How to permanently prevent Outlook for Mac from switching to the new GUI?

Anonymous
2023-05-21T15:38:27+00:00

Outlook for Mac is periodically insisting on changing to the new Outlook for Mac experience. I do not want this. Period.

I have tried the New Outlook and reverted back to the current and much-preferred version, since the New Outlook does not suit my needs. Moreover, after an automatic restart into the New Outlook and having to revert, it is not returning to the state it was in. I do not want to use the New Outlook and I certainly don't want to fix all issues after reverting.

How can I permanently prevent Outlook for Mac from forcing me to use (and revert from) the New Outlook?

Can I set a preference so that it will not ambush me again in the future?

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T22:22:51+00:00

    Hi Kelly,
    I wish I knew. I'm in the same position as you and am terrified of losing past emails containing important work information.
    People have suggested some workarounds in the thread...
    Good luck!

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T22:49:34+00:00

    As a backup plan, I have exported my mail and copied everything across platforms. A .pst resides on a Windows environment and my main mail identity on Mac is copied to an external disk. Since I had an earlier issue with Outlook, I started using other mail apps, just to have my mail in another storage as well. I’m not really actively using those apps, but I fire those up, just to make sure I’m not jeopardizing anything. A suggested precautionary measure, that could potentially be a lifesaver. Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Spark, Canary. Pick one, or two, and at least backup your mail storage/cache.

    Users shouldn’t be forced into taking these extra and cumbersome actions, but better safe than sorry.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T23:03:51+00:00

    Since we’re running various instances of Outlook on a variety of platforms, I get to see different versions. And while I still believe Outlook is the better option of all we have tried, the new approach is a huge step back.

    No text only e-mail

    No local folders

    No source view

    No pst support

    No extensive rules

    No contact lists

    No deletion of attachments

    No full Exchange server support

    It’s becoming a dumbed down, simplified, unfriendly, incomplete app that kills business productivity. Today, I tried helping a colleague that is using the new Outlook on Mac. I have been looking for tools and features that are simply missing. It’s a disaster.

    Forcing this onto users by simply stating that the app will restart into that new experience is, to put it mildly, not very nice.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T23:38:45+00:00

    Thank you. I had seen somewhere a method to get into Mac terminal to delete the update that must have downloaded. I would not have downloaded that update if I knew it was going to completely mess up my outlook and my outlook organization.

    I believe someone on this thread posted how to do it on windows, but if someone knows how to do it on Mac, and can post those directions, I would appreciate it. I did attempt to contact Microsoft support and have gotten absolutely no response. I’ve noted that Microsoft support has not responded to the serious issues raised in this thread among others with the new outlook.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-08-03T17:39:27+00:00

    I concur with ALL of these users and replies. My wife has an IMAP account, which she prefers to a more standard server account. I have read that the New Outlook does not fully support IMAP accounts. In any case, last night something happened to inadvertently switch to the New Outlook, and ALL OF HER PAST EMAILS DISAPPEARED from her Inbox, as well as from all of the numerous subfolders she has set up. The subfolders disappeared as well. Thankfully, reverting to the old Outlook made everything reappear.

    I WANT TO DISABLE THE ABILITY FOR MY MAC TO SWITCH OVER TO THE NEW OUTLOOK. No software should force a user to adopt it, or otherwise 'coerce' them to do so. PLEASE FIX THIS.

    Thanks to all of the other users for sending in their replies. I'm glad to know we are not the only ones seeing this issue.

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