Microsoft Ends Outlook’s Confusing Clutter Feature to Clear Up User Frustration
Microsoft officially retired Outlook's Clutter feature on January 31, 2020, replacing it with the more intuitive Focused Inbox. The automated sorting tool, which filtered emails based on read patterns and user behavior, had become redundant alongside its successor. Users with subscription-based Outlook 2016 received automatic prompts to switch with a single click, whereas those on older perpetual versions lost automated sorting entirely except if they upgraded to Office 365 ProPlus or Outlook 2019. The change reflects Microsoft's broader push to streamline experiences and eliminate overlapping features that frustrated users managing their crowded inboxes.Microsoft is discontinuing Clutter, its original inbox decluttering feature, with a firm retirement date of January 31, 2020. After this cutoff, Clutter will completely disappear from the Outlook Web App, Desktop, and Mobile—no more automatic sorting, no digest…
