M365 Changelog: Outlook – Reactions and new notification experience

MC239090 – Updated March 02, 2021: Thank you for your feedback. At this time we will not be moving forward with rolling out the feature as outlined. We are evaluating changes based on feedback and will announce our new plan via Message center when we are ready proceed. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Reactions to email messages is coming to Outlook on the web, Outlook for iOS, and Outlook for Android. With this release, Outlook for iOS and Outlook for Android will also add an in-app notification experience where users can view reactions from others, similar to what’s seen in Outlook on the web today.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 69095, 69097, and 70615

When this will happen

We will communicate via Message center we are ready to proceed.

How this will affect your organization

Users will be able to react to email messages with like, love, laughter, celebration, surprise, and sadness. Upon applying a reaction to an email message, the reaction will be visible in the reading pane for users with an Office 365 for work or school account within the same tenant on supported Outlook apps. When someone reacts to their message, users will see an indication on the existing bell icon in Outlook on the web.

Apply reactions in Outlook on the web.

Email message detailing which sent messages received a reaction.

Reactions appear in Outlook for iOS.

Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, Mail for Windows 10, older versions of Outlook for iOS or Android, and non-Microsoft email clients, as well as Exchange Server with hybrid modern authentication are not supported in this initial release. Users with these apps and services will not be able to apply or see reactions, but they will receive one email per day alerting them of reactions applied to their sent emails.

Reactions applied to emails from outside your tenant are not supported in this release. Users on a different tenant will not see reactions applied to their emails, nor will they receive an email alerting them of reactions applied to their sent emails. This is expected to be improved upon in a future release.

What you need to do to prepare

There is no action you need to take to prepare for this change, but you might consider updating your user documentation and alerting your help desk.

Learn more: The evolution of mobile productivity, even when we’re a little less mobile – Microsoft 365 Blog