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What is Microsoft thinking, stripping down Outlook? Did they forget why they were the go-to for productivity software?

Christina Hoffman 15 Reputation points
2025-10-23T00:01:13.7733333+00:00

For as far back as I can remember, Microsoft was renowned for its productivity software. Does it no longer care about anything but Web and AI apps?

In my entire working career, I have never been subjected to such a poor product disguised as an upgrade than the "new" Outlook. Power users and business users are totally screwed in the name of Microsoft's Corporate greed; can't be anything else if they are retiring the most robust email and scheduling app in history and replacing it with a feature-less web app just so they don't have to maintain 2 versions. I sincerely hope another company comes along and steals all their corporate customers and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually happens. It will now take two people to do the job of one person at my company and all because of "new" Outlook. I've heard it compared to a plague and I have to agree - this app has increased the amount of time it takes to perform anything by about three-fold. On a personal level, I will never purchase any version of Office again.

There is so much lacking in this app, but here are 17 of my biggest complaints - a huge number when you consider I have only had to use this crappy app for 1 day.

No Auto-text

No real templates (.oft)

Not enough space for fake templates - I can only enter 1 before it's out of space

No Spellcheck

No Quick Access Toolbar

No ribbon customizations

No appearance customizations

No recent file list to help attach files to emails or calendar invites

No advanced find

No Quick Parts for adding complex and repetitive text calendar invites or emails

No VBA support

No easy "add teams meeting" button that you can quickly click in the toolbar

No easy transition from messages to calendar (calendar app has to open separately)

No Tracking button in calendar to see who has accepted the meeting.

New meeting windows not maximized forcing a completely unnecessary click

Visually difficult and unattractive interface in the calendar app.

Wasted screen space due to the stupid app pane on the left

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For business

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  1. Jade Ng 13,150 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-10-23T01:38:47.97+00:00

    Dear @Christina Hoffman,

    Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum and for taking the time to share such detailed feedback regarding your experience with the Microsoft product.

    I want to begin by sincerely apologizing for the inconvenience and for not being able to provide the level of deep technical detail you were hoping for. I deeply understand how disruptive this situation can be, especially when essential features you rely on every day are missing or changed.

    I truly regret that this transition has impacted your productivity and caused inconvenience. Your concerns are valid, and I want to assure you that your voice matters. The product is currently undergoing a major upgrade to deliver a more modern, unified experience, but I recognize that this process has left gaps in functionality that are critical for professional users.

    To help us improve faster, I strongly encourage you to submit your feedback through the Feedback. Detailed input like yours is invaluable and will be prioritized by our product team. Your feedback is incredibly valuable, and we’ve shared it with the appropriate team for further review. In this case, I sincerely recommend you go to Feedback community to vote this similar feedback: (find out similar feedback, if not provide the feedback forum link Ideas · Community. Our product team is in charge of the site, and they constantly check customer reviews and feedback, The higher votes, the more attention the related team will pay on. And a lot of the features are developed and improved based on customer feedback. 

    Please notice and accept my apologies that as moderators in the community, we are not supported for the product design and have limited resources for the advanced info for Microsoft products. To help you send your feedback and requirement to the related development team, we have redirected you to the correct path. 

    As I have already reported to the product team, if any updates or announcements are made regarding this feature, I will make sure to share them with you as soon as possible.

    Note: Please reassured that you are not alone, I’ll continue to monitor this case and will reach out to you with any new updates as soon as possible.

    Once again, we apologize for the difficulties you’ve encountered and greatly appreciate your contribution. Your insights are essential in helping us restore and enhance the features that matter most to you and the broader user community.

    Your understanding and co-operation are highly appreciated. Thank you for your precious time. Have a nice day!

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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