The Mail and Calendar apps for Outlook stop

Starting next year, Microsoft will replace its operating system’s default mail and calendar apps with the new Outlook app for Windows.

Mail and Calendar were the default apps when Microsoft released Windows 10 in 2015 and have been essential apps for many users ever since. When Microsoft released Windows 11 in late 2021, the Mail and Calendar apps themselves were part of the default suite of apps.

Work on a new Outlook app for Windows started several years ago. Microsoft began testing the new Outlook app for Windows in May 2022, when it released it to Microsoft 365 Insiders.

Then, in April 2023, Microsoft added an option to the then default Outlook app for Windows that allowed users to try out the new Outlook app. Microsoft didn’t (oddly) push users to use the new Outlook app.

Windows users can download the Outlook for Windows app from the Microsoft Store.

A new message in the Microsoft 365 Message Center informs Microsoft 365 admins of Microsoft’s plans to use the new Outlook app for Windows.

According to the letter, Microsoft plans to discontinue the Windows Mail and Calendar apps. From September 2024, both apps will no longer be available for download or use. In the meantime, users of the Mail and Calendar apps will notice messages informing them of upcoming changes to their apps.

Microsoft says the new Outlook app for Windows will be available to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscribers, as well as users with personal email accounts. The latter will be able to use the new Outlook app without a subscription to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

The discontinuation of the Mail and Calendar apps is a big change, and their users should prepare for the inevitable.