From 6 January 2025, Microsoft will begin migrating all business customers from the Classic Outlook desktop application to New Outlook.

Classic Outlook has been a reliable email client for years and is widely used by organisations for managing emails, calendars, tasks, as well as integrating with third party addons. Although Microsoft has committed to supporting the Classic version until 2029, they plan to move users to the New version starting from the beginning of 2025.

Why does this matter?

New Outlook has been in development since 2023 but has been beset with problems and we don’t believe it’s ready to use yet. It has received criticism for inefficient performance, compatibility issues, and potential security vulnerabilities.

Therefore this enforced migration to New Outlook by Microsoft could disrupt operations. Many organisations rely on Classic Outlook’s robust features and stability, and this enforced change risks breaking workflows or reducing productivity.

There are also concerns about how secure and functional New Outlook will be during the transition, as many features and integrations for business environments are not yet supported. Even basic functionality is missing – for example, New Outlook requires an internet connection to start and thus cannot be used offline!

What are the options?

Fortunately, administrators have the ability to block this automatic migration by configuring specific policies in an organisation’s environment. For our managed clients, we can enact this for you if you wish, so that you remain on the Classic Outlook application and ensure the continued functionality and security of using that client. Some organisations without centralised management may need to take action on their machines, but we have created a simple solution for this. Otherwise, migrations to New Outlook will begin automatically from January 2025.

If you have any questions or concerns about how this change may impact your organisation, please contact us for further information.