How can we stop being forced to use the New Outlook when it isn't as productive or robust as the Legacy Outlook

Right!?

Every Monday morning I wonder what concoction I'll get that has to be rejiggered and saved and pray they don't screw it up all over again next Monday.

Argh! Stop it already, leave us ALONE! We paid for something, stop messing with it!

This is the worst roll out of software I have ever seen. The new product is so different from the old one no one initially likes it. what makes it worse, is its slow to load, its forced upon you, and its not as good.

The specific problems I have noticed for my team and myself are:

1. slow loading up
2. With multiple accounts, you do not initially see if you have unread messages. you have to open the specific account to see if you have mail. I have 5 different emails that I monitor. its ridiculous to ask me to look at each one to see if I have mail.
3. If I have a word attachment (or other MS doc) and double click on it, it forces me to log into office365 online, when I have downloaded and installed version on my laptop already. I have to download the attachment and then open it with my local version.
4. at times when I double click an email , and it opens a new window to view the mail larger, the new windows UI is not completely loaded. (i.e. the x in the corner, minimize, and maximize is blank)
5. Settings: WHERE ARE THEY? I can not find a gear or something that says settings anywhere in the new app. Seems like it should be easily located, but who knows. I'm sure its there somewhere. It's like where's waldo I guess.

Over all its clumsy and hard to get around in.

In the end we are looking for another piece of software to use that is NOT the new MS Mail. if anyone happens to know of a good alternative, please let me know.

P.S. Yes I have gone back to the old mail, BUT I have found that not all my emails are actually being sent through old mail it says sent, but doesn't actually send it. (Conspiracy theory: is this a way to make me use new mail?)

Hi.

I don't know if you work for Microsoft, but the issue everybody is having is that we just do not want the new version of outlook. Everybody hates it. And everybody hates it because it's ****. We shouldn't have to download anything. We already have what we need, but Microsoft, in their arrogance, seem to be saying we shouldn't use what we already have, because they think their new toy is better. It isn't. It just is not.

This is the issue.

Now, the only real question here is, are Microsoft listening?

Because what we're all saying is so simple to understand.

Please leave us alone. Stop forcing this software on us. We do not like it, we do not need it, we do not want it.

How hard can that be?

I agree with the comments above. New Outlook is rubbish. What's with the stupid envelope thingy????

It seems that every change or update that Microsoft comes up with just makes computers more frustrating to use.

I have tried the new outlook.

I receive ads.

But the ads I receive are in French.

Do kindly please explain how this will improve my productivity.

Microsoft unfortunately does have a history of a rather arrogant attitude towards it's users, somethings will never change.

I absolutely agree with you. I hate the new Outlook. I want the old Outlook back. I hate it when things get fixed that weren't broken in the first place.

Mea Caldwell, I couldn't agree more!

"It's as if the programmers that created New Outlook have never used an email program with the need of being productive. New Outlook also feels like it's a barely functional beta version. Quite bluntly - New Outlook is like a throwback to the 90's and stinks"

As someone using it in a corporate environment with a heavy workload, productivity is key. Here are just a few shortcomings (there are many more):

1. When creating an email or calendar invite, no more Quick Parts or Auto-Text Gallery. Instead, they are pushing templates, Just one of my repetitive meeting templates maxes out the allotted space. So now, I have to keep another document in Word, open it, find the text I want, then copy and paste it into the invite. Not helpful, not productive. It's a step back to the stone age.
2. No ability to hide the app panel. The app panel must be for Microsoft's vanity; they are trying to make it look slick, but it takes up precious screen space and users should have the right to hide it. I keep my apps pinned to the taskbar, I don't need or want this duplication.
3. No more Quick Access Toolbar where I would put my most used actions. They are pushing the simplified ribbon but it's not very good because you can't have the full ribbon with the list of all available items as well as your most used. Another step backward.
4. Message Rules are no longer as robust, so most of my automation is out the "window".
5. Recall/Resend is now gone and they are pushing delay send as a solution which is ridiculous because it's not the same at all. I frequently use the feature, now I get to recreate the wheel each time instead of using resend.
6. When creating a meeting invite, I could do without the scheduler panel to the right taking up more screen space; no way to hide it either. I look at the schedules in the horizontal scheduling format where it is full screen the way it has always been. I have too many participants in my meetings and I need to locate conference rooms. Another step backward.

For myself, I'm rolling back to the old Outlook and staying there for as long as I possibly can. After that, time to find a new solution.

Have you tried turning it off and back on again? This is what worked for me up until recently.....

Since then, I have thrown my computer out of the window of a multi-story building. This may indeed be an incredibly drastic course of action for our conundrum, but sadly I found this was the only viable solution. I do reccomend this solution since it did solve the problem, but if you choose to do the same please proceed with caution.

I have since apologised to the owner of the brand new Mercedes parked outside. I explained my situation, he totally understood my ordeal. The man was a lawyer, and to my suprise, told me that he will be persuing the true criminal (you all know who) for damages and that I need not worry. I simply got lucky though and it all too easily could have gotten very, very sour indeed. If that Mercedes had been a beloved pet, or a freshly planted rose garden, I may not have been forgiven so easily.

Please make sure you fully understand the risks before attempting the resolution above.

Good Luck everyone.

Kind Regards,

Tony (Winner of the 'Problem Solver' award of 2024)

P.S - I am not a crackpot.

I was very close to that decision. I wanted to smash my pc. I've been annoyed for days. I moved everything to Mac.

I'm bored with my new mac right now. Everything works. I don't have to do anything.

In the past time I've wasted with windows 11 I've literally become addicted to fixing and tweaking things that keep breaking and changing.

Why did they change outlook ? To serve us advertisements or to collect information by reading our mail.

Now, when the old Outlook is open, right click it at the bottom on the taskbar and then click "Pin to taskbar"

That way the Old outlook will be pinned there and you just click it instead of having to type that in each time.

I literally got tired of trying . I am disappointed in Microsoft's actions. The new outlook is also ugly. Unnecessary take up my screen on the left side. It annoys me to the extreme. I literally transferred everything to the mac. I wasted an awful lot of time fighting with W11. Why do I need it? On several occasions I wanted to break the computer. I would like to know the person who is responsible for all these very ugly things on windows. I'm really interested in why they do that.

As soon as my subscription expires, I don't give them a single dollar anymore. THE END

I am still following the discussion. Microsoft watches how we get annoyed and tortured and it doesn't care

The new Outlook can be uninstalled from Installed Apps in Windows Settings.

Additional you might want to look into "Turn off Automatic Updates for Microsoft Store apps"

I now click the Start button and type oulook.exe, Enter. It opens my old outlook. YAY...................