In a recent announcement, Microsoft decided to retire the Calendar Board View feature in Outlook for Web, effective June 2023. This popular feature, introduced just two years ago, provided users with a holistic dashboard view of their calendars, tasks, contacts, goals, files, and more. As the retirement date approaches, users are eager to understand the reason behind Microsoft’s decision.
The Calendar Board View feature, a widely used tool among Outlook for Web users, allowed individuals to manage their schedules and tasks efficiently. Users could seamlessly organize their day-to-day activities with a comprehensive calendar overview. However, Microsoft’s decision to discontinue this feature has raised questions and concerns.
Calendar Board View Message Summary
Microsoft Admin Center * MC554157 * Published May 12, 2023
We will be retiring the Outlook Calendar Board View from the options in Outlook on the Web calendar. We recommend that you make sure links to any frequently used items in the board are saved somewhere else.
When this will happen:
June 26, 2023
How this will affect your organization:
You are receiving this message because our reporting indicates one or more users in your organization are using this. Once this change happens, users will no longer be able to access their boards, and the entry point in the product will be removed.
What you need to do to prepare:
There is nothing you need to do but might want to tell your users. All user content (calendar events, notes, files, tasks, etc.) will remain in their account and can be accessed via their respective apps.
Users will also see an in-product notification to let them know the board view is being retired. Users can go to “Privacy and Data” in Outlook settings to export the metadata of their boards.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the retirement of the Calendar Board View feature in Outlook for Web marks a significant change in the platform’s user experience. Microsoft continues to optimize productivity and streamline the interface.
Do you agree with this change? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Loved the boards, I was actually promoting the use in our organization! The integration with To- Do’s was awesome. The only thing missing from this announcement is, why?
I agree with you. I am really disappointed! MS was just promoting it on TechCommunity too as of September 2022. I immediately gave Microsoft feedback.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
I totally agree it is a bad decision for MS to do this. I just came across it a few months ago and loved what it did for planning. Like Ebony, I was starting to tell others about it and they were beginning to use it as well. Now, it’s getting taken back away…
Where is the best place to give feedback to MS?
CHAM,
I apologize for the delay. I was away on USA Holiday.
I created a post in the MS feedback hub. Please vote and share how you use it.
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/87264487-5bff-ed11-a81c-000d3a7a48db
Same here. I was an evangelist for it. I can’t imagine why they are getting rid of it unless (hopefully, but doubtfully) they are going to replace it with something with similar functionality.
I am so disappointed.
I do not agree with retiring Boards, It is a useful tool for non-neurotypical brains and excellent for planning and visualization. Very sad to see it go just as more people are using it and talking it up.