Where To Turn To As The New Outlook Is Deployed And Breaks Our Applications

Anyone that follows my blog, knows that I’ve published many articles about the ‘New Outlook’. People are starting to face the issue of Outlook automation breaking when they upgrade to the ‘New Outlook’, and I use the term ‘upgrade’ VERY loosely as it truly is not an upgrading in any shape or form.

For instance, today, there were a couple posts on the subject on the Microsoft Answers Access forum:

How do I fix the SendObject failure with MS Access and the new version of Outlook
MS Access 365 Run-time error 2293

there have been others and many, many, many more will surface in the coming months.
 

The Silence from Microsoft, More of the Same from Redmond

Despite the widespread use of the EmailDatabaseObject Macro action & the VBA SendObject method in Access and direct Outlook automation in all VBA applications (Access, Excel, Word, …), Microsoft has not provided any guidance on maintaining their functionality with the “New Outlook”. This lack of communication has left developers to fend for themselves, seeking alternative solutions without any form support from Microsoft whatsoever.
 
 
As the ‘New Outlook’ has been rolling out for several months now, and we have no support coming from Microsoft, I thought it would make sense to create a post, this one, in which I could try and centralize some resources to try and help redirect developers to possible workarounds to the ‘New Outlook’ not being accessible in any manner via VBA.
 

The Current Workaround Landspace

Basically, this is my boilerplate answer on the issue:

Given the inability to automate the “New Outlook” directly, here are some techniques you can consider:

  • CDO Mail
    Utilize Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) to send emails via SMTP, bypassing Outlook altogether.
  • Thunderbird Email Client
    Switch to Mozilla Thunderbird, which can be automated to send emails.
  • Microsoft Graph API
    Leverage the modern Graph API to automate email workflows securely.
  • Custom REST API
    Develop your own REST API for full control over email automation.
  • Perpetual Outlook Versions
    Consider using a perpetual license for Outlook, such as Outlook 2019 or 2024, to maintain automation capabilities.
  • Power Automate :: Flow
    You could create a flow to process an http(s) requests and use VBA to submit e-mail information (as an http request) to the Flow to actually send it.
  • Or some other alternative approach

 

A Strategic Approach

The whole thing is a mess and for the average developer a little bit overwhelming. This is why I’ve been advising my clients to hold off switching to the ‘New Outlook’ for as long as they can.

Use this time wisely to prepare yourself and develop your workaround strategy so when you pull the switch (or it is forced upon you in an update like Microsoft did to Windows Mail users) and install the New Outlook, you will already be ready.
 

Making Your Voice Heard

After a year of community support and hundreds of upvotes, Microsoft abruptly deleted this top feedback item without any notice or justification. At the time of deletion, it was the 3rd highest voted feedback item relating to the New Outlook. Their disregard for user input speaks volumes!
I’d also urged you to send your feedback about your experience and how it has affected you via their feedback mechanism, Feedback Portal, blog posts, forums!

New Outlook - VBA Automation
You need to insure that the New Outlook can be fully automated as can be done with the current version. There are millions of tools that rely on VBA automation on a daily basis to send emails, create appointments, tasks, search/find items, ...
 

Other Articles on the Subject

MAJOR Changes Coming To Microsoft Outlook
If you haven’t already heard, there are some MAJOR changes coming to Microsoft Outlook.  We will be getting a new ‘Outlook for Windows’ (2+ years out according to the video, but already available for opt-in testing) which will be replacing the existing mail apps (Mail, Outlook, Web Outlook, …). Some are also referring to it as ‘New Outlook’. Karl Donaubauer made a post which explains what we know so far:  

6 responses on “Where To Turn To As The New Outlook Is Deployed And Breaks Our Applications”

  1. John F Clark

    Thanks for the article Daniel. Since my applications are used on Government computers, I am forced to stay the course with Outlook. The Gov. IT dept will not allow any third party software; it is off the table, making any solutions internal with what I have – MS Office.
    With that in mind, is it safe to assume that my best bet is the MS Graph API?

    1. Daniel Pineault Post author

      Both CDO Mail and the Graph REST API are part of the Microsoft EcoSystem. So you should have no issue there. Also, your IT should easily be able to create an internal REST API in minutes and you could use that. I think the latter is the simplest solution for sending e-mails. If you need to retrieve information, play with contacts, calendar events then only the Graph API will do all of that.

      The Graph API is OK, takes a bit to get setup (luckily you can just copy/paste my work for my posts on the subject – the hard parts already done for you). Maria Barnes also has some really good content on the subject, so be sure to check that out to.

  2. Stewart

    Thanks for the info Mr Pineault. To add a further layer of difficulty I wonder what percentage of Outlook users are like me and have their email accounts in hosted pop3 servers? Most of my VBA integrations are based on received emails so unless something changes soon looks likely I will be switching to Thunderbird or am I not grasping the possibilities for non-Microsoft account/email services?

    1. Daniel Pineault Post author

      Just an FYI, it you do go the route of the New Outlook you’ll find out that even when hosted on 3rd party provider, Microsoft pushes all the e-mails back to their servers.

      I’m in the same boat and have my own 3rd party e-mail provider. If all you need to do is send e-mails, 3rd party poses no issues as you can use CDO Mail, create a simple REST API, some hosts even have APIs you can use. Where things get more complex is needing to access incoming content, once again creating your own REST API or if your host has one are the 2 ideas that come to my mind. Of course, for a great many this is simply out of the skill set to figure all out, setup and use.

  3. Rogério Paulo Silva

    Today, as I started my PC, I had a “compulsive” change to the new Outlook.
    So I changed back to the old one and I got some questions as to why I was leaving and so i complained (I admit, ranted as well) and i got a message saying that they are considering VBA in the new Outlook.
    Let’s wait and see…

    1. Daniel Pineault Post author

      I HIGHLY doubt they can, little alone that they will as the New Outlook is web based, the desktop version is just a fancy wrapper. Add to that the fact that the request has been on the Feedback Portal for months and MS has completely ignored it.

      Even if they do choose to add so support, (i) I highly doubt it will be what we currently know, (ii) it will be months if not years away.

      Considering how changes/requests are managed by the Access Dev Team, let’s just say I’m less than hopeful. I’m floored you even got a response.

      Also, count your blessings to even having been able to rollback to the Classic Outlook. When my father’s PC was ‘upgraded’ there was no option to revert back whatsoever. He was stuck with it and his Classic Outlook had the Account Profile wiped.

      Also keep in mind we’ve been asking Microsoft for this since 2023 when news of the loss of VBA in Outlook first surfaced! Don’t forget from MS point of view, they’ve already provided the means to automate Outlook via their Graph REST API.

      But hey, it never hurts to hope. Let’s hope you are right and MS is actually listening to their users this time.