Since early 2015 we've been hearing about new features coming to Outlook.com. While new users received the updated version right away, existing users have been slowly migrating to this revamped email tool since February. Microsoft plans to migrate all users by the end of this year.
Wondering what exactly is new with Outlook.com? Take a look at these helpful and useful new options.
Users will now have access to many of the robust features of Office 365, increased speed and stability for new features, and an improved experience for those using Outlook applications on their computer.
From the Microsoft Office blog:
To work on documents with coworkers 3 Microsoft Office online teamwork and collaboration tools that impress Microsoft Office online teamwork and collaboration tools that impress with Office 2016 and its free online counterpart, Office Online, Microsoft has released new tools for teams to collaborate remotely and in real time. We show you what you cannot miss. Read More This feature puts the document on one side of your inbox with the email on the other side, so you can see both at the same time.
If you want to edit the document by modifying it or simply adding a note, select Edit and reply From the top navigation. This action will make a copy and immediately open the online editor, for example, Word Online, so you can work with the document. Your changes are automatically saved, and when you're done, click Submit button in the email to send the updated version to your recipient.
For messages that include an attachment, you'll now see a reminder for that attachment when you add a new recipient to the email sequence. You will be prompted to add the most recent attachment or not to include anything. This is a useful feature that saves you from having to rely on your memory to include an important attachment.
You may remember the addition of a feature called Mentions when it was released for the Outlook desktop app 10 New Features in Microsoft Office 2016 to Boost Productivity 10 New Features in Microsoft Office 2016 to Boost Productivity Microsoft Office 2016 gets new features all the time . They are available first to Office Insiders and Office 365 subscribers. We show you the best new features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and how... Read More This is another feature that has been added to Outlook.com, making it easy to call a contact's attention in your message and add their email address to the To line.
While composing your message, simply click @ Symbol followed by the contact you want to insert. You'll see suggestions in a dropdown box as you type your name, and you can add one with a click.
You may have enjoyed the PayPal, Evernote, and Uber plugins for Outlook.com, but now there are a few more to get excited about. GIPHY, Yelp, and Wunderlist are officially available in the Office Store.
GIPHY is a fun plugin that allows you to put a little pizzazz in your messages. Without leaving Outlook.com, you can add animated GIFs for special occasions, to make your recipient laugh, or just for something silly.
Yelp is a popular tool for finding nearby locations. And, including what you find in an email can help you make your plans. Whether it's a restaurant, store, hotel, or nightclub, you can insert the details into your Outlook.com email and send them to a friend.
Wunderlist it's a favorite when it comes to managing tasks, and integration with Outlook.com means you can more easily tackle and share to-dos. You can quickly move task-related emails to your to-do list. Plus, you can share your to-dos and lists so the whole family stays on top of their tasks.
Clutter is a new folder that low-priority emails will automatically be moved to, the more you use Outlook.com. In keeping with the habits of the messages you often ignore, enabling this option will move them to the separate Clutter folder. How to avoid spam and Outlook email. How to avoid spam and Outlook email. If you can't access your emails. I will love these Outlook features. They can help you filter and prioritize all incoming emails. Read More You can also manually move emails to Clutter from the message menu dropdown.
To access Clutter's options, open its settings by selecting gear top right navigation icon and click Options . In the menu on the left, expand Mail to show all items and click Clutter .
You can then enable or disable options to separate items like Clutter and receive notifications about messages identified as Clutter. Once activated, Clutter will show up in your folder list.
To keep important messages at the top of your inbox, as well as to tag emails that require follow-up, pins and flags can be very useful. Both options are accessible from the top right corner of the email.
When you pin a message, it will stay on top until you release it. All pinned emails will have a different colored background, depending on their theme. Indicators are perfect for those messages that require you to take action later. 6 Best Practices to improve your workflow. 6 Best practices for Outlook to improve your workflow. If you spend a lot of time using Outlook, you should investigate your workflow. Make your email work for you and save time for more important tasks. Read more . You can also add a flag from the email menu dropdown.
When you paste a link into an email for a web page or video, from a source like Vimeo, you and your recipient will now see a preview. This is a nicely displayed clipping, so your recipient can see at a glance, before they click, what you're sharing with them.
Now you can brighten up your messages with emojis that are triggered by the text you type. For example, if you type :happy , :birthday , or :sad , You will see a small pop-up box with suggested emojis that you can insert with one click.
Also, inserting images now gives you editing and formatting options. 10 Free Photo Editor Tools To Get The Most Out Of Your Photos 10 Free Photo Editor Tools To Get The Most Out Of Your Photos What happened to all the snaps you took in the past? If you have plans and ideas, here are some great Windows tools and some cross-platform tools to process them. Read More Simply copy and paste your photo or image into email and take advantage of these new options to make it even better.
With more than 10 new themes, you can personalize your Outlook.com inbox by giving it that special touch. From robots and circuits to crayons and Lego bricks, choose a theme that matches your mood, interest, or personality.
To see the options and apply a new theme, open your settings by selecting gear Top right navigation icon. Click Change theme and browse the themes in the pop-up window. You can select each one to see how it looks and when you're happy with your choice, click OK .
Here are additional features and options you'll notice with the new Outlook.com.
Please note that the new Outlook.com is being rolled out to existing users over time. So if you still don't see the updated version, just know it's on its way. In the meantime, you can also try Outlook.com Premium ad-free, which is free for the first year.
If you've migrated, are you enjoying the new features available and, if so, what are your favorites? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
