The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on May 4, 2017.
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Today's Highlights:
- Focused Inbox coming to Outlook 2016 for Windows
- Outlook 2016 May 2017 Updates
- Birthday events are created on a shared calendar
- Blank Messages in Outlook 2016 Insider build
Focused Inbox coming to Outlook 2016 for Windows
Focused Inbox is in the process of rolling out to Outlook 2016 users. In order to see Focused Inbox on the desktop, users need build 16.0.7967.2000 (Version 1703) or higher. Current channel subscribers began receiving this build on April 21, 2017 but the focused inbox won't show up until it is enabled on the server side too.
Microsoft is in the process of enabling it on the server side - all first release customers should have it enabled and others, including Outlook.com users, will soon follow. (It was enabled for a number of Outlook.com users this week.) Users on the Deferred Channel will receive it later.
At this time, the focused inbox in Outlook desktop requires Office 365 modern authentication be enabled, which is not enabled by default in Exchange Online. The Office 365 Administrator will need to use PowerShell to enable it. The cmdlet needed to do this is at Focused Inbox is not available in Outlook.
To find out if it is enabled for your mailbox, log into Outlook on the web. If you have it available there, it will work in Outlook (if you have build 1703 or higher) provided modern auth is also enabled.
As of now, focused inbox is not available in Outlook desktop for Outlook.com users, however, Microsoft is working on removing the modern auth requirement, after which it Outlook.com accounts will have focused inbox on the desktop.
If a user is actively using Clutter, Focused Inbox will be off by default unless the admin enables Focused Inbox organizationally. If it's enabled by default on your mailbox, turning it off is easy: click the Filter menu at the top of the message list in Outlook on the web and untick Show Focused Inbox (at the bottom of the menu.) In Outlook, it's on the All menu at the top of the message list and there is a button on the View ribbon that will toggle it off and on.
Administrators who want to disable it for end users can block it using a registry key. See How modern authentication works for Office 2016 client apps and Managing Focused Inbox in Office 365 and Outlook for more information
My recommendation is to try it for a few days or so to get used to it. Even though I always use it in the Outlook app on my phone and iPad, it still took a couple of days to remember to check the Other tab after finishing up on the focused side. If it wrongly classifies messages, you can mark them to always be in the focused (or other) inbox by right clicking on the message.
Outlook 2016 May 2017 Updates
There are many issues fixed in this month's Outlook 2016 update which will be installed automatically for Office subscribers with click to run installations.
This update disables the run a script rule action for all Outlook 2016 users. If you are using run a script rules, they can be re-enabled by setting the EnableUnsafeClientMailRules registry value as described at Run-a-Script Rules Missing in Outlook 2016.
Calendaring issues that are fixed include the following:
When you import a webcal calendar, the reminder of the webcal calendar isn't created automatically. You can fix this by adding the AllowReminderCreation registry value per KB3085592.
When a delegate opens a meeting request, some respond buttons, such as the Accept, Tentative, and Decline buttons, aren't displayed.
When you click the Meeting button to create a meeting request for a contact in the Contacts hub in Outlook, the "Unknown Error" error message is displayed.
When the Save method of an item is called in the AppointmentItem.Write event handler, Outlook crashes.
When you open a calendar in a new window in Outlook 2016 then open another calendar in the new window, the calendar can't be updated to display the information.
Outlook provides a clearer message to the attendees when an attendee of a meeting request proposes a new time for the meeting.
Issues involving digitally signed messages:
After you send a signed plain text email message, some edits may be lost if the email message has been saved as a draft for multiple times.
Adds the ability to display digitally signed email message in its native HTML format and unsigned mail in Plain Text format by adding the ShowSignedMessagesInNativeFormat DWORD to the registry. See KB3118320 for more information.
Crashes that were fixed:
Outlook crashes when you run VBA code in a custom form.
When you select the Outlook icon on the Windows taskbar, Outlook may crash.
