If you need a robust client to manage email, contacts, and your calendar on your Mac, you could do a lot worse than Outlook. Its biggest downside was its licensing requirement – you had to have some sort of Office license or Microsoft 365 subscription. On Monday, Microsoft lifted that requirement, making Outlook free for all Mac users. Just grab it from the App Store and go.
Outlook supports many email sources beyond Microsoft (which often come at a cost). Besides Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com, as well as Hotmail and MSN, Outlook for Mac also works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, iCloud, IMAP, and POP accounts.
Outlook for Mac isn’t just a port of the Windows version, although many interface elements are shared between the platforms, including a Focus inbox and swipe gestures. Microsoft has optimized Outlook specifically for macOS, with native support for Apple Silicon and Mac features like transfer to iPhone, calendar widgets, and reminders in Notification Center. Microsoft also says it “creates a preview of upcoming calendar events in the menu bar,” which will be available on the app soon.
The new free Outlook is available for download in the Mac App Store.
