Gmail to Microsoft Outlook

Gmail and Microsoft 365 are both email services used to send messages. This article covers the key differences in the browser experience and additional features. 

The Illinois Tech communities emails will be transferred to Outlook as part of the migration from Google to Microsoft 365 during the summer.


Gmail


Outlook

Basic Functionality  

Logging In

Students log in to Gmail using their email address and password. To log into Outlook, you can use your email address and NetID password. 

Checking Mail

Like in Gmail, users can check for new messages in their Outlook Inbox. By default, Inbox is the first option under Favorites and Folders on the navigation pane on the left. 

Outlook Favorites pane with Inbox label in a red outline.
 

Sending Emails

Similar to Gmail’s Compose button, Outlook’s New mail button near the top left corner will create a new email draft. This empty draft will be saved to the Drafts folder. Users can explore the Message, Insert, and Options tabs at the top to change their font, upload an attachment, tag the email with high importance, and more. When ready to send (or schedule send), click Send or its dropdown arrow.



Organizing Emails

Unlike Gmail, Outlook by default will maintain a Focused Inbox, which may sort some emails into Other. To change this, click on the gear icon near the top right corner, which will open Settings. Users can also change their interface layout, set up automatic replies, edit email signatures, and more here

Moving and Marking Emails

Users can create folders in Outlook to move emails into by clicking Create new folder in the left navigation pane. To move the folder, either drag it to another place or right click on the folder name. In the same fashion emails can be moved into the folder. To mark an email as unread, flag an email, or pin it to the top of a folder, hover over the message and choose the desired icon.



Additional Features  

Outlook has more capabilities than just sending emails

  • Users can access a built-in Calendar by clicking the calendar icon on the left sidebar. To schedule events or meetings (Teams meetings can be created here), click New event and edit its details.