Offline start and other innovations in the works › Dr. Windows

The new Outlook for Windows has already officially replaced the mail and calendar app for private users and is also “generally available” for business customers if they have at least five years to switch over. The project is still a major construction site, but development is progressing steadily.

Regular readers know that we are closely following and documenting progress. Today, all previous collection articles dealing with the innovations currently in progress have been updated.

The full program is available if you follow these links:

Many additional and general links with information about the new Outlook can also be found in this article:

Milestone: The new Outlook for Windows is generally available from August 1

A few highlights of the current status: The first wave of offline functions has now been rolled out. In the settings, you can specify that emails, calendar entries and contacts are kept offline. You can choose from the last 7, 30, 90 or 180 days. Soon, the new Outlook will also be able to be started without an internet connection at all, which was not possible before.

Another new feature that is more in line with classic Outlook is the ability to open all types of file attachments using the locally linked programs. Until now, the new web-based Outlook treated many file types like downloads.

Another small feature from the classic version has also made it into the new Outlook. Synchronization with the server can now be initiated at any time using a button.

Below you’ll find the latest entries from the Microsoft 365 roadmap that have not been documented in the last few articles so far – there’s quite a lot of stuff coming together again.

Offline start: The new Outlook can also be started without an active Internet connection. Planted from September.

Convert emails into calendar entries using drag and drop: If an email is dragged and dropped from the message list to the calendar icon, the dialog for creating an appointment opens. Planted from September 24th.

Use apps in meetings: When creating a meeting appointment, you can specify which apps should be used during the meeting. The implementation is similar to that in classic Outlook for Windows. Planned for December 2024.

Use the Alt key for keyboard navigation: When you press the Alt key, the letters that can be used to open the corresponding menu item are displayed above the menu items (previously Win+Alt). The introduction has been running since August 24th.

Creating appointments: The pop-up window that appears when you simply click on a free time slot in the calendar has been removed. Instead, you can write directly in the calendar field, just like in classic Outlook for Windows. As before, a double click opens the full form for creating appointments. Planned for September 24th.

Cursor navigation in the calendar: You can use the cursor keys to move between the individual time slots in the calendar. Planned for September 24th.

Sorting and filtering: The buttons for sorting and filtering messages in the inbox or other folders are now displayed separately; previously they were combined. Rolling out since August 24th.

Meeting summaries: After a meeting ends, participants automatically receive access to a summary via the calendar, including transcript, recording, and shared files (if available). Rolling out since August 24.

Who is in the office: Based on working hours and location, the calendar at the top right shows who is currently in the office. The information refers to the data that is maintained by the other users themselves. Planned for October 24th.

Setting the time period for offline content: When synchronizing, you can set the time period from which emails and attachments can be downloaded for offline use. Scheduled for January 25th.

Copy participant list to clipboard: The list of participants in a meeting can be copied to the clipboard and pasted elsewhere. Planted from September 24

Participant list sorting: The list of meeting participants can be sorted alphabetically. Planned from October 24th.

Filtering the participant list: The list of meeting participants can be filtered by name, for example. Planned from October 24th.

Integration of Windows Narrator: The screen reader integrated in Windows automatically reads emails as soon as they are opened. Planned from November 24th

About the author

Martin Geuss

My name is Martin Geuß, and as you can easily see, I feel at home in the Windows world. For more than 17 years I have been sharing what I think about Windows and other Microsoft products with the world, and sometimes it’s even interesting. The most important motto of my work is: From me – for you!