Editor’s note 12/12/2017:

Update on rollout for commercial Office 365 customers:



Here is an updated list of supported Outlook clients.

Platform Required build iOS Already available. Android Already available. Mac1 15.26+ Web N/A, available to all. Windows 10 Mobile 16.0.8600+ Outlook 2016 for Windows1, 2 16.0.7967.2xxx+ / Version 1703 of Monthly Channel Coming in July 2018 for Semi-Annual release. Coming in March 2018 for Semi-Annual Targeted.

Requires the Office 365 subscription versions of the clients. Focused Inbox will not be delivered to Outlook for Mac 2011, or the perpetual versions of Outlook 2013 for Windows and Outlook 2016 for Windows. Prior to build 16.0.8730 Version 1711, requires Modern Authentication to be enabled for Exchange Online.

Original post:

We are being inundated with more information, more communication and more email vying for our attention. It is more critical than ever to have tools that help us cut through the noise and focus on what matters most. Today, Outlook is expanding the availability of two new experiences to do just that—Focused Inbox and @mentions.

These new experiences add to several recently released features, all aimed at helping you take control of your mailbox. In December, Outlook began automatically adding events from your email to your calendar. And last month we added simplified summary cards in your inbox and calendar for travel reservations and package deliveries. Combined, these features help deliver on Outlook’s core mission: Keeping you connected, focused and on top of what matters.

Focused Inbox—focus on the emails that matter most

For many, the inbox is the command center for their day. It’s the way to keep track of what is going on and what needs to get done. Outlook’s Focused Inbox makes this process easier by helping you focus on the emails that matter most to you. It separates your inbox into two tabs—Focused and Other. Emails you need to act on right away are in the Focused tab, while the rest wait for you in Other. You’ll be informed about email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs at any time to take a quick look.

You’re in control

Focused Inbox is not meant to take control of your mail, but rather work with you to prioritize what is actionable for you. What lands in your Focused Inbox is determined by an understanding of the people you interact with often, and the content of the email itself (e.g., newsletters, machine generated mail, etc.). If you need to fine tune your Focused Inbox, just use the “Move to Focused” or “Move to Other” options.

What this means for Clutter

Focused Inbox is a refinement and improvement of a previous feature called Clutter. Clutter’s purpose was also to help you focus on the most important items in your inbox, but it did so by moving “Other” email to a separate folder. Focused Inbox makes it easier for you to stay on top of incoming email without having to visit another folder.

As Focused Inbox rolls out, we’ll stop moving messages to the Clutter folder. See the “Frequently asked questions” below for more details on how this will work.

Rollout of Focused Inbox

Focused Inbox was first released on Outlook for iOS and Android and is being used daily by tens of millions of users. Now, it is coming to all versions of Outlook to give you one consistent view of the important items in your inbox. It begins rolling out this week for users of the new Outlook.com and will soon start rolling out for Office 365 customers in our First Release program in early September. Office 365 admins will have mailbox and tenant level control of the feature to stage the rollout in a manner that works best for their organization.

Let us know what you think!

If you’re an Office 365 Home or Personal customer, you can try these new features today by signing up for the Office Insider program. If you have any feedback on these features or new ideas, please share them with us at Outlook.UserVoice.com. Stay tuned for more to come!

—The Outlook team

Frequently asked questions

Q. What will the experience be for users of Clutter moving to Focused Inbox?

A. Active Clutter users will receive Focused Inbox, but it will be off by default and able to be turned on in Settings. If the user chooses to enable Focused Inbox, they will no longer receive less actionable email in the Clutter folder. Instead, email will be split between the Focused and Other tabs in their inbox. The same machine-learned algorithm that moved items to the Clutter folder now powers Focused Inbox, meaning that any emails that were set to move to Clutter will now be moved to Other.

Read this help article for more details on the prompts users will see and how to turn Focused Inbox on and off.

Q. Can I keep using Clutter instead of Focused Inbox?

A. You can keep using the existing Clutter experience through the transition. However, after the transition period, Clutter will be completely replaced by Focused Inbox.

Q. If I turned off Clutter, will I still be able to try Focused Inbox?

A. Yes, you’ll receive a prompt to try Focused Inbox when your mailbox is ready.

Q. What controls will I have available as an IT admin for controlling this rollout in my organization?

A. Office 365 admins can manage the rollout of Focused Inbox for their users with tenant and mailbox level controls using PowerShell. To learn more, see “Configure Focused Inbox for everyone in your organization.”

Q. I’m using Focused Inbox already on Outlook for iOS or Android; does anything change for me?

A. Nothing will change in Outlook for iOS and Android. As our other Outlook apps are updated to include Focused Inbox, you will now see the same set of items in both the Focused Inbox and Other across all your Outlook clients.

Q. Is it possible to turn off Focused Inbox?

A. You can turn Focused Inbox off or on at any time from any version of Outlook. However, we hear from our Outlook for iOS and Android users that they love Focused Inbox, and we hope you give it a try as it rolls out to all of our other Outlook clients.

Q. What email accounts will @mentions work for?

A. The sender features of @mentions will be available to all—regardless of the type of mailbox or email service you are using in Outlook. The recipient features of @mentions (message list improvements, blue highlighting in reading pane) are only available for recipients using Outlook with Office 365 or the new Outlook.com accounts. We will add support for the recipient features of @mentions in Outlook when connected to other emails account (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo) later this year.