New Outlook with Business Basics???

Question

I saw a post saying that the New Outlook was generally available now to all commercial customers as of August and is an opt-in choice. I need a definitive answer as to whether or not it works with Business Basics as our users with Business Basics get an error when trying to switch when using desktop outllook ("This account cannot be added. The license provided by your work or school does not enable access to Outlook for Windows. Please access your email through Outlook on the web instead."). I am being told if switched to the Business Standard license for double the price it will work, HOWEVER it works on the Exchange Plan 1 which is much less than Business Basics. Please make this make sense. We have a user who was using New Outlook since February, got a new computer and now cannot switch over. So question is simply - Does it work or not with BB and if it does not when will it REALLY be available to everyone? Thanks.

***Moved From Microsoft 365 and Office / Subscription, account, billing / For business / Other***

Answer 1

Hi Cece, as followup/update, when the three users with BB try the toggle OR directly download from the Microsoft Store, they get the same error either way shown below. This is the response from our administrator: "Looking into this it seems Microsoft is forcing users of the "new" outlook to have a Microsoft Business apps subscription on newer installs and might also be clamping down on those that do not have this license that did the "free trial" that was the button in old outlook. So far the consensus seems like it is an unpopular decision to put a paywall on this version but there is no specific fix on how to allow the PC to use this software. Some people mess with licensing temporarily to allow the software to open the email client once and then change it back to a regular email license but I do not know if that is worth it as it might be a constant issue. In short, that program needs an active license to be used, so I would suggest using the included Outlook 2019 unless you are willing to license the MS Office software via a Business Standard account for anyone looking to upgrade to the new Outlook."

One of these 3 users has been on New since February and is struggling going back as he liked many of the features. So am I understanding correctly that should a user with a license that works sign in first with that email account and get the new version to work, we could then add the Business Basics account, remove the original account and all should continue to hold and work?

Answer 2

Hi, JMJ_803

Thanks for your further clarification!

To your issue whether it works with Business Basics in New Outlook for Windows, just like Libeamlak Zelalem MSFT said, when you add an account to a new Outlook for Windows, we will read the license for that account. If you have added a Business Standard Edition account (or any account that includes a desktop application license) to Outlook, that license will apply and you can add any secondary email account regardless of the license status (e.g., Business Basic Edition). This also applies to personal accounts with Microsoft 365 Personal or Home editions, as these plans include license access to Microsoft 365 desktop applications. After adding one of these accounts to Outlook, you can add a Business Basic, E1, or similar account as a secondary account. Of course, this depends on your user's corporate account domain name and protocol configuration.

For your three users with a Business Basics account cannot toggle over to the New Outlook. Most likely, it is controlled by the corporate server they are on, resulting in the individual not being authorized to configure the account in New Outlook for Windows. Therefore, please ask them to ask the administrator of the server where the account is hosted if they have the relevant settings.

Of course, if the toggle over does not work, why not use New Outlook for Windows directly, Hà?

You can have users download New Outlook for Windows directly from the Microsoft Store, configure their business account, and see if the domain in question is supported.

To be honest, I do not recommend New Outlook to users who have a paid version of Classic Outlook. The reasons are as the following aspects:

• First of all, New Outlook is not an improved version of Classic Outlook, it is a new product from Microsoft.
• Second, as a free product, New Outlook is not as good as the paid version of Classic Outlook.
• Third, there has been some feedback that some specific mailboxes, such as the Alice mailbox, cannot be configured in New Outlook, but work fine in Classic Outlook.

Thank you for your understand and cooperation, please feel free to contact me if you need further help!

Best Regards,

Cece | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 3

Hello, no this has nothing to do with secondary accounts. Right now for example we have three users with a Business Basics account and none of them can toggle over to the New Outlook. All users have have Office Home and Business installed.

Answer 4

Dear JMJ_803,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.

I understand your query regarding the compatibility of the New Outlook with Business Basics. Typically, when you add your first account to the new Outlook for Windows, this account will be set as your primary account. This account is currently used for storing app-wide settings like theme and layout, diagnostic data, connected experiences, and policies configured by an administrator. With this update, the primary account will now also be used for determining the license that applies when adding additional secondary accounts.

For example, if you have a Business Standard account (which includes a license for desktop apps) added as your primary account, that license will apply, and you can now add any secondary email accounts regardless of licensing status (e.g. Business Basic). Therefore, once one of these (a license which include desktop apps) accounts is set as the primary account, then, you can add Business Basic, E1 or similar accounts as secondary accounts. So that, if any account logged into the app has a license to use the desktop applications, you can add any other types of accounts to the app including Business Basic. You can refer to How licensing works for work and school accounts in the new Outlook for Windows. This means that while Business Basic accounts are not supported as primary accounts in the New Outlook, they can be added as secondary accounts if a primary account with a suitable license is already in place.

However, in order to better understand your query and provide possible information, May I please double confirm if you are getting the above error when you add your Business Basic account as a secondary account in your new Outlook?

I look forward to your response. Kindly note that the above requested information is required for further analysis and troubleshooting of your situation. Your patience and cooperation are much appreciated.

Thanks for your precious time. Have a nice day! 

Sincerely,

Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator