Microsoft has showcased a new Outlook app for Mac. The updated email client brings a new UI design, more features, and better performance.

Starting with the design, the new Outlook app for Mac ditches the brand’s Ribbon design language and uses Microsoft’s new, Fluent design language. The design team has also taken clues from macOS Big Sur to match the design of Outlook with that of the new OS. The new Outlook app uses more white space which offers a lighter look, new Fluent icons in the sidebar, and rounded window edges. There is also a Dark Mode to reduce strain on your eyes while looking at the app in dark environments. Microsoft has updated the calendar section in Outlook with a cleaner look as well, which, according to the brand, should increase your productivity.

Moving on to new features, the calendar section in Outlook now has a new My Day mini calendar that is now integrated into the main window for you to quickly check your upcoming events. You can adjust the size of My Day mini calendar and sidebar pane to better suit your needs. The event creation section has also been updated with a simplified look and a new drag and drop feature for ease of use. The app gets a new People view which shows all your contacts in one place with separate sections for contacts and co-workers for increased convenience. The new Outlook for Mac supports third-party add-ons and unified mailboxes as well.

As for performance improvements, Microsoft says that the new Outlook for Mac has faster and more reliable performance, reduced account syncing times, reduced email load times, and an improved search which is said to show more relevant search results.

The new Outlook for Mac is scheduled to launch in mid-October. Once you update the Outlook app for Mac, it will show you a toggle on the top-right corner of the screen to switch to “New Outlook.” Enabling this toggle will offer you the new UI design. Interestingly, Microsoft has retained the older UI design as well. You can disable the “New Outlook” toggle to go back to the old UI design.

Our Take

Microsoft has been working hard on improving its apps not only for Windows but also for Android, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. It recently updated Edge for Mac with some amazing features and everyone has been loving it so far. If the brand continues to do the same in the future, Microsoft’s app suite could soon be adopted by many consumers and companies.