M365 Changelog: Introducing text predictions in Outlook for Windows

MC229381 – Updated March 17, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

Text predictions help Microsoft 365 users write more efficiently by using intelligent technology to suggest text during composition. This feature is available for Outlook on the web (MC225214, October 2020).

We are now extending support for text predictions to Outlook for Windows.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 60340. 

When this will happen 

• Text predictions will be part of the November version available to customers in Current Channel (Preview) in early February (previously January) and Current Channel late March (previously early March).
• Note: an earlier version was rolled out to customers in Current Channel (Preview) in December which will be updated with this new release.

How this will affect your organization

When this update rolls out, users will see text predictions when writing an email message in English. When they see suggested text in Outlook for Windows, users can accept the suggested text with the tab or keep typing to ignore.

Text predictions are on by default; users can disable them in the Mail options in Outlook for Windows.

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Disabling this feature in Outlook for Windows will not affect text predictions in Outlook on the web or Outlook for iOS. Eventually, text predictions will support additional languages, which will not require an update to the application or settings. 

What you need to do to prepare 

Text predictions in Outlook for Windows is considered a Microsoft 365 connected experience and can be managed through the policy settings for privacy controls: Use policy settings to manage privacy controls for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.