Last week, I made Microsoft Outlook my primary email service i.e every web application I now use is linked to my Outlook account. Earlier, I was using Gmail. Why did I switch from Google to Microsoft email app? My laptop runs on the Windows 11 operating system and there are some Microsoft software I use often. I wanted to use the same account for saving documents, files, syncing the BitLocker recovery key, and receiving/sending mails. It’s been a week since I switched to the Microsoft email service. Below, I have shared the major differences between Gmail and Outlook.
Mail groups
Gmail detects and sends messages from websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn to the “Social” section. This feature is useful to users who use one social media website only. To find updates/messages from a certain website, you will have to use the filter tool of the application. Outlook lets users create and manage groups/folders. You can send emails from certain domains to a folder of your choice. For example, I have created a folder “LinkedIn” and configured the application to send the emails to this folder. Outlook displays the count of messages to the right side of the folder label.
Storage limit
Outlook free edition users get 5GB storage for emails and attachments on Microsoft OneDrive. The space is low compared to that offered by its counterparts. This shouldn’t be a problem if you manage the mail like a pro and discard the messages containing a large attachment after saving the attachment to the PC. Outlook’s counterpart offers a humongous 15GB cloud storage space. This storage is linked to your GDrive account which is further used by Google Photos application to store photos, and videos in the gallery.
Layouts
The two apps support the “reading pane” feature. You can configure them to show this pane below or to the right side of the message titles. Gmail can show the starred, unread, or important messages at the top of the list. Its counterpart enables users to customize the user interface by dropping/adding menu items from/to it. You can configure the application to show labels or hide labels from the UI.
Junk emails
Google can distinguish between junk and valid messages correctly. While I was using it, it never spammed legitimate messages. Microsoft outlooks sends mails received from online services I use to the junk folder. The good thing about the app is that it has the option to never send emails from a specific address to the junk folder.
Chat
Outlook boasts a “skype” icon on its top bar. If you click this icon, it will open a new tab and automatically sign you in to the Skype messenger. In case you don’t know, Skype is one of the most popular messaging services. It not only allows you to chat with people in real-time but also lets you make international calls for free and host meetings online.
The chat feature of Gmail is now a part of Google Workspace. Google allows you to create a space, start a conversation with a contact, and host an online meeting. The two applications save the messages you send or receive. If you don’t want Google to save your chat history, you can turn it off.
Email scheduler
If you want to send a message at a certain time, you can use the scheduling feature of Outlook and Gmail. The two applications support custom date and time i.e. You can schedule a message at any time of day or night.
Attachments folder
Outlook has an “attachment” section that boasts links to the attachments you’ve received via email. The links are displayed on a table and the table has the following columns:
- File name, sent by.
- Subject, received date, and folder name.
Gmail doesn’t offer such a feature yet but it has a powerful filter system. You can use the filter to find emails containing attachments of a certain size or having/not having any documents or files.
