M365 Changelog: (Updated) Message List Selection UI updates for Outlook on the Web and New Outlook for Windows

MC556159 – Updated November 2, 2023: Microsoft has updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

In order to save space on the message list in Outlook, Microsoft is making an UI update: From “selection circles on the left side of each row” to “Select mode that you have to get into before checkboxes appear“, using a button in the top-right corner of the Message List. Users may have to acclimate themselves to the new Selection user experience.

In addition, mouse+keyboard multi-selection where users hold down Ctrl or Shift will continue to work as before.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 125905

When this will happen:

Microsoft will begin rolling out in mid-May 2023 and expect to complete rollout by late November 2023 (previously late October).

How this will affect your organization:

This will affect users who do not have “Sender Images” enabled in the Message List. If you have “Sender Images” turned on, hovering over the images will still show the checkboxes, even if you did not get yourself into “Select Mode“. To review if you have “Send image” enabled, go to Settings > Mail > Layout and scroll to “Sender image“.

What you need to do to prepare:

There is nothing to prepare for this change.