Outlook Calendar is getting a major facelift and new features: What you need to know

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Microsoft Outlook Calendar getting a feature-rich upgrade and productivity tools

Microsoft Outlook Calendar
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has announced a major update to Microsoft Outlook with several new Outlook Calendar features for Windows 10 and the mobile app.  The new-look form factor is a style change to an Outlook Calendar Board.  

The new update is to a more user-friendly format that removes the rigid grid view and exchanging it for a more customizable user experience. You'll be able to organize your workday and improve your workflow with task lists, file attachments, links, reminders directly through the Calendar board without having to use any external applications. It streamlines the process and frees up users instead of bogged them down with multiple moving parts.

The more free-form style of the calendar board frees the user up to create a more customized and personal workspace within the calendar. Microsoft stated, "on average, people use six tools to track all the things they need to get done," so this new calendar tool should better optimize the Outlook workspace to reduce the number of external programs required for productivity." 

Current Outlook web users can try this for themselves right now by expanding your calendar and selecting "Board" in the views dropdown menu located at the top-right of the page. It hasn't been announced yet when the new feature will show up on the mobile app. 

The other new feature that will be arriving soon is intelligent scheduling assistance. Outlook will suggest optimal time slots for meetings that check availability with other invited meeting attendees to ensure that everyone is free to attend. If there are scheduling conflicts, Outlook will make suggestions to rectify the conflict by moving other meetings around or suggesting a different meeting time.

There isn't an actual date for when all the new features will go live, but you can read Microsoft's full announcement here. The full rollout for both the desktop and mobile apps should happen over the next few months. 

Mark Anthony Ramirez
Mark Anthony Ramirez

Mark has spent 20 years headlining comedy shows around the country and made appearances on ABC, MTV, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, Food Network, and Sirius XM Radio. He has written about every topic imaginable, from dating, family, politics, social issues, and tech. He wrote his first tech articles for the now-defunct Dads On Tech 10 years ago, and his passion for combining humor and tech has grown under the tutelage of the Laptop Mag team. His penchant for tearing things down and rebuilding them did not make Mark popular at home, however, when he got his hands on the legendary Commodore 64, his passion for all things tech deepened. These days, when he is not filming, editing footage, tinkering with cameras and laptops, or on stage, he can be found at his desk snacking, writing about everything tech, new jokes, or scripts he dreams of filming.