Updated on: June 25, 2024
Microsoft announced a series of upcoming changes aimed at improving security, and one of them impacts some Gmail users, too.
As of June 30, 2024, Outlook.com will no longer allow users to access Gmail accounts. The only users who’ll still be able to use this feature are those who have standalone Outlook clients for Windows.
The changes are part of Microsoft’s “Secure Future Initiative,” which includes the end of basic authentication (username and password), the end of support for the ‘Mail’ and ‘Calendar’ apps on Windows, and the discontinuation of Outlook Light.
“We are taking these actions to ensure that we’re able to continue to best serve our customers and to keep their data as safe as possible,” said David Los, partner group product manager for Outlook. “These changes will help us continue to do so and better serve the people who depend on Outlook in their daily lives.”
The company will begin phasing out Basic Authentication (username and password) for Outlook clients on Sept. 16, for all Outlook personal accounts, including Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and Live.com. It’s replacing it with token-based authentication backed by multi-factor authentication (MFA).
“While Basic Auth was the standard for quite some time, it also made it easier for bad actors to capture a person’s login information,” Microsoft explains. “This increased the risk of those stolen credentials being reused to gain access to a person’s email or personal data. Email-based cyberattacks have only increased with time, so we are requiring modern authentication for all Outlook customers to better help protect their personal accounts.”
These changes will create issues for users of older apps that only support Basic Authentication, as they will no longer be able to access Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, or Live.com email accounts after Sept. 16. Users will need to switch to the latest versions of Outlook, Outlook for Windows, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, or other email clients that support modern authentication methods.
Mail and Calendar will remain available on the Microsoft Store until Dec. 31, 2024, support for the “light” version of the Outlook Web App will end on Aug. 19, 2024, and “Play My Emails” and “Voice Search” on Outlook mobile will be removed at the end of this month.