Summary

  • Microsoft automatically installs the new Outlook with Windows 10 KB5051974.
  • You can prevent the Outlook app from being installed with a simple registry hack.
  • If you’ve already installed the update, you’ll need to run a command in Windows PowerShell to uninstall the new Outlook app.

Microsoft recently released a major cumulative update for Windows 10, KB5051974. The update primarily includes fixes for reported issues, such as resolving problems with the spooler service initialization that affected printer functionality.

However, along with the update, Microsoft also automatically installs the new Outlook app on your Windows 10 computer. If you don't want the new Outlook app, there is a way to prevent Microsoft from installing it with the update on your computer.

Prevent the automatic installation of the new Outlook app with the Windows 10 KB5051974 update

Regardless of the advantages Microsoft lists for the new Outlook app, there's a big segment of users who still prefer the classic Outlook, and there are good reasons for that. The new app is very slow, and there have also been reports of messages sent using the new Outlook app ending up in the draft folder instead of being sent.

As such, if you don't want the new Outlook app to be automatically installed with the Windows 10 KB5051974 update, Windows Latest has shared a registry hack that will allow you to prevent Microsoft from automatically installing the new Outlook app with the update. Here's what you need to do:

Editing the registry carries risks, as a single incorrect change can make your computer unstable. Therefore, be sure to back up your computer and create a restore point before making the following registry edit.

  1. Open the Start menu, type Registry Editor in the search bar, and hit Enter.
  2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following location: 
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ WindowsUpdate \Orchestrator \UScheduler_Oobe
  3. Right-click the UScheduler_Oobe key on the left, hover over New, and choose String Value from the menu that appears. Name the value BlockedOobeUpdaters.
  4. Double-click the BlockedOobeUpdaters value, type ["MS_Outlook"] in the Value data field, and click OK.

That's about it. You can now install the KB5051974 update, but it will not include the new Outlook app.

In case, you have already installed the update, it's likely that the new Outlook app is already on your computer. In that case, you will need to use Windows PowerShell to uninstall it. First, type Windows PowerShell in the Start menu search bar, select Run as administrator, then enter the following command and press Enter.

Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -AllUsers -Online -PackageName (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.OutlookForWindows).PackageFullName

This will uninstall the new Outlook app and ensure that it does not get reinstalled automatically with future Microsoft updates.