Outlook for Mac is Now Free to Use on macOS

Microsoft’s Outlook for Mac app is now free to use on macOS. Until today, Outlook for Mac was free to download on the Mac App Store, but it required a Microsoft 365 subscription or license to be used.

“The Outlook for Mac app complements Outlook for iOS – giving people a consistent, reliable, and powerful experience that brings the best-in-class experience of Outlook into the Apple ecosystem that so many love,” Microsoft said today. “We are rebuilding Outlook for Mac from the ground up to be faster, more reliable, and to be an Outlook for everyone,” the company also teased today.

As of today, Outlook for Mac provides a solid alternative to Apple’s Mail app, and Microsoft did a lot of work over the years to make Outlook look like a native Mac app. Outlook for Mac really has a pretty great UI, and I’d say it looks even better than Outlook for Windows. Microsoft is currently working on a new web-based Outlook for Windows app, which is set to replace Microsoft’s UWP-based Mail and Calendar apps.

Just like the Outlook mobile apps, Outlook for Mac also supports unified inboxes, something that I consider a very basic feature that’s still missing on Outlook for Windows. Outlook for Mac also supports Handoff with Outlook for iOS, and there’s also a nice widget for the macOS Notification Center.

If you’re a Mac user, you should really give Outlook for Mac a try. You can download the app from the Mac App Store here.

Update March 7 4:50 PM ET: Microsoft has now clarified that it has no plans to release a web-based Outlook app for Mac. I’ve updated my post to reflect that. “The new Outlook for Mac is a native macOS app. Microsoft plans to continue building and maintaining best-in-class native apps on macOS and iOS. No Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are planned for Mac Outlook,” explained Michael Palermiti, Partner Product Group Manager for Outlook.