Windows: Mail app will no longer work from December 31, 2024

[German]Brief information for users of Windows 10 (and possibly Windows 11) who are still using the "Mail and Calendar" app as their email client. Microsoft has started the transition to the new Outlook app. Anyone holding on to the old Mail app will be left out in the cold from December 31, 2024, as the app will no longer work. You will no longer be able to send and receive emails. Time to switch to another client such as Thunderbird.

Replacement for Windows Mail and calendar app

It's not new that Microsoft plans to say goodbye to the Mail and Calendar app shipped in Windows 10 and older Windows 11 versions. Microsoft's approach is to replace the "Windows Mail and Calendar app" included in Windows with the new Outlook for Windows.

The new Outlook app comes from the Store and is intended to replace the classic Outlook in the long term. In new versions of Windows 11 (e.g. 24H2), the Mail and Calendar app is no longer included.

For example, I reported on this topic in 2023 within the blog post Microsoft 365: First Windows Mail and Calendar users will be migrated to the new Outlook at the end of August 2023 and in March 2024 in the German article Windows Mail und Kalender-App: Ablösewelle für neue Outlook-App im März 2024.

Since then, users have been reporting at regular intervals that the Mail and Calendar app in Windows 10 and Windows 11 has been forcibly replaced by the new Outlook app via an update.

Forced switch to the new Outlook

In my blog post Trouble with the new Outlook app: forced update and sluggish behavior? I reported in mid-October 2024 that Microsoft was forcing users to replace the mail app from Windows 10/11 with the new Outlook app via an update.

I also outlined the pitfalls of the new Outlook app in several blog post. In the blog posts Warning: Microsoft Outlook app breaks (company) security and Security risk Microsoft Outlook App: Transfers credentials and mails to the cloud, I pointed out that users are loosing control about their data.

And in the article New Outlook app: "Monitoring and surveillance tool for targeted advertising", I revealed why Microsoft is determined to bring the app to users: it is their advertising catapult and tracking tool with which Microsoft wants to obtain user data, which it will then share with 772 third-party providers according to its terms and conditions. That's a no go in my view.

The last item to mention is the experience with the new Outlook app in terms of licensing, which I addressed both in the article New Outlook for Windows 11: Adding of business accounts denied due to missing licensing and in the German blog post Neuer Outlook-Client verlangt mindestens Lizenz mit Microsoft 365 Standard.

Mail and calendar app is EOL on December 31, 2024

In the above context, it is understandable that users want to hold on to the Mail and Calendar app that comes with Windows 10 for as long as possible (I have a reader on Facebook who uninstalled the new Outlook app with all his might and then went back to the Mail and Calendar app.

But that's a futile effort – because as of December 31, 2024, the Mail and Calendar app will be discontinued. Microsoft has revised its support article Outlook for Windows: The Future of Mail, Calendar, and People on Windows 11 (the colleagues here have noticed this).

While Microsoft has only ever said that the Mail and Calendar app would stop working at some point, Redmond is now giving a specific date. Support for Windows Mail, Calendar and Contacts will end on December 31, 2024. After December 31, 2024, users will no longer be able to send and receive emails with Windows Mail and Calendar.

All local emails, calendar events and contacts stored in Mail, Calendar and Contacts can still be exported (the steps are explained in the article Export emails and contacts from Windows Mail or People and import to new Outlook).

Users have the option of returning to the Windows app Windows Mail and Calendar via a switch under Settings > General > About Outlook in the new Outlook app to initiate this export.

This also explains why Microsoft is currently in the process of switching users from Windows Mail and Calendar to the new Outlook app for Windows. My tip would be to ditch the new Outlook app and rely on an alternative email client. I've been using Thunderbird – open source and free – since 2009.

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