M365 Changelog: (Updated) Toggle to try the Preview of new Outlook for Windows

MC526128 – Updated March 15, 2023: Microsoft has updated the content to show as intended. Thank you for your patience.

In Fall 2022, Microsoft expanded access to the preview of the new Outlook for Windows to all of Office Insiders in both Beta and Preview channels. With a wealth of feedback from these early adopters, Microsoft is excited to expand access to users in Current Channel. The experience is an option to try, and nothing will change without end users taking action. Microsoft will give notice before any required changes occur, after the preview has received sufficient usage and feedback.

This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap Id: 118476

When this will happen:

Current Channel: Rollout will begin in early April and will be complete by late April.

Monthly Enterprise Channel: Rollout will begin in early May and will be complete by early June.

How this will affect your organization:

End users in the classic Outlook for Windows (desktop app) will see a toggle in the upper right to ‘Try the new Outlook for Windows’. This toggle will be available for all users in Current Channel who have supported accounts. Currently, the supported accounts in the new app are Microsoft Exchange Online and personal Microsoft accounts, but within the next month Microsoft will start expanding support for other accounts.

Note: The new client is still a preview experience with default settings OFF. Users may submit feedback about any capabilities they are missing if they need to switch back to the classic experience.

What you should do to prepare:

Conditional access policies configured for Office will also apply to the new Outlook, as well as any mailbox policies configured for Outlook on the Web. You should review the policies set for your organization.

Microsoft recommends reviewing any remaining COM/VSTO add-ins used by your organization and moving to web add-ins because COM/VSTO add-ins will not be supported in the new app. Otherwise, no actions are required. For additional information on how to install, please visit this documentation.

If you are not ready for this preview in your organization, you can hide the toggle for now using the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General

“HideNewOutlookToggle”

0 (default) – “Try the new Outlook” toggle, if available in selected update channel, is displayed to users.

1 – “Try the new Outlook” toggle is hidden.

Additional information