Why does Outlook no longer show the original URL on hovering over a link in an email message?

Anonymous
2024-06-01T03:42:17+00:00

Starting in 2019 sometime, Windows Outlook began showing the original URL on hovering over a link in an email message.

Before that, it had only shown the rewritten safelinks version, which is very difficult to read and not at all helpful to someone who's trying to check what's behind that link's display text.

This was a vast improvement, and these days it is essential to be able to quckly check links if people are to have a chance of avoiding phishing traps.

It's particularly important for those users (probably the majority) who wouldn't understand the safelinks URL, and might well assume it's safe because it's a microsoft.com link.

Sadly, though, some time within the last few months my Outlook 365 has reverted to showing the unreadable safelinks URL in both the hover popup and the status bar at the bottom of the Outlook window. I currently have Windows Outlook Version 2404 Build 16.0.17531.20152 Click-to-run.

The safelinks service is good, but there will always be malicious links that get past it, and people need to be able to decide whether or not to click on a link by seeing the actual URL it would go to, not simply assume that safelinks will take care of it.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-10-29T21:32:50+00:00

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-10-29T20:47:53+00:00

    Turning it on or off has no effect

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-10-16T17:42:02+00:00

    Yes, I too am very upset that Microsoft nolonger displays the URL of a hyperlink when hovering over it in the reading pane of Outlook (new Outlook). This is a huge step backwards for computer safety against malicious links.!

    I can't understand why Microsoft would do this while they claim to be bolstering computer safety !

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-08-14T21:37:42+00:00

    Interesting indeed how we got different responses! Let's hope your two are in fact what's happening, in that they acknowledge that it's an issue that they're trying to sort. Thanks for submitting and letting us know.

    The response you got sounds rather like it came from an AI, and the response to @SMiller_920 seems more like a real person wrote it. Fingers crossed MS really are investigating the problem.

    It does seem true that "some" people are experiencing the problem. My own experience of it made me open this thread, but the problem came and went for me, and hasn't been back (yet).

    Others are obviously still seeing it, though, even in the latest versions of Outlook and New Outlook, so the underlying cause hasn't been fixed yet.

    New Outlook isn't anywhere near ready to be rolled out. Quite apart from the link display issue, which is a real show-stopper for those experiencing it (and to admins and support staff!), it's still missing far too many of "classic" Outlook's important functions, in my opinion. For example, being able even to read PST files isn't planned until some time next year, according to the MS 365 timeline.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-08-14T15:54:15+00:00

    In addition to this, I have another symptom of the poor QC checks on realease, related to links in email:

    For some months now I've had another issue with links in Outlook (new).

    That, whenever I open emails from Indeed or LinkedIn, I get 2 tabs opening in my browser. Every single time.

    Only happens on this "new" version of Outook app.

    Not when I switch it back to the "classic".

    Never happens in my Office 365 desktop version of Outlook, from the same emails.

    Happens in any web browser I set as "default". ( mention this because an old thread suggests this is the root cause).

    Only seems to affect LinkedIn and Indeed email alerts (I haven't looked for other platform/email alerts to expand on this sample).

    Opened a thread about it today because I'm bored with having to close 1 of 2 tabs for every time I click a link in these emails.

    Dev team really need to be performing real-world testing as these important/irritating issues keep getting published to live software.

    AS for this OP's thread (I've responded to this before) - I too am now noticing that sometimes Outlook (New) does show links on hover, and other times it doesn't.... a few days ago I saw that they were showing again.... hover over links, popup shows the real link in full...

    Today > Nope. Not working again. I feel like the App is gaslighting us lol.

    I already disabled their smartscreen functionality because it is useless right now > AND..... I get nothing on hover, so NO idea what I would be clicking on at all.

    But, in "Outlook 365" - same/all emails > I see the full URL upon hover... without this nonsense feature enabled anywhere...

    Fingers crossed that they "Soon TM" patch out the "lets hide links to bambooze customers and reduce security" iteration in current circulation.

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