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Microsoft is rolling out new updates for Outlook 2016 for the Mac, including a feature that allows users to postpone the delivery of an email.
Available now to Office Insider members who are enrolled in the Fast ring of the early-access program, the Send Later feature does just what its name suggests. Outlook’s Send button now features a drop-down menu that allows users to select the option and set a date and time they wish the email to leave their drafts folder, similar to the Delay Delivery option in the Windows version of the software. When the time arrives, the email is automatically sent.
Not running Outlook at that moment? No problem, says Microsoft. According to the software maker, the email will be delivered even if users forget to leave Outlook open.
Office Insiders can access Send Later in version 15.36 (build 170606) of Outlook 2016. Microsoft expects to make the feature available to all Office 365 subscribers next month.
In the meantime, Microsoft is making it easier for users to set up their email accounts in Outlook.
“We’ve simplified the Add Account experience in Outlook for Mac. Previously, you needed to know details about what type of account you have (e.g., Office 365 or Exchange, IMAP or POP),” wrote a Microsoft spokesperson in a blog post. “Now you can simply enter your email address and Outlook detects your account settings and guides you through the process.”
Overall, the new account setup process resembles that of Outlook mobile apps. Using a wizard-like series of screens, it assists users in configuring their email accounts on the client. “And if you’ve signed in to other Office apps before launching Outlook for the first time, you will be asked if you want to add that account automatically,” added Microsoft.
The enhanced Add Account feature is available now on Outlook version 15.34 for the Mac.
Mac users also gain the ability to create calendar events or tasks by dragging and dropping emails into the respective views within Outlook. For calendar events, the subject of the email pulls double duty as the event’s subject while the body of the email is copied to the event’s notes field.
Time-saving email templates are also now part of Outlook on the Mac. Users can save an email as an email template file and use that template as the basis of future emails. As in the Windows version of Outlook, users can edit the email message before it’s sent.
Finally, Outlook for Mac users can now request read and delivery receipts, often used to verify that important emails reach the intended recipient. As expected, a read receipt indicates an email was opened while a delivery receipt confirms that an email has been deposited into a recipient’s email account, but not necessarily read.
The ability to drag and drop emails into the calendar and tasks views in Outlook, along with email templates and delivery and read receipts functionality, are available now in version 15.35 (build 170610) of Outlook for all Office 365 users.