Microsoft Forced New Outlook into Windows 10

Microsoft has started automatically installing the new Outlook on all computers running Windows 10 versions 21H2 and 22H2. It is impossible to refuse the installation of the new mail client. The KB5051974 update, released on February 11 as part of the traditional Patch Tuesday, is mandatory.

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The new Outlook app installs as a standalone app and does not replace the existing classic version or change any user settings, PCWorld reports. Both versions of Outlook can run side-by-side, and the new version can be found in the Apps section of the Start menu.

Preliminary information about the mandatory installation was distributed through the Microsoft 365 admin center, and for those who did not want to wait, the company provided the opportunity to install the new Outlook on January 28 via an optional update. But now the download has become virtually inevitable.

Microsoft also said that there is no way to prevent the updated Outlook from being installed: “There is currently no way to block the new Outlook from being installed, and if you don’t want it on your devices, you can uninstall it after the update.”

So, while users can’t block the installation of the new Outlook app, they can at least manually uninstall it after installation if they prefer to use the desktop version or another email client.