Develop Outlook add-ins for the new Outlook on Windows (preview)

Article
04/11/2024

The new Outlook on Windows desktop client unifies the Windows and web codebases to create a more consistent Outlook experience for users and administrators. Its modern and simplified interface has added capabilities and aims to improve productivity, organization, and collaboration for users. More importantly, the new Outlook on Windows supports Outlook web add-ins, so that you can continue to extend Outlook's functionality.

Impact on VSTO and COM add-ins

The new Outlook on Windows aims to unify the extensibility experience across all Outlook platforms. To provide a more reliable and stable add-in experience, VSTO and COM add-ins aren't supported in the new Outlook on Windows. To ensure your add-in continues to work in the new Outlook on Windows, you must migrate your VSTO or COM add-in to an Outlook web add-in. Migrating to an Outlook web add-in not only enables compatibility with the new Outlook on Windows, it also makes your solution available to users on other platforms, such as Outlook on Mac, on mobile, or on the web.

To help get you started on the migration process, review the following guidance.

The differences in features and scenarios supported by VSTO and COM add-ins and Outlook web add-ins are being addressed. To determine whether your add-in scenario is fully supported in an Outlook web add-in, see Supported scenarios in Outlook web add-ins.
For guidance on how to transition your VSTO add-in to an Outlook web add-in, see VSTO add-in developer's guide and Tutorial: Share code between both a VSTO Add-in and an Office Add-in with a shared code library.
If you're new to Outlook web add-ins, try out the Outlook quick start to build your first add-in.
If you're an IT administrator and would like to learn more about how to transition to Outlook web add-ins in your organization, see Transitioning add-ins from classic Outlook to the new Outlook for Windows.

Note

VSTO and COM add-ins are still supported in classic Outlook on Windows.

Supported scenarios in Outlook web add-ins

The development of the Outlook JavaScript API used by Outlook web add-ins is focused on closing the gap on scenarios that are only supported by VSTO and COM add-in solutions. This way, users who transition to the Outlook web add-in can continue to have a seamless experience.

The following table identifies key Outlook scenarios and their support status in a web add-in. This table will be updated as additional scenarios are supported. Periodically check this section as you plan to migrate your VSTO or COM add-in.

Tip

As we continue to update the table of supported scenarios, if you want to view the recent changes made, select Edit This Document (pencil icon) from the top right corner of the article, then select History.

To learn more about Outlook add-in features that are in preview, see Outlook add-in API preview requirement set.

