Microsoft is always striving to improve and streamline our product experiences—offering a new way to use the classic Microsoft Outlook app on Windows and the Microsoft Edge web browser.
If you have a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription, browser links from the Outlook app will open in Microsoft Edge by default, right alongside the email they’re from in the Microsoft Edge sidebar pane. This allows you to easily access, read, and respond to the message using your matching authenticated profile. No more disruptive switching—just your email and the web content you need to reference, in a single, side-by-side view. And we're always optimizing the sidebar in Microsoft Edge to give you useful content and tools while you're browsing so you don't have to toggle back and forth between windows or even other tabs—whether you’re shopping online or working in a Microsoft 365 web app.
In the future, links from your Microsoft Teams messages will also open in Microsoft Edge by default to help you stay engaged in conversations as you browse the web.
Learn more about multitasking smarter with Microsoft 365 and Edge.
Ultimately though, if this experience isn't right for you, you can turn off this feature the first time it launches in Microsoft Edge, and then in Outlook settings at any time after that.
Note: If you’re an IT administrator looking to manage this feature for your organization, see View emails and web links side-by-side with Outlook and Microsoft Edge.
FAQ
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To improve your experience between email and browsing—letting you see them both at the same time, in the same place. No more switching back and forth between apps.
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To provide a unique experience—at Microsoft, we strive to create the best customer experience across our products.
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To reduce task switching and improve workflow and focus—by opening browser links in Microsoft Edge, the original message in Outlook can be viewed alongside web content to easily access, read, and respond to the message, using the matching authenticated profile.
No, this only impacts links opened from Microsoft Outlook on Windows and you have the option to turn off this feature in Outlook settings.
You can choose your preferred browser for opening links from Outlook the first time it launches in Microsoft Edge. After that you can change this setting in Outlook at any time—select File > Options > Advanced > Link handling and choose your preferred browser from the dropdown menu.
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In Outlook, go to File.
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Select Options.
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Select Advanced > Link handling and choose your preferred browser from the dropdown menu.
No, this change will only be applied to Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
Currently, the ability to view your email messages in the Microsoft Edge sidebar pane in a side-by-side view with web content is available for work and school accounts as well as Microsoft accounts, such as Outlook, Hotmail, Live and MSN. We’re working on providing this feature for third-party accounts in Outlook, starting with Gmail, to create a consistent experience across email providers.
To stop email from auto-opening, go to the Microsoft Edge Sidebar settings page in one of the following ways:
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Type edge://settings/sidebar into the address bar.
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Select the Settings icon on the bottom of the sidebar.
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In Microsoft Edge, select Settings and more > Settings > Sidebar.
From the Sidebar settings page:
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Under App and notification settings, select Outlook.
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Turn off the Automatically open Outlook email context in the side pane toggle.
If you change your mind and want your email to auto-open in the Microsoft Edge Sidebar, you can turn this feature back on at any time.
You can manage Outlook—or any app displayed in the Microsoft Edge sidebar—from either the Sidebar settings page or the sidebar itself.
Remove the Outlook app icon from the Microsoft Edge Sidebar settings page:
Open the Microsoft Edge Sidebar settings page in one of the following ways:
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Type edge://settings/sidebar into the address bar
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Select the Settings icon on the bottom of the sidebar.
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In Microsoft Edge, select Settings and more > Settings > Sidebar.
From the Sidebar settings page:
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Next to Add or remove apps from sidebar, select Customize sidebar.
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Under Manage > Apps, turn off the Outlook toggle.
If you change your mind and want the Outlook app, or any other app, to be displayed in the Microsoft Edge Sidebar, you can turn this setting back on at any time.
Remove the Outlook app icon from the Microsoft Edge Sidebar:
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In Microsoft Edge, right-click (or press and hold) the Outlook icon in the Sidebar to open the contextual menu.
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Select Hide from sidebar to remove it.
If you change your mind and want the Outlook app, or any other app, to be displayed in the Microsoft Edge Sidebar, you can turn this setting back on at any time.
You can set Microsoft Edge as your Windows default browser in Windows settings:
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Go to Start > Settings > Apps > Default apps.
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Under Set defaults for applications, search for and select Microsoft Edge.
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Select Set default next to Make Microsoft Edge your default browser.
Send us feedback
Please let us know what you think about the new experience in one of two ways:
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In Microsoft Edge, go to Settings and more > Help and feedback > Send feedback. Follow the on-screen instructions and select Send.
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Press Alt + Shift + I on your keyboard. Follow the on-screen instructions and select Send.