When you download full item for changed headers, Outlook may crash.
Other issues that were addressed:
When you try to delete items from public folders, you receive the following error message: Changes made to the item were lost due to a reconnect with the server.
When you use a POP or an IMAP account, some received email messages have a blank body.
When you send an email message to a large dynamic distribution list, mail tips aren't displayed.
When you create an email message for a contact in the Business Card view, you may see the recipient is displayed as multiple times in the To field.
When you set the ForceAccountSelection policy for Outlook 2016 in online mode, the policy is applied to reply email message.
Message preview font settings are not available in the view settings.
You may see a flicker on the To Do bar when the group policy is being updated.
Translates some terms in multiple languages to make sure that the meaning is accurate.
The full list of issues that are fixed in this month's update is at May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2016 (KB3191883).
Birthday events are created on a shared calendar
The scenario: the mailbox calendar is shared with a personal assistant, who has Owner permissions. The personal assistant creates contacts and enters a date in the birthday field. The PA needs to receive the calendar reminders for the birthdays but they are going to the boss instead. The PA is sure she used to get the reminders.
It's all about permissions. It probably used to work exactly the way she wants, but that was before she was given owner permission to the mailbox.
If she has sufficient permissions to create new items on the calendar in the mailbox where she is adding contacts, then the birthday events will be added to that calendar. If she does not have create permissions, Outlook will pop up a dialog asking if she wants the birthday event on her personal calendar.
The solution is to remove the owner permissions from the calendar, however, that will prevent her from creating any new appointments on his calendar, so it's probably not a very good solution. That leaves her with two options: move or copy the birthdays to her calendar after saving the contacts or use a macro to move the birthdays.
This macro can be edited to watch only for new birthday events and copy them to her calendar: Copy New Appointments to Another Calendar using VBA
Blank Messages in Outlook 2016 Insider build
Users with the newest Outlook Insider build may see blank messages for a few seconds after selecting a message. Opening a new message or replying will also often show a blank screen. Until the build is updated, there are several workarounds.
For the blank messages in the preview pane, open the message, click the link to download content, or resize the window. In the compose window, hit enter.
New & Updated Outlook KB Articles
May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2016 (KB3191883)
https://support.microsoft.com/help/3191883
How to control the rule actions to start an application or run a macro in Outlook 2016
https://support.microsoft.com/help/3191893
Re-enable run-a-script rules after installing the May 2 2017 (KB3191883) update, which disables the rule actions to start an application or run a macro in Outlook 2016.
May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2013 (KB3191889)
https://support.microsoft.com/help/3191889
Reminders aren't created after you import webcal calendars to Outlook 2013. You may receive unexpected prompts to save changes in Outlook 2013. When you use a POP or an IMAP account, some received email messages have a blank body.
Reminders aren't created after you import webcal calendars to Outlook
https://support.microsoft.com/help/3085592
May 2, 2017, update for Outlook 2010 (KB3191906)
https://support.microsoft.com/help/3191906
When you add attachments to a saved email message and then send the email message in Outlook 2010, the attachments are missing, corrupted or duplicated.
Other Resources
May 2017 Non-Security Office Update Release
Full list of Office 2010, 2013, and 2016 updates released on May 2. These updates for are MSI installations.
Run-a-Script Rules Missing in Outlook 2016
Outlook 2016 users who use run-a-script rules can re-enable the scripts by editing the registry.
Send As or Send On Behalf in Office Groups
A new feature in Office Groups (available in Office 365 Exchange Online) is the ability to use 'Send as' or 'Send on behalf of', just as you can for shared mailboxes.
Sharing a Secondary Calendar
How to share a secondary calendar in an Exchange mailbox using Outlook desktop or Outlook on the web.
Undo Send feature in Outlook on the Web
Outlook on the web's new feature: Undo Send. It gives you a few seconds (up to 30 seconds) to change your mind.