When it comes to email services, two software giants stand tall above the rest: Microsoft’s Outlook and Google’s Gmail. Both are feature-rich, have their unique strengths, and serve millions of users worldwide. That being said, when it comes to picking the superior platform, I often find myself leaning towards Microsoft’s solution. Allow me to shed light on the reasons why Outlook remains my primary email address on my laptop, and how it holds an edge over Gmail.

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7 Better themes

While both Outlook and Gmail offer themes to give your bland inbox a nice makeover, Microsoft’s implementation simply triumphs Google’s. When you change a theme in Gmail, it applies the wallpaper to the entire home screen, including the sidebar and hamburger menu. Some of the themes look odd due to white text and icons on dark wallpaper. Check the screenshot above for reference.

In contrast, Microsoft offers a neat combination of modern and classic themes. While I’m not a fan of classic themes, the company has simply hit it out of the park with their new modern ones. It shows a neat wallpaper and relevant accent colors throughout the app. There are only six modern themes, though. I hope to see more similar options soon.

6 Better integration with company apps

As expected, both Gmail and Outlook have seamless integration with their company-branded apps. Gmail has a handy sidebar with one-click access to Google Calendar, Keep, Tasks, Contacts, Google Chat, Spaces, and Meet. Outlook has a dedicated Calendar menu, shortcuts for Teams, OneNote feed, calendar, and To-Do.

When it comes to productivity apps, I find Microsoft’s solutions to be better and more feature-rich than Google’s (seriously, is there even any competition between OneNote and Keep?). On Outlook, I can simply flag an email and check it under the Flagged email list in Microsoft To-Do.

When you compose a new email with large files in Outlook, you can simply drag and drop those files to the OneDrive platform, generate a link, and share them without any file size limit. Gmail doesn’t offer the same convenience. You need to upload files to Google Drive first, generate a link, and paste it into a new email message.

5 Focused inbox

My primary email address receives hundreds of emails per day in my Outlook inbox. Here’s where Outlook’s handy Focused inbox comes into play. It neatly categorizes my emails into Focused and Other inboxes. Gmail also offers a similar solution, but it’s not as effective as Focused inbox on Outlook.

Microsoft’s focused inbox is available for other email providers, too. For instance, if you add your Gmail, Yahoo, or any other email account to the Outlook desktop or mobile app, you can use the same Focused inbox to manage your emails efficiently. There is an option to pin your most important emails, too.

4 Better storage management

Managing your inbox storage is quite straightforward in Outlook compared to Gmail. With Gmail, you need to head to Google One on the web, open the storage manager, select Gmail, filter emails with large attachments, and delete them from your account to free up space. The company has unnecessarily buried the Gmail storage manager under Google One.

In contrast, Outlook has a dedicated Storage section right under the Settings menu. You can simply head to Settings > General > Storage and expand the Storage section to glance over a detailed breakdown. Simply empty the junk email, deleted items, spam box, and drafts, and you should be good to go.

3 Native desktop apps

Gmail has native apps on mobile and tablet platforms only. When you sit at the desk, you must access Gmail via the web version to enjoy all its features and ecosystem benefits along with the other Google apps and services.

Microsoft has native Outlook apps for Mac, Windows, mobile, and tablets. I frequently switch between Mac and Windows, and have an iPhone as a primary device. Thanks to native apps, I have the same consistent Outlook experience across all the platforms. To Microsoft’s credit, the company’s mobile and tablet apps are also feature-rich with To-Do, Calendar, Contacts, and Focused inbox.

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2 Voice-to-text detection

Voice-to-text detection is another feature I frequently use while drafting long emails on Outlook. I can simply keep the cursor in the message body, select my preferred language, and click the Dictate icon to start speaking. Microsoft supports a healthy number of languages, too. It’s not quite accurate, though, so I recommend proofreading your email before hitting the send button.

Google doesn’t offer any such function in Gmail, which is surprising given how accurate their voice detection is on Pixel phones.

1 Quick Steps

Aside from Rules, Outlook also offers Quick Steps to automate your inbox like a pro. You can apply multiple actions to email messages with just a single click. For example, I receive five credit card invoices every month. I created a quick step where Outlook automatically assigns a green category, creates a task in Microsoft To-Do, flags it, and forwards the same to my accountant. It was a one-time setup. Now, I only need to select Credit Card from the Quick step menu to run the entire automation.

Time to change your primary email provider?

As you can see from the list above, Outlook offers a multitude of features that make it a more compelling choice for both personal and professional use. While Outlook.com only supports Outlook email, you can use its native app to integrate other email providers. If you’d like to explore more about email optimization, check out our separate post to learn the top tips to master your inbox.