[Tip] How to Restore Classic Windows Mail App in Windows 11

If you were using the stock or built-in Windows Mail app in Windows 11 to access your email accounts and suddenly the app got replaced with new Outlook app in your device, this article will help you in removing the new Outlook app and restoring classic Windows Mail app in Windows 11 operating system.

Windows 11 comes with a native email client app called “Windows Mail” which is a very lightweight and minimal UWP/Store app to manage email accounts. Windows Mail app features a very clean UI and doesn’t contain any extra or unnecessary features.

The Mail app supports all major email services such as Microsoft Outlook/Hotmail, Gmail, etc. It also comes with Calendar, People/Contacts and To Do tools built-in.

Following screenshot shows Windows Mail app running in Windows 11 operating system:

After Windows Live Mail discontinuation, Windows Mail app was the best alternative to send/receive emails right from Windows Desktop.

But recently Microsoft started working on a new Desktop email client program called “Outlook for Windows“. It’s actually a PWA (Progressive Web App) i.e. a web-based version of Outlook homepage. It works like a placeholder for the main Outlook.com website. Outlook for Windows app uses the built-in msedgewebview2.exe (Microsoft Edge Web View) platform to provide web-powered Outlook version to Windows users.

Last year, Microsoft started showing a new “Try the new Outlook” toggle option in Windows Mail app which was developed to migrate Windows Mail app users to new Outlook app. You can read more about it in following article:

“Try the New Outlook” Toggle in Windows 11 Mail App to Switch to New Outlook App

When the user clicked on the toggle button, Windows 11 automatically downloaded and installed new Outlook app and replaced the Windows Mail app with it. Windows Mail app stopped working or opening as soon as the new Outlook app was installed.

Now Microsoft has started forcing existing Windows Mail app users to switch to new Outlook app. Yesterday, when I opened Windows Mail app in Windows 11 device, I received following notification message:

Following screenshot shows the message appearing in Windows Mail app:

I clicked on the “Now now” button and Windows 11 launched the old Windows Mail app. But after some time, Windows Mail was closed or terminated automatically and when I tried to open it again, I was surprised to see the new Outlook app launching in place of Windows Mail app.

So Microsoft automatically installed new Outlook app and replaced the Windows Mail app with it without my confirmation.

Fortunately, the new Outlook app still contains the toggle option to switch back to Windows Mail app. If you also want to restore classic Windows Mail app, you can set the “New Outlook” toggle option to OFF in new Outlook app and it’ll restore the classic Windows Mail app again in your device.

You can also permanently uninstall or remove the new Outlook app using Start Menu or Settings app just like any other software program.

But we’ll not be able to use Windows Mail app forever. At the end of this year or next year, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows Mail app and the app will be permanently replaced by new Outlook app. At that time, we’ll need to find an alternative to Windows Mail app such as Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.

Following article contains a list of best alternatives to Windows Mail or Microsoft Outlook:

Best Free Desktop Email Clients and Alternatives to Microsoft Outlook

Also Check:

Disable Shopping Website Link Promotion in Microsoft Outlook

[Tip] Hide or Remove Ribbon from Microsoft Outlook Website