Which Outlook has touched your Google Account, and when, makes a difference in what Microsoft apps & services can access

[britechguy]

I have 4 different Gmail/Google accounts some of which have been used with "one of the Outlooks other than Outlook.com" at one point or the other. All but one of them have been used in Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2016. In looking into my Google Account for one that has not been touched, yet, either by Outlook 365 nor the new Outlook for Windows, this is what I find permissions wise:



Another account, which has been used in both Outlook 365 and Outlook for Windows, shows this instead:




The first account showed no changes in its Google Account permissions for Microsoft apps and services after having set it up in Outlook 365. However, when you configure it in Outlook for Windows, you see the following next to the account in the tree view:

and when you activate that "more information" icon, the following pops up:


If I choose to continue, I'm immediately thrown into the Google OAUTH process, after having completed that, you get a notice from OAUTH that the permissions I showed for the second account above will be in place for the one just configured in Outlook for Windows.

So it's pretty clear, as of today's date, that it's only Outlook for Windows that is seeking access to Google Calendar & Contacts, in addition to email messages. Outlook 365 is not requesting that access or I should have been similarly nagged when flipping between the UIs in Outlook desktop or when I initially configured that account in the Outlook desktop client.

 

[John Kennedy]

Your logic seems sound. "New" Outlook has built-in compatibility and automatically asks for connection to Google calendar unlike other services from Microsoft in the past. It's about time, but seems too little too late for most of my clients. Nearly everyone that uses Google for their email hosting prefers or is at least used to using it inside a web browser as Google intends. Rarely do they want to connect it to Outlook, and I've always steered them away in the past because the result was always less than stellar. If it works great for you, that's good, but I doubt I'll change what I recommend to clients.

 

[britechguy]

My main purpose was awareness raising.

The transition on Windows 10 and 11 away from the Mail, People, and Calendar apps to the new Outlook for Windows is now well underway. Microsoft said it would be complete by the end of this year for existing users of those apps, and Windows 11 has only been shipping with Outlook for Windows for a couple of months now.

Part of my work involves the blind community, and for the most part they will not touch webmail, any webmail, and to an extent I can't say I blame them. There is a tendency for webmail interfaces to make changes that we, the sighted, barely notice or register but that can throw off one's standard navigation scheme for a complete loop, particularly when unlabeled controls are involved. I also have a lot of other clients who like Outlook, because it's what they're used to, and once M365 Family and Personal began including the desktop Outlook app, I've had clients going back to it instead of webmail (though, to be clear, plenty do stick with webmail).

The result connecting Gmail and Outlook has always been less than stellar because of Microsoft's pissing match with Google (and it works both ways). Every other email client I routinely touch has synced mail, contacts, and calendar from Google, seamlessly for years. It's obvious that Microsoft could have elected to do this too, it's not rocket science, but deliberately chose not to. Now that they are doing it in Outlook for Windows, the free product that ships with Windows, I firmly believe that it will be coming to desktop Outlook 365 in the foreseeable future.

 

[John Kennedy]

Yep, all good information. Thank you.