How do I prevent Outlook 365 on the Mac from launching the New Version

This is STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can MS create a product that users are being FORCED to the new version. I HATE the new version!!!!!!!!

Attention PRODUCT TEAM - LISTEN TO YOUR USERS!

Has anyone tried this work around? Does it work? Are local folders kept?

Will this prevent updates to Outlook from loading?

Sorry, I did receive instructions to fix this issue and I never posted it!

Here are the instructions for the Mac:

Outlook Fix: 

If you do not wish to see the prompt anymore, please Quit Outlook and follow the below instructions - 

1. Open Terminal (this can be searched from Spotlight located at the top right)
2. Type in the commands as under - 

defaults write com.microsoft.Outlook EnableNewOutlook -int 0 

3. After which, hit enter in Terminal

This should disable New Outlook and the prompts for it. 

If you wish to enable New Outlook switch, follow the same procedure but instead of the command shared above, type the below - 

defaults write com.microsoft.Outlook EnableNewOutlook -int 1

I’m adding onto RandallParker’s post here as well, I may just open a completely new post if I’m unable to get a reply/acknowledgement since Randall has been waiting for a response to their concerns since April 25th to no avail.

I’m not happy with this response and I’m not happy with Microsoft’s handling of this situation. The new version of Outlook on Mac is blatantly anti-user and so incredibly counterproductive to what an email client should be. It is unacceptable to force (continuously, despite repeatedly opting out) users to adopt something that is so broken and anti-user friendly. It has me wondering - were there actual QA testers involved? Was this UI actually vetted by your power users/clients? There’s a fairly large portion of Mac Office users who are very vocally against these changes.

Microsoft has been well known for forcing certain Windows updates, especially security based ones and while that’s never been appreciated by a majority of the community (hence the reason I switched over to primarily using a Mac to begin with) that was at least understandable as a majority of those forced updates provided necessary security patches for vulnerabilities. Forcing this drastic and unintuitive UI change without any specific reasoning, despite opting out every other day? This is unacceptable. For years now I have dealt with Microsoft’s lack of care to handling their software for Macs (and all the bugs that come with it) but this situation takes the cake.

Microsoft and their devs need to allow people to permanently opt out of this buggy mess (at least until this can be redesigned, vetted and reconciled with the community) and allowed to keep their existing legacy versions intact without potentially losing data and having to rebuild databases because they need to restart Outlook. I really can’t believe this even needs to be stated.

Further, my company’s users don’t have the time to completely relearn a program involuntarily, especially when there was no advanced notice of this.

Thanks De Paul for your note. However your answer is unacceptable. 

Here’s the problem: If I so much as restart Outlook by quitting or shutting my computer down, it will transition to the new Outlook. The last time this happened, Outlook was unable to restore the database correctly, leaving thousands of “On My Computer” emails in the inbox. Furthermore, the function to move emails no longer worked. Truly a disastrous situation. As I mentioned, I had to restore the entire computer to get Outlook back to normal. 

Has Microsoft really tested this on systems that have been running client-based Outlook email for years? My database goes back to 2008, and even before that if you count the Eudora emails I imported going back to the 1990s. My database is a historical record of my email, my work, my professional career, and it shouldn’t be turned upside down by a new version. 

Microsoft cannot allow this to happen, I have seen dozens of complaints about the same problem, and eventually Microsoft will run into legal trouble for not properly vetting its software. 

When my Outlook eventually restarts, and I run into the same upheaval, I am going to document each step of the process so it is crystal clear there is a serious problem here. 

Please pass this on to the powers that be. 

Best, Randall