Install Full Windows Desktop Version of Outlook

The win 10 mail app is a completely separate program to MS Outlook usually part of some Office suites, and as such you have to buy an Office suite in order to use MS Outlook.

Outlook.com is a free email account that can be accessed via any web browser or added to any Mail Client, eg Win10 Mail App or MS Outlook

Thank you for your reply. I am under the impression that the Outlook that is installed on my Windows 10 is a Windows App,. Not a full desktop application. Perhaps I am mistaken? I do have a license for Office 365 downloaded and installed, but I thought Outlook did. Of come with it?

Am I all confused?

Yes there is a "mail" app with Win10. It is NOT "Outlook".

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Outlook desktop only come with Office: all 365 subscriptions and Office 2019 Home and Business or Professional (NOT with Home and Student).

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If you have 365 installed and activated, then you should have Outlook. Have you looked in the Start menu for Outlook?

I have exactly the same question. I had Outlook as an APP(!!!!) on the Windows 10.  It was on the start screen.  It was not the one I clicked for Office.  It opened separately.  I used it just for mail.  

It suddenly stopped working.  I tried to reinstall it, but Windows store doesn't download it.

I know I can open Office and get the Outlook mail from there but what I want is the stand-alone app that was there just last week and now is gone and can't be found.

I'm not confused about this.  There was an Outlook App --- with its own blue box --- as well as the Office App with its red box.

What happened??????

This is so confusing, you said "If you have 365 installed and activated, then you should have Outlook. Have you looked in the Start menu for Outlook?"  That is not true is it?  If you have 365 installed then you have Outlook 365 installed NOT the normal Outlook desktop program.  I have Office 365, but I want the desktop Outlook because the Outlook 365 operates differently and the Desktop version has greater functionality and usefulness.  The other Office 365 programs seem to work just like their desktop counterparts, but not Outlook 365.  Why, I don't know.  I guess more Microsoft mangers and programmers that don't actually use Microsoft products (like the ones working on Edge).

When you install Office 365 on a PC/Windows desktop you get all of the applications in the bundle:

• Outlook

• Word

• Excel

• PowerPoint

• Access

• Publisher

(OneNote has been coming and going out of the Office bundle for the last year, I think it is back in).

"Outlook 365" is the name of the desktop version. 

Everyone has access to the "Office Online" applications along with OneDrive (free or with 365). You run them in a browser. They are substantially dumbed down compared to the desktop version. 

If you install on other OS's some applications are not included and the others may not have full functionality compared to the Windows desktop version.

"You run them in a browser."

The problem I --- and apparently others --- am having is that we don't want to run them on a browser.  I don't want to have to click on Office 365 and sign in every time.

Windows 10 used to have the individual programmes as "apps" --- as separate tiles ---- on the start up screen.  You didn't have to open Office 365 and sign in every time.  You just clicked on the app and it opened and was ready to use.

So, I had a separate tile for Word, Powerpoint, and Outlook.  I just clicked on the one I wanted and it immediately opened without any sign-in.

In my case, the tile --- the "app" --- for Outlook just disappeared.  I've reinstalled 365, and I've tried to download the app through the Microsoft Store, but it is not working.  

I know I can sign in to Office 365 and get all the stuff, but I don't want to have to keep signing in and using the browser-based system.  

Exactly how/where did you get Office 365? At school by any chance?  There are school subscriptions that are online apps only. It sounds like that is what you are using.

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If you rented 365 Family or 365 Personal you can install the desktop versions on your computer and start them the way you describe.  

You only have to sign in to Office 365 once a month to keep your installation "validated".  Of course MS pushes to have you sign in every time, but it is not necessary.

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One way you can automate signing in to Office 365 is to create a "Microsoft" windows account. That is a Windows account that you sign in to with your Office 365 email and password.  Windows automagically passes that information to Office so you don't have to sign in separately. 

Hi Rohn007,

Well this is my personal Office 365 subscription that I pay for yearly (nothing to do with school--I'm way too old for that!).  Years ago I switched over to Office 365 but still had desktop Outlook, but I just recently bought a new computer and have everything working fine except Outlook.  The "Outlook 365" will not let me use PST files.  I contacted Microsoft support explained the problem as best I could and the tech support person took over my computer--but after a looooong time couldn't figure out any solution.  If I am interpreting you correctly as part of my subscription, I also have access to Outlook Desktop.  Where do I find it? (I went to MicroSoft Store and all I could find was Office 365 subscription.  It seems ridiculously complicated. As far as I can tell my Word, Excel, etc. as part of the Office 365 work just the same as the desktop versions---but NOT Outlook.  Why would MicroSoft make Outlook 365 operate with less features than its desktop counter part? (And, at least to me, without some important features but google searches indicate I'm far from alone.)  So very frustrating---although one would think that after using Microsoft products for decades I'd be use to frustration.  Edge is a great example of this--they stripped away all that was nice about Internet Explorer and kept in all the bad of Chrome, making Edge a perhaps prettier version of Chrome but without the functionality and usability of IE. But I'm ranting.  The issue today is where do I get the Outlook for desktop that you spoke of and get it up and running.  Certainly this is not something Microsoft tech support can help with.  Thanks, Jeff.

Hello MattHarrington59,

I agree with all you said and add that my frustration is that the subscription Outlook 365 does not allow (apparently) the use of your own off-line (i.e. local computer) email storage (as in .PST files) for backup and/or long-term storage.  As someone in another forum said, if something goes wrong with the MicroSoft cloud, what is Microsoft going to do other than say "Gosh, we're sorry!". For me that is simply not good enough, so just let me make my own backups----which was easy in the desktop versions of Outlook.  I have a couple of decades of emails in pst files that the subscription Outlook does not support (apparently).  I keep saying "apparently" because discussing this and allowing a Microsoft tech support person to have access to my computer produced zero helpful results.  I believe Microsoft has simply gone in a different direction--which is fine, they can do what they want.  I just wish they would spin off MS Office to a company that cares.  I started out using WordPerfect and Quatro pro, but a couple of decades ago I switched to MS Office.  I've been reasonably happy until recent years.  I guess now the current managers couldn't care less about their established user base. There are plenty of simple things that could be done to improve MS Office functionality and usability, but it seems the focus is now just looks, not substance. Oh, well as a friend used to say "It won't matter in a 100 years!".