Volume 27 Issue 32

Today's Highlights

• Outlook 2019 Interface Changes
• Changes coming to Outlook.com
• Use PowerShell or VBA to get Outlook folder creation date

Outlook 2019 Interface Changes

I've heard from a lot of Office 2019 users over the last couple of day regarding the updated interface in Outlook 2019. And it's not because they are happy with the changes.

Microsoft is updating the interface to have Outlook 3065's larger send buttons, to, CC buttons, the reply / forward buttons in the reading pane moved to the right and a Like button added. Oh, and it has blue Unread bars on the left edge of the message list when using the old single line view. Everything Outlook 365 subscribers have had for quite awhile.

Unfortunately it's something users will need to "get used to". I know, this is not what anyone wants to hear but this is not an optional update and cannot be turned off with a registry edit or by rolling back. Microsoft did it to get the Outlook 2019 code in the same code branch as Outlook 365 and 2021, so it gets the same interface.

Outlook's "Tighter Spacing" option will be turned on (but is not available yet) Look for it on the View tab, if it not there users can try setting a registry key use tighter density.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Office > 16.0 > Outlook > Preferences
DWORD: DensitySetting
Value: 1 (Tighter spacing on)

Changes coming to Outlook.com

Earlier this week Microsoft sent an email to Microsoft 365 Family and Personal subscribers, highlighting changes to the subscription service.

There are two changes that will affect Outlook.com accounts. (The other change: adding Microsoft Defender and Clipchamp to the subscription.)

The first: "cloud storage" will include Outlook.com attachments (as well as OneDrive and OneNote notebooks.) This will allow users to have more mail in the mailbox but will reduce the account of storage available for OneDrive files.

For most users it shouldn't have an impact: most people use only a small portion of their mailbox storage and never come close to using their OneDrive storage. Users with free accounts that are near their OneDrive quota, may be affected the most, especially if they have a lot of attachments. Users who send and receive large files or are near the maximum mailbox size will have more room for mail but will lose space in OneDrive.

The second change is the retirement of Personalized Outlook.com domains at the end of next November (2023). As of December 1 2023, users will not be able to add or change the custom domain. Existing users can use the addresses as long as they want but will not be able to change their address – once an address is removed, you will not be able to add it back.

Microsoft's announcement:

Starting November 30, 2023, you will no longer be able to associate a new personalized email address (e.g. yourname@example.com) with your Outlook.com mailbox. If you already have a personalized email address set up, you will not be impacted by this change, and you can continue using it without any disruption in service. After November 30, 2023, if you choose to remove your existing personalized email address, you will be unable to add it back.

This is reminiscent of the old Live domains program and the short-lived custom domain program implemented after the accounts were moved to Office 365 servers. Existing accounts were grandfathered in and still work, but new accounts can't be added.

Will the program ever come back? Who knows… Google dropped their free custom domains many years ago. Apple recently introduced it for iCloud + subscribers.

Use PowerShell to get Outlook folder creation date

A user had a folder he didn't recall creating in his Outlook desktop software and wanted to know how to find the folder's creation date.

While you can use MFCMAPI or OutlookSpy to view the creation date property, you can also get it using PowerShell or VBA.

Using PowerShell may be easiest for most users because you don't need to change macro security settings in Outlook. Just select the folder then paste the code into the PowerShell window. The date it written to the PowerShell window.

$PropName = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x30070040"
$olApp = new-object -comobject outlook.application
$oFolder = ($olApp.ActiveExplorer()).CurrentFolder
$oPA = $oFolder.PropertyAccessor
$value = $oPA.GetProperty($PropName)
write-host $ofolder.name `n$value
write-host

For more information and a VBA version of the macro, visit  Use PowerShell or VBA to get Outlook folder creation date

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Use PowerShell or VBA to get Outlook folder creation date