Outlook for Mac is now free for all as Microsoft plans menu bar ‘peek’ feature

If you need a robust client for managing email, contacts, and your calendar on your Mac, you could do a lot worse than Outlook. Its biggest downside used to be 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’s (which often come at a cost). Along with 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 merely a port of the Windows version, though many interface elements are shared across platforms, including a Focus Inbox and swipe gestures. Microsoft has optimized Outlook specifically for macOS, with native support for Apple Silicon and Mac-specific features such as Handoff to iPhone, Calendar widgets, and reminders in Notification Center. Microsoft also says it is “creating a peek of upcoming calendar events in the menu bar,” which will be coming soon to the app.

The newly free Outlook is available to download in the Mac App Store.

Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor