Microsoft Outlook Tasks Desktop Application

Question

Microsoft Outlook Tasks Desktop Application

Melissa Montgomery 20

Will Microsoft be discontinuing Microsoft Outlook Tasks Desktop Application? If so, is there a date when this will occur?

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Answer accepted by question author

Ruby-N 13,325 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Good day Melissa, and I appreciate the clear explanation of your concern.

Currently, there has been no Microsoft announcement stating that Tasks in Classic Outlook for Windows will be retired on a specific date.

Microsoft has announced a phased transition from Classic Outlook to the New Outlook for Windows. Currently, users can still switch back to Classic Outlook, but this option will be removed in a future stage of the migration.

That said, Microsoft has confirmed that existing Classic Outlook installations under both perpetual and subscription licenses will continue to be supported through at least 2029.

For task management, Classic Outlook may recommend using Microsoft To Do, which is the modern task experience integrated with Outlook and Office 365 apps. You can continue using Classic Outlook Tasks or switch to Microsoft To Do based on your preference.

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Additional information is available in the following resources: Stages of migration to new Outlook for Windows | Microsoft Learn
You can refer to the following article for an overview of the features available in Microsoft To Do: Manage tasks with To Do in Outlook | Microsoft Support

If you are interested in using the Microsoft To Do integration within Classic Outlook, please let me know and I will be happy to provide step by step guidance.

As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into performing deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions or need further support, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

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2 additional answers

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Answer 1

Melissa Montgomery 20

Thank you all so much for the feedback and suggestions. I truly appreciate your knowledge and having access to you all as a resource. Quick question: My team has a shared email mailbox and shared tasks. From my understanding, in the New Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft To Do is for individual task management. For assigning tasks to others and sharing, I would have to use Microsoft Planner. Is this correct?

Ruby-N 13,325 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-15T20:49:03.5366667+00:00

Dear Melissa,

Thank you for your kind words.

Certainly, your understanding is correct. Microsoft To Do is primarily intended for personal task management, while Microsoft Planner is generally the recommended option for assigning tasks, collaborating with team members, and tracking progress across a team.

If your team is currently using shared tasks in Classic Outlook, those can still be used. However, for team-based task management in Microsoft 365, Planner is the more modern approach.

For more information about Microsoft To Do and Planner, you may refer to the following resources:

To Do help & learning | Microsoft Support

Planner help & learning | Microsoft Support

I hope this helps clarify the difference. Please feel free to let me know if you have any further questions.

Answer 2

Diane Poremsky MVP 17,536 MVP Volunteer Moderator

The Tasks module will not be removed from Outlook any time soon, if at all. They need it for backwards compatibility for IMAP and PST accounts, as well as on-prem exchange servers. At most, they might try to hide it like they do the Journal (or Notes) for Microsoft 365 accounts - so still there but an extra step or two to access. But at this point, to-Do lacks too many features found in Tasks.

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Diane Poremsky / M365 Apps & Services MVP

https://www.slipstick.com

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