Back in May 2022, Microsoft began testing a new, redesigned and renewed Outlook, where the idea was to unify the application across all platforms, which is why it was often referred to as “One Outlook”. The name of this project is called “Monarch”.

By April of this year, Microsoft began to distribute the preview to users of the current channel as well. The “Try the new Outlook for Windows” button was still there, which meant users could still choose whether they wanted to switch to the revamped Outlook or whether they wanted to continue using the Windows 32-bit version.

However, with the latest Windows 11 beta channel, Microsoft has now started pushing the new Outlook to Windows Insiders as well. Twitter users and Windows enthusiasts PhantomOcean3 noticed that their beta channel build 22631.2338 (KB5030305) automatically installed the new Outlook after a reboot:

A poll was also conducted on Twitter by the same user and although very few people voted for it (only 26), it seems that some of them, about ~15.5% also got the new Outlook client.

In response, Brandon LeBlanc, the senior program manager for the Windows Insider program, confirmed that this is expected on at least some systems, which means that Microsoft may test the auto-install feature with the Windows 11 23H2 feature update, though it will likely be a gradual rollout. This follows a recent report that suggested Microsoft 365 users would be automatically switched to the new client starting in August 2023.

Microsoft has already confirmed that Windows 11 version 23H2 is coming in the fourth quarter of this year, and since the end of support for 21H2 is close to that, the company said that it will update PCs with the latest to Windows 11 22H2, although there is a chance of that 23H2 there as well.

However, it could also mean that the company is looking at the new Outlook for Windows 11 23H2 in general, as it aims to eventually replace classic Outlook in about a year.