How to Set Up Outlook on Mac

There are two ways to download the Outlook program on your computer.

Method 1

Visit the Outlook Page on the Microsoft Website to download the program. From here, you'll be able to sign in to your account and download the program directly to your computer.

After downloading using this method, double-click the installer to install the Outlook app.

Method 2

Open the App Store from the toolbar at the bottom of your screen. You can also use Spotlight Search (the tiny magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner of your screen) to search for App Store, and find the app there.

Once you're in the store, type Outlook into the search bar at the top. Once you find the app, download it. This is a hefty app at 798.2 MB, so it may take a moment to download depending on your internet connection. Downloading the app from the app store is the easiest way to gain access to Outlook on your Mac, and this is the method I'll be covering throughout the rest of the guide.

Once Outlook downloads on your computer, you have a few options for how to open the app.

Method 1

If you're still in the App Store while the Outlook app was downloading, you now have the option to click Open, which will replace the option to download the app. Clicking this option will open the program for you.

Method 2

Navigate to the Applications folder by searching for Applications in Spotlight. Scroll until you find Microsoft Outlook, and double-click to open the program.

Whichever way you found the program, you'll be met with the first page of the Outlook app.

The first screen in the Outlook app will offer you the option to click Get Started. Once you click this, you'll be redirected to another screen with an option to click Start Using Outlook.

Now, you're ready to link your Outlook email through the app. All you have to do is type your Outlook email into the provided space and viola! You'll be linked up and ready to go. If you already have an Outlook account through your job, you don't need to have a separate Outlook account.

If you've received credentials from your IT department for how to set up your email, make sure you use that information when connecting your account.

Outlook supports email accounts from Google, Yahoo!, and other iCloud accounts, so you'll be able to link any other emails through the Outlook portal! We'll cover that next!

In order to add other accounts, open up your Outlook App and navigate to Preferences. Preferences can be found by clicking Outlook in the upper left bar of your screen, right beside the Apple icon.

Click on the Accounts option, which is the second option in the first row.

From here, you'll see which account you have currently linked. On the left-hand side at the very bottom of the screen, you'll see a little plus sign. Clicking this will give you the option to add a new account where you'll be redirected to the same screen that you encountered when you typed in your first email.

Just type in your email and password and you'll be all set!

You can also easily change which mailbox you're looking at, which is handy for keeping everything organized and at your fingertips. Each mailbox will be listed on the left-hand side of your screen.

Time for the fun part - the customization. Now is your chance to add a signature, choose your font, and decide when Outlook will notify your computer.

To customize, you can either go to the bar along the top of your screen, select Outlook, and then Preferences... or you can hit Command + ,. Either option will bring up your quick preferences page. Any changes you make will be automatically saved.

If you experience any issues sending/receiving emails, you may want to check out our guide on how to clear your network settings on macOS.