Microsoft has been testing a completely new Outlook mail client for Windows over the past year, but it's still missing features compared to the existing app. The latest round of improvements is closing the gap, though.

The new Outlook for Windows is based on the Outlook web app, with a cleaner interface, dark mode support, easier file attachments, automatic reminders, pinning emails, and other changes compared to the existing Windows app. The initial preview was missing many features, and Microsoft has been working to fix that before the new app rolls out to everyone. Starting today, it now works with Gmail accounts -- it only worked with Microsoft accounts before now.

Microsoft said in a blog post, "Today, we will begin to roll out support for Gmail accounts to those using the preview of the new Outlook for Windows. Soon, we will also add support for Yahoo and iCloud, as well as the ability to connect your mailbox through IMAP. It's our intention that every person be able to access all of their emails -- in one spot -- on any Windows 10 or Windows 11 device."

The new integration includes full synchronization with Google Calendar and Gmail, which was not available at all on the old Outlook without workarounds (like using a read-only calendar ICS link or a third-party plugin). That brings it in line with the Windows Mail and Windows Calendar apps from the early days of Windows 10, which are still available on Windows 11, but have been abandoned for a while and don't work well anymore. The new Outlook app is intended to replace those apps in addition to the old Outlook client, once it's complete.

There are a few other improvements now available in the new Outlook app. Advanced editing and spell checking is provided by Microsoft Editor, delaying sent emails by up to 10 seconds (so you can "undo" it), and joining Skype or Teams calls directly from Outlook. In the calendar view, multiple time zones are better supported, and the weather appears on each day.

Microsoft says it is still working on more visual and customization updates, support for more email providers, offline support, and the ability to read ICS calendar files. You can try it out by toggling "Try the new Outlook" at the top-right corner of the Outlook for Windows app.

Source: Microsoft