This Microsoft Outlook for Web update could stop embarrassing email fails for good

Making sure your emails reach the right person should soon be a lot easier thanks to a new Microsoft Outlook update.

The email client has announced it will be launching its contact de-duplication feature in the Outlook Web App (OWA), hopefully cutting down on confusion and making sure your messages end up at the right place.

The company hopes that this will mean an end to contact duplication in your OWA address book, without users having to take any immediate action themselves.

“People are at the center of our lives, and we start every digital connection via contacts,” the entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap (opens in new tab) for the update read. “Hence, a clean, up-to-date contact list is critical for better collaboration and productivity.”

As it is designed for the OWA, the update will be coming to web users of Outlook and Office 365 first, but may roll out to other users soon. The update is still listed as being “in development”, but has a general availability date of September 2022, meaning it should release to users across the globe soon.

The update is the latest in a series of releases from Microsoft Outlook as it looks to stay useful and relevant for users everywhere.

This includes a recent upgrade that will help ensure sensitive information is kept within the appropriate circles, as Outlook will now automatically match the sensitivity of the email with the label applied to attachments.

Microsoft Outlook is also planning to make it easier to find meeting-critical documents, such as recordings, transcriptions, and minutes, from within the email client itself, without the need to cross over to other applications.

More changes will also be available for users when the next generation of Microsoft Outlook sees a general release soon. Currently still only open for Office Insiders to try, the upgraded edition offers a number of improvements and tools, including the ability to support all kinds of Microsoft email accounts, and a new Quick Steps feature for speedy problem-solving.