Microsoft is making some changes to Outlook that will enhance account security for consumers. Starting on September 16th, the company will no longer support Basic Authentication for Outlook personal accounts. Additionally, the light version of the Outlook web app will be removed on August 19th, and Gmail accounts will no longer be supported in Outlook.com as of June 30th. These updates are part of Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative to improve security practices.
Users of Outlook.com, Hotmail, and Live.com will need to access their email accounts through apps using Modern Authentication starting September 16th. Support for third-party email apps that do not use Microsoft’s own login prompt will be discontinued later this year. According to David Los, a partner group product manager for Outlook, Microsoft is moving away from Basic Authentication, which only requires a username and password for account access. Users may need to remove and re-add their Outlook account in some email apps to comply with the changes.
The latest versions of Outlook, Apple Mail, and Thunderbird will support these security updates. Microsoft’s Modern Authentication adds an extra layer of security through backend processes and tokens. Affected Outlook users will be contacted by the end of June to notify them of the upcoming changes. This may involve adjusting an app’s settings to authenticate using OAuth2 or removing and re-adding the account.
Microsoft is also discontinuing the ability to access Gmail accounts in Outlook.com by the end of the month. While the new Outlook for Windows app and Outlook for Mac will still support Gmail accounts, the integration will no longer be available in Outlook.com. The company is encouraging Windows Mail and Calendar users to switch to the new Outlook for Windows app before support for the built-in apps ends later this year.
Furthermore, the light version of the Outlook web app will be removed on August 19th. This version was intended for older browsers but is being retired as part of Microsoft’s security efforts. After 2024, customers will need to use the latest versions of supported browsers to access Outlook.com. The minimum browser requirements include Microsoft Edge or Chrome version 79 or later, Firefox version 78 or later, Safari version 16 or later, and Opera version 76 or later. Only Windows 10 or later and Windows Server 2016 or later will be supported for Outlook.com access, although Linux versions of Firefox and Chrome, as well as macOS Sonoma, Ventura, and Monterey users, can still access the service.