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New Outlook June 2025 Feature Update

A large, anthropomorphic blue "@" symbol with arms and legs stands at the edge of a rocky cliff, facing a broken rope bridge that leads to another cliff with a brown leather briefcase sitting on it. The cliffs are steep and separated by a deep chasm, with mountains in the background and birds flying in the cloudy sky above. The scene suggests a metaphor for a challenge or communication barrier, possibly representing the difficulty of bridging gaps in digital or online connectivity.If you have been using (or trying to use) the New Outlook, some new feature updates in June might be handy, as well as updates that bring New Outlook support for Classic Outlook-type features.

Office Watch, “the independent source of Microsoft Office news, tips and advice since 1996,” has a list of new or improved features for the new Outlook in Windows. Among these new features are:

  • external tags in contact suggestions, which help identify when you are choosing an email from the dropdown list in the “to” or “cc” line that the contact is external to your firm or organization.
  • More offline options, including accessing 180 days’ worth (up from 7) of email in specific folders (inbox, sent, drafts, archive, deleted, snooze, favorites and recently used). To change the options, go to the gear icon, select General – Offline, and toggle “enable offline email, calendar, and people” and then choose the folders and days of email to save.

Run New and Classic Outlook Side by Side

While you might have been able to accidentally run both new and classic Outlook simultaneously, now that is a feature instead of a bug. Open Outlook (whichever version you had defaulted to last). If you were in New Outlook toggle it off to use Classic Outlook. A pop-up may appear to suggest you can use classic and new Outlook side-by-side. Or, open Classic Outlook, toggle to New Outlook, and then with the New Outlook open click on the Classic Outlook icon on your desktop or system tray and toggle off New Outlook.

Create Tickler Reminders in New Outlook Calendar

Have you ever created multiple events in Outlook to create a tickler system for a court filing, contract term expiration, or compliance deadline? Or tried to set up reminders for the calendared item well in advance of the deadline and then reset the reminder over and over? New Outlook has added the ability to add timed email reminders in addition to calendar reminders. In the New Outlook calendar, add an event, then in the Options in the Ribbon click the drop-down menu and at the bottom you will see “Add Email Reminder”. You can now add multiple email reminders and change the reminder date to “Custom” to have the email reminder with your own reminder message language sent when you want. It takes a little time to set up, but is a better way to create ticklers. You can also duplicate an event and the email reminders will be retained – all you need to do is change the dates. Here is a video tutorial.

Keeping Up with Features

Microsoft has a chart that shows all the features in Classic and New Outlook side by side. You may discover features in either version that you didn’t know were possible. You can also track when a feature that is missing from New Outlook has been added. Links in the chart will take you to tutorials and instructions.

For Further Reading

Conclusion

The recent updates to New Outlook introduce features aimed at enhancing versatility and usability. These improvements include offline email access, detailed reminders, and the ability to run Classic and New Outlook side by side. By staying informed about these updates and utilizing available tools, users can optimize their experience and streamline their workflow.