Maximum Outlook Functionality on a new Windows 11 PC?

Question

A friend of mine has just (Dec 2024) purchased a new desktop PC. She has also purchased a subscription for Microsoft (Office) 365 to obtain maximum functionality from Outlook like she had on her old PC with Office 2019.

The new PC comes with the Outlook (new) app installed.

We activated the Microsoft 365 subscription (and have paid the money) and we installed (downloaded and installed) the Microsoft 365 apps. This was the only option available for installation of Office 365.

We only seem to be able to access the Outlook (new) app and are missing a shedload of function as a result. We cannot run any other version of Outlook other than the default Outlook (new) app - there are no other icons visible and nothing else in the "All Apps" window. If I look at other machines which had Office 2019 installed and then installed Microsoft 365 I don't see this problem - those machines can still use the full function Outlook (which appears to have been updated to 365 levels) and, if they want, also use the Outlook (new) app via a somewhat different icon on the desktop. Also if I look at those other machines I see the program Outlook.exe in this folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE - if I look at this folder on the new machine I do not see anything similar in this same folder and in fact I see a very significant difference in the number of files in the folder (like only 5%).

Can anyone, with direct experience of this problem, suggest what I can do to activate the full function of Outlook when I have only installed Office 365 on a new Windows 11 machine?

Answer 1

Sorry for the lack of a response Stan, unfortunately due to the time of year we've had some problems getting together to try your suggestion out - there have been a lot of Christmas events etc which have made meeting up difficult, but hopefully we'll be able to get together soon.

bernard

Answer 2

Dear Bernard,

I haven't received the message from you yet. If there is anything more that I can do for you or if anything is unclear, please do not hesitate to let me know. 

Best Regards, 

Stan - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 3

Dear Bernard46,

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, this entry to switch back to the Outlook Classic is quite hidden, so we often need to explain it to customers.

Regarding your supplementary question, installing Outlook Classic does not automatically remove or uninstall Outlook New. You can keep both versions at the same time so you and your friends can choose which one to use based on your needs.

Feel free to ask me any questions, I am here to help you further if needed.

Best Wishes,

Stan - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 4

Thanks Stan, that was a great help - I would never have thought of looking for Outlook Classic under Help - what a strange place to put it.

Can I just ask you a supplementary question? If I install Outlook Classic using either of the ways you mention is there any danger it will delete or uninstall Outlook New? I suspect we wont want Outlook New once we have the Classic version (much better in my opinion) but I'd rather not rule out any options since I'm doing this as a favour for a friend.

Regards, Bernard

Answer 5

Dear Bernard46,

Thanks for reaching out to us here in Microsoft Community.

I understand that your friend has purchased a Microsoft 365 subscription, but can't find the classic version of Outlook on her PC. Don't worry, I'm willing to explain the situation.

First, can you confirm the type of subscription your friend has? Office desktop applications, including classic Outlook, are available to personal/home Microsoft 365 subscribers. The Classic Outlook icon is not displayed because now New Outlook is now pre-installed on every new device that installs Windows 11, but the option to jump back to the classic application is retained in the application.

You can try to click [Help] - [Go to classic Outlook] in New Outlook to try to jump back to the classic version of Outlook.

If you receive an error when trying to open it. The error may say that it can't find Outlook and you may need to install a standalone version of Classic Outlook for Windows.

You can install it from the Windows store: Outlook for Windows (classic) - Download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

You can also refer to this article: You can't open classic Outlook on a new Windows PC - Microsoft Support

I hope my suggestions are helpful to you.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, I am here to help you further if needed.

Best Wishes,

Stan - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist