Why Is Microsoft Removing the Outlook Lite App and What Should I Use Instead?

Is Your Outlook Lite App Going Away and How Does the New Outlook App Compare?

Microsoft is discontinuing its Outlook Lite app for Android because the main Outlook app has been improved to work well on most devices. The company is focusing its efforts on maintaining a single, unified Outlook application for all users.

The End of an Era for Outlook Lite

If you use the Outlook Lite app on your Android phone, you will need to make a change soon. Microsoft has announced that it will be removing the app. Starting October 6, 2025, you will no longer be able to download Outlook Lite from the Google Play Store. Sometime after that date, the app will stop working entirely on your phone. When you try to open it, you will be guided to download the main Microsoft Outlook app instead. This marks the end of a special version of Outlook designed to be simple and small.

What Made Outlook Lite Special?

Outlook Lite was created in August 2022 with a specific purpose in mind. It was built for people who had older Android phones that might not have a lot of storage space or processing power. It was also great for anyone using a slow or unreliable internet connection. When it first launched, the app was incredibly small, taking up only 5MB of space. Over time, it grew to about 17MB. This is still very small compared to the main Outlook app, which requires a 107MB download.

The difference in storage use is even more noticeable. On a phone, Outlook Lite might use between 34MB and 100MB of your device’s storage. In contrast, the full-featured Outlook app can easily take up 1GB to 2GB of space. For users with limited phone storage, Outlook Lite was a fantastic solution that allowed them to access their email without slowing down their device.

Unique Features You Will Lose

Outlook Lite was more than just a smaller version of Outlook; it had some unique features that are not available in the main app. One of the most valued features was its ability to manage SMS text messages.

Integrated SMS

The app included an SMS icon in its main navigation bar. Tapping this icon would open all of your text messages. You could read and reply to texts directly within Outlook Lite, just as you would with your phone’s default messaging app. This allowed you to keep your emails and text messages conveniently in one place. This feature does not exist in the standard Outlook app.

A Simpler Experience

Another key difference was the absence of Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant. In the main Outlook app, Copilot offers suggestions and helps you write emails. While some find this useful, others prefer a more straightforward email experience without the extra clutter of AI tools. Outlook Lite provided this cleaner, more focused interface.

Microsoft’s Reason for the Change

Microsoft’s official explanation is that the main Outlook app has improved significantly. They state that it has been optimized to run smoothly even on lower-end hardware and slower connections. Because the main app now performs well for a wider range of users, Microsoft believes a separate “Lite” version is no longer necessary.

Maintaining two different versions of the same app requires double the work for development, updates, and bug fixes. By discontinuing Outlook Lite, Microsoft can focus all of its resources on improving the single, main Outlook app. This decision is also part of a much larger strategy to create one unified Outlook that works the same everywhere.

A Single Outlook for All Devices

This move is a small piece of a bigger puzzle for Microsoft. The company is working towards having a single Outlook experience across all platforms, including Windows, Mac, web browsers, and mobile devices. This strategy is already visible on Windows 11, where the classic Mail and Calendar apps have been replaced by a new Outlook app. This new app is essentially the Outlook website packaged to look and feel like a desktop application.

Microsoft is encouraging all users, even those who pay for Microsoft 365 subscriptions, to adopt this new web-based version. The ultimate goal is to have one Outlook, built with web technology, that provides a consistent experience no matter where you access it. This type of application is known as a PWA, or Progressive Web App. It is a website that can be “installed” on your device and can access features that were once only available to native apps.

What to Expect from the Main Outlook App

As you transition from Outlook Lite to the main Outlook app, you will notice some changes. The app is much larger and includes many more features. While some users have criticized the new web-based Outlook on desktop for feeling less “native” and more like a website, Microsoft has been making steady improvements.

One significant advancement is the ability to access email attachments even when you are offline. The app now uses a browser technology called web storage to save files directly to your device, making it function more like a traditional, installed application. However, some advanced features that power users rely on are still limited. For example, the new Outlook has very basic support for PST files, which are archive files used by older versions of Outlook to store large amounts of email data.

Your Next Steps as an Outlook Lite User

If you are an Outlook Lite user, you do not need to worry about losing your data. Your emails, contacts, and calendar appointments are all tied to your Microsoft account, not the app itself. When you switch to the main Outlook app and sign in, all your information will be there.

Here is what you should do to prepare for the change:

1. Download the main “Microsoft Outlook” app from the Google Play Store at your convenience.
2. Once installed, open the new app and sign in using the same email address and password you used for Outlook Lite.
3. Since the main app uses more storage, you might want to free up some space on your phone by deleting old files or unused apps.
4. Take a few moments to explore the new app. It has a different layout and more options, so it may take a little time to get used to it.

By following these steps, you can ensure a smooth transition from Outlook Lite and continue to manage your email effectively on your Android device.