Microsoft told Windows Latest that it’ll no longer be possible to download Outlook Lite on Android starting October 6, 2025. After October 6, Outlook Lite will stop working on any day, and you’ll be redirected to the original Outlook app. But there’s no specific deadline for when Outlook Lite will stop working.
Outlook Lite was officially released in August 2022 for those with slow internet connections and older Android phones. While initially, Outlook Lite was just 5MB in size, it now sits at 17MB and is being replaced with the 107MB Outlook (main version).
I was always sceptical about Outlook Lite for Android. Microsoft has a history of releasing new versions or variants of its existing products and discontinuing them after a little while. When Microsoft announced Outlook Lite, it made bold claims about how it wants everyone with an internet connection to use its email service.
Microsoft argued that a wide range of Outlook’s features cannot be used on all phones, and it made sense to develop a Lite version of the email app so those with limited or slow internet and phones could also use Outlook. Eventually, this led to the development of Outlook Lite.
Look at the above screenshot I captured on my Android phone. Outlook Lite sits at just 34MB of storage usage, which can go up to 100mb. On the other hand, Outlook (non-Lite) stays anywhere between 1GB and 2GB.
But Outlook Lite was more than a stripped-down version of Outlook. Outlook Lite was last updated in 2024 with SMS support. This means you can replace your existing SMS app with Outlook Lite, and it would do the job really well.
There’s an SMS icon in the navigation bar, and when you tap on it, you can see all your SMS. Then, you can reply like you would on a regular messaging app. This feature is not available in the main Outlook app.
Another advantage of Outlook Lite is no Copilot integration. Unlike the main version of Outlook, the Lite version does not come with Copilot junk.
Microsoft is removing Outlook Lite because Outlook is now more compact
In a statement to Windows Latest, Microsoft explained that it’s killing off Outlook Lite because Outlook (non-Lite version) has been optimised and runs smoothly on low-end hardware. It no longer makes sense to continue maintaining Outlook Lite.
Also, this is not something I heard directly from Microsoft, but it’s quite apparent that Microsoft wants only one Outlook client that works everywhere.
On Windows 11, Microsoft replaced Mail and Calendar with web-based Outlook. We’re also seeing a gradual nudge towards using web Outlook even if you pay for Microsoft 365, which includes Outlook Classic, an advanced and Win32 version of the email client.
Microsoft plans to replace all Outlook clients with the web version, but PWA doesn’t have a good reputation. For example, Outlook (web) for Windows 11 is hated because it doesn’t feel “native” and has a web vibe, which is apparent given it runs on top of Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based). But over time, Outlook Web has really improved.
More recently, we reported that it’s now possible to access and preview Outlook attachments when you’re not connected to the internet. Outlook uses Edge/Chromium’s web storage feature, which allows a web app to work like a full-fledged native app and store files.
But features like Outlook PST support still remain very limited, and we also don’t know when.
