Microsoft will soon be pushing the new Outlook for Windows to all Windows 10 users whether they like it or not. They are doing it in a peculiar and self-serving way.
Outlook (new) for Windows is the totally revamped replacement for Outlook (classic) sold with MS Office and the Windows Mail/Calendar apps.
The install of Outlook (new) will happen in two stages using the monthly security releases.
- January 28. 2025 starts the optional Windows 10 security update.
- February 11, 2025 starts the main monthly security update release for Windows 10
Microsoft is using the ‘security updates’ to install a new app. Those updates are supposed to be for security bug fixes, not adding other non-security software. There’s a separate process and download for non-security updates which is the right place for this move.
Adding Outlook (new) to a security update makes it more difficult to avoid. Perhaps that’s deliberate and part of Microsoft shameless push of Outlook (new) onto as many people as possible.
This sly approach will let Microsoft boast about how many millions of people have “Outlook (new)”, never mind that many had the software forced on them.
Doing this for Windows 10 is peculiar since Win10 goes out of support on October 14, 2025 about 8 months from today . The same date that Office 2016 and Office 2021 stop support.
Microsoft is pushing beta software to customers without giving them a choice. While Outlook (new) has been released to the public, that’s premature with many essential features still missing or gradually being added.
Keep in mind
A few important points about this addition to Windows 10.
- OPTIONAL – while the app might be on a computer, there’s no requirement to use it. If you have other ways to access your email etc, just ignore the pushed Outlook.
- Classic Outlook doesn’t change – if so-called Outlook (classic) is on the computer, nothing is changed. Continue to use it and either ignore the new app or use it ‘side-by-side’.
Stop the install of Outlook (new)
You can’t! Microsoft says there’s no way to block the installation of new Outlook.
Is that Microsoft arrogance, insisting that their preferred app is installed? Or laziness by deploying in a simple way (for Microsoft) without complications like giving paying customers a choice?
All admins can do is run a PowerShell command to remove Outlook (new) after installation then add a registry entry to prevent it being reinstalled. See this Microsoft page for details.
