Office 365 subscribers in the beta channel and with an Office 365 business account in their profile, will have a switch in the upper right corner for Try the New Outlook. When this is enabled Outlook closes and the new Outlook opens.
Is it worth trying? My mantra is anything is worth trying once, so yeah, it is. But the new Outlook is Outlook on the web in a universal app frame, so don't expect too much from it.
As I mentioned, at this time it only works with Office 365 business accounts, and only one account at this time. It lacks most of the best features in Outlook for Windows. Things like custom views, search folders, after sending rules, VBA, Com Addins, Office addins, custom flags with reminders just to name a few. Oh, and it’s online only, no local cache.
Like the New Outlook for Mac, Microsoft is adding features to it as time goes on. It will eventually support multiple email accounts including Outlook.com and IMAP (possibly POP), offline caching, PST files, and other features. For the Outlook Mac users wondering when they’ll get parity with Outlook for windows, the new Outlook gets closer.
The new Outlook for Windows helps you be more productive and in control of your inbox
Things to know about the new Outlook for Windows
If you meet the conditions to use it – Office 365 subscription in the beta channel and your default account is Office 365 business account – you’ll have the switch to try it. After enabling it, pin the new Outlook to the taskbar then slide the switch off and reopen Outlook to the classic version. You can now open both Outlook’s side by side.
If you previously downloaded and installed the new Outlook setup file linked on some websites and have the Try New Outlook switch in Outlook desktop, flip the switch and restart Outlook. This will update the new Outlook to the current build, 1.2022.513.8 (Production) / Client Version 20220506008.34
In case you’re wondering, no, it’s not going to replace my Outlook anytime soon but it’s a good replacement for the Windows 10 / 11 Mail client.
Information for Office 365 Administrators
All users with a Microsoft 365 account in the Office Insider Beta channel will have the new Outlook for Windows is enabled by default but administrators can disable it using PowerShell.
To change the syncing permissions to the new Outlook for Windows for your whole tenant, run the following script, opening PowerShell app as an administrator:
Sign into Office 365 using PowerSell:
Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName
Disable the new Outlook availability sitewide by setting OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled to $false. To enable the new Outlook for users who want to try it, set OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled to $true
Get-CASMailbox|Set-CASMailbox -OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled $false
To change permissions for a single user, use this script, again using $true to enable it and $false to disable access to the new Outlook.
Set-CASMailbox -OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled $true
To verify the new Outlook for Windows is enabled or disabled for a specific user use this command:
Get-CASMailbox | Select OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled
To check for each user, run this command:
Get-CASMailbox -RecipientTypeDetails UserMailbox | Select name, OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled
If the OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled column is blank, the user will be able to use the new Outlook beta, either because they are in the Beta Channel or found and installed the new Outlook software.
Remember: If users are not in the beta channel but find a link to download the new Outlook, they can connect their work or school accounts if OneWinNativeOutlookEnabled is not set to False.
