Tested: Microsoft cloned Outlook Classic’s look into a New Outlook theme, instead of building a native Windows 11 app

Microsoft won’t admit its New Outlook is terrible, but it knows plenty of users still prefer Outlook Classic. And to address this, Microsoft has just cloned Outlook Classic’s look and turned it into a theme for New Outlook, in the hope that holdouts will finally switch. Yes, you can now make New Outlook look like the classic one, although it’s still a web app.

There’s a new optional setting in New Outlook for Windows 11 and Windows 10 that allows you to use this classic design as a “theme.” Microsoft began rolling it out in August 2026, and it finally showed up on my PC.

I went to New Outlook’s Settings > General > Appearance and turned on “Enable classic Outlook style.” Once enabled, New Outlook looked a lot closer to Outlook Classic.

As soon as you tick the box, New Outlook tells you that “some settings aren’t available in classic Outlook style,” and the entire Themes section, including Copilot themes, image backgrounds, and accent colors, gets greyed out. So you can either have the classic look or your custom theme, not both.

That doesn’t change the fact that New Outlook is still a web app running in an Edge-powered container, but it’s also why these themes are so well cooked.

Microsoft can easily customize how New Outlook looks because it’s a website at the end of the day, so a bit of CSS and JavaScript can take you from the new design to the one you loved all these years.

In our tests, Windows Latest observed changes across New Outlook’s interface to make it resemble Outlook Classic. For example, I noticed that the title bar, icons, folder list, and ribbon all changed to look more like the classic version. This is the New Outlook running Outlook Classic, and you’d be surprised how identical it looks:

Even the blue patterned title bar, which is one of the flagship design aspects of New Outlook, is gone. In light mode, it’s replaced with a plain background, again matching the classic version.

Microsoft has also added two small buttons to the top-left corner of the title bar, Send/Receive (sync) and Undo, which mimic Outlook Classic’s Quick Access Toolbar. Even the Outlook logo switches to the older multicolor icon.

You’ve also got an updated navigation bar, but there are not a lot of changes here. Microsoft has made the background darker in dark mode, and you’ve got monochrome outlines for the Mail, Calendar, People, and other app icons. We’re getting a new Calendar view as well, with a classic theme:

Right now, New Outlook has colorful icons, so by just changing the icons and making the background darker, Outlook Classic is being recreated.

The Calendar ribbon also borrows from Outlook Classic. You get “Today” and “Next 7 Days” buttons under a new “Go to” group, and an “Add” button under “Manage Calendars,” instead of New Outlook’s Filter, Split view, and Print buttons. There’s a Folder tab in Calendar too.

In a support document seen by Windows Latest, Microsoft confirmed it’s paying attention to iconography and typography to bridge the gap between the two apps.

“When enabled, the setting applies coordinated changes across the Outlook experience, including visual styling, layout, typography, icons, and selected interactions,” Microsoft explained. “This update is designed to help users who are transitioning from classic Outlook by providing a more familiar experience while maintaining the capabilities of the new Outlook.”

Microsoft has also redesigned the mail folder list, so it looks more compact, like the Outlook Classic version. You’ll no longer see icons beside individual folders such as Inbox, Drafts, and Sent Items.

The text is smaller, and the Favorites section now shows the full account name next to each Inbox instead of cutting it off. I also spotted a new “Shared with me” section under my work account, which lists the shared mailboxes I have access to, just like Outlook Classic.

The email list has also picked up one of my favorite Outlook Classic habits. Instead of grouping emails by month, New Outlook now groups them into “Yesterday,” “Wednesday,” “Sunday,” “Last Week,” “Two Weeks Ago,” and “Last Month,” and every email shows the day next to the date, like “Wed 9/30/2026.”

And the most noticeable part, the ribbon, has some familiar design changes, too. For example, if you’re in the mail view, you can see Send / Receive and Folder tabs alongside File, Home, View, and Help. The blue “New mail” button also becomes a neutral “New Email” button with a separate “New Items” dropdown, and copies Outlook Classic’s iconography.

The Send / Receive tab is pretty barebones right now. It only has two buttons, “Send/Receive All Folders” and “Work offline.” The Folder tab has New Folder, New Search Folder, Add to Favorites, and Folder pane options.

On the Home tab, you’ll also find a “Groups” section with New Group and Browse Groups, and a “Send to OneNote” button, both of which were part of Outlook Classic’s ribbon.

The View tab is different, too. It now has “Use Tighter Spacing,” “Conversation Settings,” and a “To-Do Bar” option, which is another throwback to Outlook Classic.

Last but not least, if you open the compose window, you’ll notice the same Outlook Classic-like design treatment. For example, you’ll see Message, Insert, Format Text, Draw, and Options tabs across the top, with formatting controls in the ribbon below.

I could continue listing everything I spotted, but it’s quite obvious Microsoft has done a pretty good job of bringing Outlook Classic’s look to New Outlook. Now, it just needs one thing: bring back the native Outlook app because whatever we have right now is still a RAM-hogging Edge instance!