How to remove old Outlook after switching to New Outlook

I was trying to get rid of the old Outlook ("classic") because it uses a large .OST file on the computer. The new Outlook appears to be the web version with an app package around it to hide that it really the web version.

On my work computer, the installation is the same. If you are going to use another app to e-mail something, you definitely need the older Outlook to send anything. Otherwise, it just sits in the Outbox unit you open Outlook Classic. Also, the new Outlook lacks add-in support and proper signatures and many other features. I've come to the conclusion I just need to keep both and I've gone back to the classic version 99% of the time at work because the new (web) version is just not ready yet. At home I'm using the new version because it's much simpler.

Basically, it is really not ready for release, which is why no one from Microsoft is answering.

It has promise, but definitely not ready.

Hello Everyone

It appears that Microsoft hasn't impletemented MAPI support in the new Outlook, so any apps that try to use it will try to open Outlook 2016 instead. It is possible to run both versions of Outlook on the same PC, so the workaround is to use Outlook 2016 for anything that needs the MAPI interface.

See these links for more info:

Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in new Outlook for Windows - Microsoft Support

New Outlook users unexpectedly see the “Welcome to Outlook 2016" setup wizard - Microsoft Support

I hope this helps someone!

Hi,

For those who ran into this issue like me, I have found a way to fix most of Outlook protocol links like mailto:

1. find the path of the new Outlook application on the file system
2. assign new Outlook as default application to each file type supported by classic Outlook

1 - Find the path of the new Outlook application on the file system

• To find the path of the new Outlook application, open the task manager (Ctrl + Shift + Escape).
• In the processes tab (the first), you'll see the opened applications listed by their names.
• Open the new Outlook application, if it's not done.
• Hover the name of applicaiton "Outlook (new)" and right-click on it.
• You should see "Open the file location"
• If it's grayed, right-click on the sub-process "Mail", then it should appear clickable
• A Windows Explorer window opens on path "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.OutlookForWindows_1.2024.1023.300_x64__xxxxxxxxxxx"
• Select the path and copy it.

2 - Assign new Outlook as default application to each file type supported by classic Outlook

• Open the Windows settings application.
• Select Applications in the menu
• Select Default applications tab
• Now in the "Define default applications value" search bar, type Outlook
• You should see both "Outlook" and "Outlook (new)"
• Select "Outlook"
• For each file extension showing the old Outlook logo, select the extension and follow the steps:
  • A windows pops up to select the default application,
  • Case 1: If you see "Outlook (new)" just click on it, it's done,
  • Case 2: If you don't see "Outlook (new)" in the list, go to the bottom of the list and click "Choose an application on your PC", A Windows Explorer window opens, paste the path you previously copied, click "open" and select "olk.exe" click open, it's done.

For some reasons, some extensions will keep the old Outlook logo because you'll be unable to choose the application path on your PC. Windows Store will be the only proposed option but then it's impossible to validate the choice as default application.

Now I'm able to open the new Outlook on mailto protocol links.

Good luck.

David

EDIT:
The classic Outlook is part of Office16 desktop apps suite. Deleting outlook.exe will not free much space. All you risk is to make some registry keys orphans, which is never good.

I guess the new Outlook installs in a brand new path because Microsoft is rebuilding MS Office with separate apps.

I'm affraid we'll have to keep old MS Office apps until all the new ones are out there, :D

Another complete miss by microsoft. It's sad that I'm accustomed to such behaviour by them.

Agreed, this is very poor customer service on Microsofts part...

I am sure far more than those commenting here are struggling with the same issue and hardly a difficult scenario for Microsoft Dev's to replicate.

Based on the lack of response I am guessing they currently have no method of removing just the Outlook Classic element of the Microsoft Office 365 App package. Just a shame they cannot at least provide that information along with a time line for a fix.