Scenario	Description	Support status in Outlook web add-ins	Related features and samples
Spam email reporting and education	Enable users to report unsolicited and potentially unsafe messages and learn how to identify these messages.	Supported. Improvements are in development to further enhance the user experience.	Implement an integrated spam-reporting add-in (preview) ReportPhishingCommandSurface extension point Office.context.mailbox.item.getAsFileAsync
Online meetings	Enable users to create and join online meetings.	Supported.	Create an Outlook add-in for an online-meeting provider Enable shared folders and shared mailbox scenarios in an Outlook add-in Office.context.mailbox.item.getSharedPropertiesAsync Office.SharedProperties
Meeting enhancements	Provide additional services for users when they schedule meetings, such as location selection, catering services, and room lighting and temperature adjustments.	Supported.	Configure your Outlook add-in for event-based activation Handle OnMessageSend and OnAppointmentSend events in your Outlook add-in with Smart Alerts Office.context.mailbox.item.enhancedLocation
Online signatures	Automatically add themed signatures to messages and appointments.	Supported.	Automatically update your signature when switching between Exchange accounts Implement event-based activation in Outlook mobile add-ins Use Outlook event-based activation to set the signature Office.context.mailbox.item.loadCustomPropertiesAsync Office.context.mailbox.item.body.setSignatureAsync
Customer relationship management (CRM) and tracking services	Enable users to send and retrieve information from their CRM system to track communications with existing and potential customers.	Supported.	Activate your Outlook add-in without the Reading Pane enabled or a message selected Log appointment notes to an external application in Outlook mobile add-ins Office.context.mailbox.item.loadCustomPropertiesAsync
Content reuse	Enable users to transfer and retrieve text and other content types from partner systems.	Supported.	Prepend or append content to a message or appointment body on send Office.context.mailbox.item.body.appendOnSendAsync Office.context.mailbox.item.body.prependAsync Office.context.mailbox.item.body.prependOnSendAsync
Mail item transformation	Enable users to transform mail items into other formats.	Supported.	getAsFileAsync method
Project management	Enable users to create and track project work items from partner systems.	Supported.	Activate your Outlook add-in on multiple messages Activate your Outlook add-in without the Reading Pane enabled or a message selected Verify the color categories applied to a new message or appointment
Attachment management	Enable users to import or export attachments from partner locations.	Supported.	Activate your Outlook add-in on multiple messages Activate your Outlook add-in without the Reading Pane enabled or a message selected Configure your Outlook add-in for event-based activation
Message encryption	Enable users to encrypt and decrypt messages.	Partially supported. Essential features are yet to be addressed to create a similar experience to VSTO or COM add-ins.	Office.context.mailbox.item.display (preview) Office.context.mailbox.item.display.body.setAsync (preview) Office.context.mailbox.item.display.subject.setAsync (preview)
Data loss prevention	Prevent users from forwarding mail items that contain highly sensitive information.	Partially supported. Essential features are yet to be addressed to create a similar experience to VSTO or COM add-ins.	Automatically check for an attachment before a message is sent Handle OnMessageSend and OnAppointmentSend events in your Outlook add-in with Smart Alerts Manage the sensitivity label of your message or appointment in compose mode Verify the sensitivity label of a message Office.SensitivityLabel Office.SensitivitiyLabelsCatalog Office.SensitivityLabelDetails Office.context.mailbox.item.inReplyTo Office.context.mailbox.item.getConversationIndexAsync Office.context.mailbox.item.getItemClassAsync
Mail item classification	Enable users to identify and classify messages that contain sensitive information.	Partially supported. Essential features are yet to be addressed to create a similar experience to VSTO or COM add-ins.	Automatically check for an attachment before a message is sent Handle OnMessageSend and OnAppointmentSend events in your Outlook add-in with Smart Alerts Manage the sensitivity label of your message or appointment in compose mode Manage the sensitivity level of an appointment (preview) Office.Sensitivity Office.SensitivityLabel Office.SensitivitiyLabelsCatalog Office.SensitivityLabelDetails
Data sync service	Enable bidirectional synchronization of mail items with partner systems.	Partially supported. Essential features are yet to be addressed to create a similar experience to VSTO or COM add-ins.	Use Microsoft Graph to manage personal contacts in Outlook
Proofing mail items	Provide users with real-time proofreading assistance as they compose messages.	Not currently supported.	Not available.

There are various possibilities for extending the Outlook functionality through add-ins. If your VSTO or COM add-in solution doesn't quite fit any of the scenarios in the table, complete the survey to share your scenario.

Support for classic Outlook on Windows

The classic Outlook on Windows desktop client will continue to support the development of new and existing Outlook web add-ins. Additionally, it will continue to receive releases of the latest Outlook add-in features.

Test your add-in in the new Outlook on Windows

Test your Outlook web add-in in the new Outlook on Windows today! To switch to the new Outlook on Windows that's in preview, you must meet the following requirements.

Have a Microsoft 365 work or school account connected to Exchange Online. The new client doesn't currently support on-premises, hybrid, or sovereign Exchange accounts.

Note

While you can add non-Microsoft mail accounts, such as Gmail, to the new Outlook on Windows, you can only use Outlook add-ins with a Microsoft account.
Have a minimum OS installation of Windows 10 Version 1809 (Build 17763).
Be a member of the Microsoft 365 Insider program.

To help you sign up and install the Outlook desktop client, see Getting started with the new Outlook for Windows.

For guidance on how to sideload your add-in, see Sideload Outlook add-ins for testing.

Tip

If you're moving from the classic Outlook client on Windows to the new Outlook client, note that the location of add-ins is different. While add-ins are accessed from the ribbon or app bar in the classic Outlook client, access to add-ins in the new Outlook client depends on whether you're reading or composing a mail item. To learn more, see Use add-ins in Outlook.

Debug your add-in

To debug an add-in installed in the new Outlook on Windows desktop client, first sideload the add-in to Outlook on the web. Then, in a command prompt, run the following command to open the new Outlook on Windows client and an instance of the Microsoft Edge DevTools.

olk.exe --devtools

Tip

After running the command, the DevTools window stays open, so that you can debug an add-in's task pane as you open and close it. If you close the DevTools window, you must close your Outlook client first before running olk.exe --devtools again.

Development experience feedback

As you test your Outlook web add-in in the new Outlook on Windows, share feedback on your experience with the developer community through GitHub.