This is how you prevent the mail program from being installed on your computer

Anyone who starts the mail and calendar app on Windows has been greeted by the new Outlook for some time now. This can be annoying for users who continue to use the old version of Outlook. A simple trick can now help and bring peace of mind, at least temporarily.

Introducing the new Outlook

Microsoft had already announced the timetable for the transition from the old to the new Outlook app in mid-2023. At the beginning of this year, Microsoft flipped the switch for the first users. However, it was then announced that the classic Outlook would continue to be provided with updates and support until 2029.

Nevertheless, the new Outlook starts automatically when you open the integrated Windows mail and calendar app. This is the case even if you don’t use the new version of Outlook every day, but still use the classic app to receive and send emails. You don’t even have to be logged in to the new Outlook.

Trick to ‘deactivate’

However, user Commercial_Use6316 now describes a very simple trick in one Post on Reddit (via Neowin), with which you can ‘deactivate’ the new Outlook again, at least for the time being. Although there are other temporary solutions, the nice thing about the following variant is that no additional programs need to be used or scripts from dubious sources need to be executed. The following steps must be carried out:

• Uninstall the new Outlook via Settings → Apps → Installed apps
• Open the Microsoft Store and search for the new Outlook
• Press the button to install and pause the process again with another click
• Close the Microsoft Store

So you trick Windows into thinking you are about to install the new app. The application is not installed (automatically) and remains uninstalled. We have used this trick in the editorial team with success under Windows 11 and Windows 10. The mail and calendar app could be opened again on multiple computers without an Outlook pop-up.

Just a temporary solution

As other users note, it is possible that the entire process described above will need to be repeated after a Windows update. In addition, it is likely that this trick will not work forever. Microsoft could soon close this gap. Until then, the whole thing could make life a little easier for some users.