The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on April 18, 2024.
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Today's Highlights »
- Outlook 2016 Interface changes
- Updated Out of Office Visibility in Calendar
- Blocking Junk mail in New Outlook
- Unsafe Hyperlink Warning in Office Apps
Outlook 2016 Interface changes
Outlook 2016 users noticed some changes to their interface after the latest update. This is expected to be a permanent change as Microsoft is updating the UI for the single purchase licenses.
This brings the interface more in line with what the newer versions look like, with larger buttons in the compose forms and more white space in the message list. The Reply and Forward buttons are moved to the right in the new mail and the appointment form is re-arranged.
While you can fix the larger buttons and white space by clicking the View > Use Tighter Spacing button, it won’t be nearly compact as before. The position of the reply buttons and the rearranged appointment form won’t be fixed with Use Tighter Spacing.
The only option is to either get used to it or rollback to an older version. In my tests, going back to the January build did not revert to the old interface. I needed to go back to a build from last year, then used the script to install the January build.
To rollback Office 2016:
Start typing cmd on the Start screen or in the task bar search field to find the Command Prompt then click Run as Administrator
Paste the command line in and press enter to uninstall office and reinstall the older version.
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.16924.20150
The first line goes back to last fall - I then ran it again to update to the January 9, 2024 Version 2312 update - and still had the old buttons.
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.17126.20132
Don’t forget to disable updates in Outlook or it will be reinstalled overnight.
The newsletter software will mess up the file paths, the correct file paths (and screenshots) are in the following article. Use 16.0.16924.20150 and 16.0.17126.20132 as the version numbers.
Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run'
Updated Out of Office Visibility in Calendar
As anyone who uses Outlook’s calendar knows, you can mark appointments Busy, Tentative, Out of Office or Working Elsewhere. (Plus Free of course).
Microsoft is updating the Out of Office identifier to have a purple crosshatch pattern color. The crosshatch is on both the bar on the left of the appointment and used to shade the calendar cells for all day and multi-day events. Everyone with Office 16.0 – both subscriptions and single purchase license – should have the updated UI.
Some users are reporting they have the new pattern, but the bar is the same color as the calendar (same as Busy, but with the crosshatch), not purple. This is a bug – it is supposed to be purple.
Blocking Junk mail in New Outlook
When you use an outlook.com or Microsoft 365 Work or School account in new Outlook, you will have the junk mail features found in Outlook on the web – like safe and blocked lists.
IMAP accounts do not have the ability to use safe and blocked lists. Whether it will be added in the future is not known, but if you use an IMAP account in new Outlook and want safe and blocked list, please make the suggestion in Feedback.
You can leave Feedback from the Help tab > Feedback or in the Outlook Feedback Portal
The latest information is available at
Unsafe Hyperlink Warning in Office Apps
When you open links in Office documents, you may receive an unsafe hyperlink warning. It’s really annoying when you know the link is not unsafe.
Fortunately, you can disable it by editing the registry.
Type regedit on the start menu and open the Registry Editor when it comes up.
Browse to the following registry key if you use Outlook 2016 and newer:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Office > 16.0 > Common > Security
Right click on the key and choose DWORD
Type or paste DisableHyperlinkWarning as the DWORD name.
Right click on the DWORD and choose Modify then change the value to 1.
This key is supported in all Office versions. You need to change the 16 to use it with other Office versions.
If you don't want to edit the registry, I have a ready to use reg key file at Disable the Unsafe Hyperlink Warning when Opening Attachments
New & Updated Outlook Support Articles
Unable to add an account in new Outlook for Mac
Print to PDF is blocked if Mandatory Labeling is enabled
Recall Message in Outlook Desktop stops working after February 2024 security updates
Add an email account to Outlook
Training: Get up and running quickly with our Outlook Quick Start. Learn how to add an email account and get started in Outlook.
How email message formats affect Internet email messages in Outlook
Provides an overview of Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) that is used by Outlook to package information.
April 2024 updates for Microsoft Office
Other Resources
Exchange Online to retire Basic auth for Client Submission (SMTP AUTH) - Microsoft Community Hub
Exchange Online to introduce External Recipient Rate Limit - Microsoft Community Hub
Public Preview: High Volume Email for Microsoft 365 - Microsoft Community Hub