Don't touch that Button! Outlook's Uncalled for Changes

[davidlv]

Outlook updated itself and Presented a "New Outlook" button on top of the main screen.
I took a look there and immediately closed that dialog box when it said the "New Outlook" would not contain any of the "on My Mac" folders nor work with my POP account. There was a note saying a new POP account could be added later without any of the On My Mac mail.
The next time I opened Outlook it had changed to the new version and 30 years of mail had disappeared!
Thanks so much Microsoft.
I immediately booted up the iMac from a Big Sur USB and nuked the 128GB SSD, reinstalled Big Sur 11.6.4 and migrated my data back from a CCC backup. I would like to send the bill for that 2-3 hour loss of time to MS!
After the dust settled, I am back in business, with my Office 2019 and Outlook working as they should.
Just a warning; Don't touch that Button!

Deleting Attachments from Outlook mails can be quite pedantic, doing it one by one.
Does anyone know where Outlook stores those attachments and does deleting them one by one via the /Message/Attachments/Delete All method really save any disk space? Is there a better method possible?

 

[MacGizmo]

Outlook for Mac app is pure, unadulterated garbage. The "new" Outlook stripped out so many features that it's virtually useless in a corporate environment. The features they didn't strip out don't work very well.

After nearly two years of MS offering it, they still don't have a useable product for so many people that I can't see why they bother with it. I know they're going to be updating ALL versions of Outlook on all platforms, but if the "new" Outlook on Mac is any indication, it's not going to be very good.

 

[davidlv]

Outlook for Mac app is pure, unadulterated garbage. The "new" Outlook stripped out so many features that it's virtually useless in a corporate environment. The features they didn't strip out don't work very well.

After nearly two years of MS offering it, they still don't have a useable product for so many people that I can't see why they bother with it. I know they're going to be updating ALL versions of Outlook on all platforms, but if the "new" Outlook on Mac is any indication, it's not going to be very good.

I quite agree. MS should have, at the least, a valid mail application in the Suite. It is not like they lack the resources required, that is, funds, and capable programers. It must be a pure management issue. The decisions coming down the line, for example this near-to-forced switch to an IMAP system just reeks like a pile of you know what.
If Nothing else, they could buy out the source code of Powermail (CTM Development in Switzerland) or some other capable email program, update it and release it under their own name. The recent changes show just how bad their judgement is.

 

[DJLC]

All I can say is I've had a much better experience with the Outlook web client than the desktop client in both "old mode" and "new mode."

But both are steaming garbage. I miss my Gmail from my old job. There are zero email clients for macOS I'd characterize as "good." ?

Although strangely, Outlook on iOS is great. I've been using it since before Microsoft bought the app and made it the new Outlook for iOS.

 

[mj_]

The next time I opened Outlook it had changed to the new version and 30 years of mail had disappeared!
Thanks so much Microsoft.
I immediately booted up the iMac from a Big Sur USB and nuked the 128GB SSD, reinstalled Big Sur 11.6.4 and migrated my data back from a CCC backup.

That was completely pointless. Nothing had disappeared and nothing got deleted. It was simply no longer displayed by Outlook because the "New Outlook" is a steaming hot piece of garbage. All you had to do was to simply switch back to the Classic Outlook and everything would have been back to the way it used to be.

 

[davidlv]

That was completely pointless. Nothing had disappeared and nothing got deleted. It was simply no longer displayed by Outlook because the "New Outlook" is a steaming hot piece of garbage. All you had to do was to simply switch back to the Classic Outlook and everything would have been back to the way it used to be.

I did try switching back to the "classic" mode, no go, the app refused to switch back.
On your machine it may be possible but it wasn't on mine, and I am not about to try it again!

 

[kitKAC]

With the most recent version of Outlook, switching back is done via the Help menu and "Revert to Legacy Outlook" option. I'm not seen it refuse to do that.

Attachments should be stored here: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/Files/S0/1/Attachments

If you want to remove them all at once.

 

[davidlv]

With the most recent version of Outlook, switching back is done via the Help menu and "Revert to Legacy Outlook" option. I'm not seen it refuse to do that.

Attachments should be stored here: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/Files/S0/1/Attachments

If you want to remove them all at once.

Thanks for the info! I didn't think to look in the "Help Menu."
I will look in that location for the attachments – The structure in my Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/ folder is slightly different, but I found the attachments easily thanks to your hint. They do take up a lot of disk space after accumulating for years, and those are after all, duplicates.
Thanks for that!

 

[mj_]

I did try switching back to the "classic" mode, no go, the app refused to switch back.
On your machine it may be possible but it wasn't on mine, and I am not about to try it again!

I'm glad we've been able to establish that your Outlook application did not "refuse to switch back" but that instead you were simply unaware of where Microsoft decided to hide that option to make the entire experience as painful as possible for us

It used to be a simple toggle switch but because Microsoft decided to actively push the new UI down our throats whether we want it or not they've also dediced to hide the option to revert back. I remember reading somewhere recently that they have even started to automatically enable the new interface for some users without asking for permission.