Our Take
We don't really think anyone holding firm on Outlook Classic is screaming from the rooftops about how attached they are to its look and feel. Everyone in the Outlook Classic camp is (very passionately) complaining about feature shifts between the two products. This change isn't going to do anything to ease those concerns.
We know a lot of you have been grumbling about the new Outlook feeling... different. It doesn't feel like Microsoft is going to budge on the fact that Outlook Classic is definitely going away sometime but they're definitely making some strides at making the transitition a bit less bumpy.
They're rolling out an optional "classic look" setting for Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows that makes it feel a lot more like the old classic Outlook you grew up with.
This new theme supposedly changes the visual styling, layout, typography, icons, and some of the interactions, to make the transition feel less jarring if you're still holding onto muscle memory from the old version.
A few things worth knowing before it shows up in your tenant:
- It's off by default for most people. You (or your users) have to go flip it on.
- Some folks moving from classic Outlook to new Outlook might get it turned on automatically, just to soften the landing during that transition.
- It can be toggled anytime under Settings > General > Appearance.
- Rollout kicks off mid-August 2026 (Targeted Release) and should wrap general availability by late October 2026.
- No admin action required.
One thing we do think you should flag for your team: this doesn't actually migrate anyone from classic Outlook to new Outlook, and it doesn't touch mailbox data, permissions, or any of your existing admin controls around the new Outlook rollout. It's purely a cosmetic change to make the switch feel a little friendlier.
