of the toolbar to save it as an ICS file.
Print events: Open an event, then select Print to print its details, including the attendee list.
Add a signature: You can now insert a signature before sending a meeting invitation. Click on the Insert Signature button in the toolbar at the bottom of the event form.
Add organization calendars: To add your team’s calendars, select Add Calendar > Add from Directory > Show Teammates’ Calendars. Outlook places them in a new group named Team. When adding individual calendars, you can select several from the directory and add them at once.
Select multiple events: Hold Ctrl while selecting events. You can then copy, delete, open, or categorize them together. This is another feature I often used in classic Outlook.
Drag events to move or copy them: Drag an event to change its time. Hold Ctrl while dragging to create a copy. This is another favorite feature from classic Outlook.
My Day and To-Do Bar: The pane now remains open across modules. In Mail, it stays visible in every folder until you turn it off. It remains hidden in Contacts and Calendar unless you enable it in those modules.
Preview ICS files: Preview an ICS file before importing it, and choose which calendar will receive it.
One feature is still missing: the ability to scroll through the monthly calendar and view portions of two months at once.
Farewell to the Microsoft 365 Companion Apps
Microsoft plans to retire the Calendar, People, and Files companion apps in mid-December 2026. These apps were installed with Microsoft 365 and pinned to the taskbar by default.
First released to Targeted users in Spring 2025, the apps attracted few fans. Most users wanted to remove them, which can be done by disabling them under Startup apps in Task Manager.
In my view, they were just more unnecessary apps. Both classic and new Outlook already provide access to contacts and calendars, and I keep Outlook open all day.
File Search was also of little use. It searches only OneDrive and limits results to Office documents, PDFs, and ZIP files. Opening a result launches OneDrive in a browser instead of the files synced to my computer.
The windows lack a close button and cannot be moved. They appear above the taskbar icon, and clicking the icon again minimizes them. To exit an app, right-click its icon and select the close option.
Good riddance.
Share Files by Email in Office Apps
Coming soon, users of new Outlook will be able to send files directly from Office apps using Share > Email. Currently, they must save the file and attach it to an email manually. It's scheduled to start rolling out in November.
Outlook: Share Word, Excel, and PowerPoint local files via the new Outlook for Windows
Share Meeting Availability
Microsoft is restoring Send Availability on iOS and Android. When composing or replying to a message, select the meeting icon with a plus sign on the toolbar, then choose Send Availability.
iOS users will also gain expanded keyboard and VoiceOver access to this feature.
Send availability in Outlook mobile apps
New & Updated Microsoft 365 & Exchange Server Support Articles
KB5002907: Optional update for out-of-date Microsoft 365 Apps installations
Cross-tenant Free/Busy, MailTips, and Calendar Sharing are moving to Cross-Tenant Access Policy
Introducing EWSAllowedAppIDs: Preparing for the Final Phase of EWS Retirement
EWS Deprecation Is Here – What This Means To You
Action Required: Upgrade ExchangeOnlineManagement PowerShell Module to Version 3.10.1 or Newer
Released: September 2026 Exchange Server Security Updates
New & Updated Outlook Support Articles
Copilot buttons are missing in classic Outlook for Windows
How to revert the Outlook Desktop WebView based Room Finder to the legacy Room Finder
Public Holiday Calendars Missing Dates After June 2026 in Outlook
Voicemail audio attachments might not be visible in classic Outlook
Other Resources
Daily Calendar Time Display in Outlook
answering common Outlook questions: Why does Outlook show my calendar starting at midnight? Why does my calendar look cluttered, and appointments appear to overlap or share the same time slot.