The Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Bar Has Moved

By Luke Smits - Founder & Operations Manager

We recently received a call from a client that noticed a change in their Outlook software and weren’t happy about it.

That change – Outlook have moved the shortcut bar. It now appears vertically, on the left-hand side of the screen, where it was horizontal, underneath the folder panel. 

Our client wanted to know if there was something we could do about it. Perhaps we could revert it back or provide a workaround?

We’ll clarify what we know about the move of the Outlook shortcut bar…

As per Tech Radar, Outlook has had some design tweaks that Microsoft believe to be “new and improved”. While we might disagree with their use of that adjective, the update claims to be performance focused.

It can be frustrating when you become accustomed to a software and its layout only to have the company change it in an update. These changes could mean you need to learn new habits, which can be irksome as you already have a lot on your plate.

We suspect these are the 2 main reasons for the change:

1. To accommodate for wider monitors that have grown in popularity. The new design appears to include opportunity for larger horizontal space. 
2. It enables other apps to be added that will tie in with Microsoft 365 or Outlook-related tasks.

We do appreciate that it can be frustrating to retrain your muscle memory for a new software update, but for the meantime, this is how Outlook will work.

With an update like this it can often be the case that there’s an unexpected bonus – you become aware of new and potentially useful features.

This 2022 redesign of Microsoft’s Outlook attempts to make it easier for users who spend a lot of time in Outlook to access other information flows from Teams and less likely to miss reminders and calendar appointments.

So, this update may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

If your Outlook has changed and you’re finding it frustrating, we do sympathise, but urge you to work with it and you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.

However, if it proves to be totally unworkable for you, call your IT people, there might be a way to restore an old version for you or find an alternative solution that works.