The new Outlook finally learns how to search — Microsoft revamps "People" experience

The hassle of finding a contact in Outlook just disappeared for good. An update to the new Outlook brings a "completely reimagined People experience" that gets rid of the organization trees in directory hierarchies.

Instead, Outlook users will be able to type a name, location, job title, department, or personal note into the app. Outlook will then find the person without you having to jump through directories or swapping account types.

People from your organization's directory and your personal contacts will appear through the new search experience, as will people from linked accounts.

Below is the explanation of how the improvements work, as outlined by Microsoft (bolded headers), plus some other ways that the new Outlook has been refreshed:

• Lightning-fast keyword search - Search across names, email addresses, job titles, locations, departments, and even your own notes and tags. A few keystrokes is all it takes.
• Smart suggestions - As you type, People in Outlook intelligently surfaces the most relevant matches based on your communication patterns and organizational context.
• One search, every contact source - Whether the person is in your organization’s directory, your personal contacts, or a linked account, search brings them all together in one unified result set.
• Instant action - Once you find who you’re looking for, you can email, call, or start a Teams chat directly from the search results - no extra clicks required.
• Modern multi-column table view - See all your contacts at a glance with a clean, customizable table layout. Sort, filter, and scan your contacts faster than ever.
• Quick actions at your fingertips - Email, call, or chat with any contact directly from the contact list. No need to open a contact card first.
• Multi-select and bulk operations - Need to categorize, email, or manage multiple contacts at once? Select them all and take action in a single step.
• Categories for flexible organization - Organize your contacts with color-coded categories that work across Outlook. Tag contacts as “Key Clients,” “Project Team,” “Vendors,” or anything that fits your workflow.
• Import and export - Easily bring contacts in from CSV files or export your contact data whenever you need it.
• Consistent experience everywhere - Whether you’re using Outlook on the desktop, Outlook on the web, or Teams, the People experience is the same - modern, fast, and reliable.

The new People experience is available now in the new Outlook for Desktop. It is rolling out gradually to Outlook on the web to all Microsoft 365 users.

If it is available on your version of Outlook, you can access the feature through the "People" icon on the left-hand side of the app.

I always find changes like this confusing. They come across as "our app finally does what it always should have done!" But I'm happy to see the new Outlook improve.

The new Outlook had a rocky start and still trails behind its predecessor in many ways. It wasn't exactly an endorsement of the new Outlook that Microsoft had to break Mail & Calendar in an effort to get people to switch.

The new Outlook was not ready for prime time when it launched, but it has improved since then. It now supports several offline functions and a wider range of file types.

Between those improvements and the new People experience, Outlook is inching toward usability.

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