Microsoft brought back this feature to the new version of Outlook

By Judy Sanhz Published November 14, 2024

A tablet and a phone showing the calendar feature in the Outlook app. — Microsoft

Microsoft soft-launched a redesigned version of its Outlook app this year, and it hasn’t received the best reception. Not only will the new version of Outlook replace the old one, but it’ll also replace the default Windows Mail & Calendar app.

In attempts to slightly rectify the situation, however, Microsoft has posted a Windows 11 update that will include a change made to the new version of Outlook. While many of the larger design ideas haven’t been undone, Microsoft has added back a missing feature that was available in Outlook classic.

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The feature, Narrator, will now once again auto-read the contents of an email. The change likely won’t win over any haters who are upset about the new version of Outlook, but it at least shows that Microsoft is paying attention to some of the missing features in the new version of Outlook.

In addition to bringing Narrator back to Outlook, Microsoft has also announced a new shortcut for Narrator. The keyboard shortcut Narrator key + control + x will copy the last thing Narrator spoke right into your clipboard.

The Windows 11 update also includes fixes to File Explorer. Microsoft says it “fixed an issue which was causing the items in the navigation pane to become very spread out (with unexpected padding between each item) for some people” and that it “fixed an underlying issue, which was causing RAW images taken in portrait mode to unexpectedly display in landscape mode thumbnails.”

These updates are part of the Windows 11 Build 27749 that came this week to Insiders in the Canary Channel.

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Judy Sanhz is a Digital Trends computing writer covering all computing news. Loves all operating systems and devices.

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