Microsoft is getting ready to move the Mail, Calendar, and other modules in Outlook for Windows to a new location. Soon, the desktop app will start displaying these key modules on the left of the folder pane, instead of the bottom.
“The Outlook team recognizes this is a big user experience change and it will take time to get used to the new location for Mail, Calendar, etc,” Microsoft explained earlier this week. Outlook users on the Current Channel have been able to opt-in to test this change since March, but soon there won’t be a way to go back to the old navigation experience.
Granted, Outlook.com and Outlook on the web both already have app shortcuts on their left navigation sidebar, and so does the new web-based “One Outlook” app that’s set to replace Outlook for Windows in the future. However, Outlook for Mac still has app shortcuts at the bottom.
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According to the Outlook team, this upcoming update will “provide a consistent experience across Outlook, Teams, and Office.com for switching apps and it creates room in the UI for more apps to integrate with Outlook. You can easily launch popular apps like To Do, Yammer, Bookings, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint without leaving Outlook, with more to come.”