Using classic Outlook for Windows in business environments
For Classic Outlook on Windows, use this checklist:
- Confirm the account type. Creating a Poll in Outlook is only supported with a work or school account. It is not supported with Outlook.com personal accounts or third-party accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud.
- Try inserting the poll from the supported location. In a new email, go to Insert > Poll. A poll can also be found under Options > Use Voting Buttons > Poll.
- If Outlook prompts for sign-in again while creating the poll, contact the Microsoft 365 admin. In Classic Outlook, repeated sign-in prompts can be caused by an admin setting that needs to be adjusted.
- If the poll does not get inserted and an authentication window flashes, use the current workaround.
This specific issue was fixed on August 1, 2023, but if it happens again, create the poll in Microsoft Forms instead:
- Go to https://forms.office.com/
- Sign in with the work account
- Select New Form
- Add the title, description, question, and answer choices
- Select Collect Responses
- Copy the link into the email, or send the form directly from Forms
- If recipients cannot see the poll in the email body, that can still be expected in some cases.
Recipients may get a link instead of an embedded poll if:
- the poll is too long
- the poll was sent to people outside the organization
- If the message is encrypted, remove encryption before using poll or voting buttons. Recipients cannot view voting buttons in encrypted Outlook messages.
If the Poll button is missing from the ribbon, add it manually:
- Open Outlook
- Go to File > Options
- Select Customize Ribbon
- In Choose commands from, select All Commands
- Find Poll or Polls by Microsoft Forms
- Add it to the Insert tab
- Select OK
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