OneDrive can now be accessed from Outlook without leaving the platform

Good news for Outlook users everywhere. According to the latest entries in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, Outlook will support a sort of OneDrive integration that will allow users to access OneDrive directly from Outlook, without leaving the platform.

Up until this integration, Outlook would open a new tab for OneDrive, specifically, and users needed to access to new tab to use OneDrive. However, with this feature, OneDrive will open in Outlook in a more streamlined experience, as Microsoft states:

Quickly access your OneDrive without having to leave Outlook! Previously, the OneDrive button in Outlook opened a new tab for OneDrive; with this change, you will see OneDrive inline for a consistent and fast experience.

Microsoft

It’s worth mentioning that this feature is coming to Outlook for Web, and it involves using OneDrive for Business. Microsoft doesn’t mention anything about the personal OneDrive account, and if there could be an integration between it and Outlook.

However, depending on how this integration is received, and we should know more about it this month, as Microsoft plans to release it by the end of January, most surely the Redmond-based tech giant will expand the feature to include personal OneDrive accounts, as well.

OneDrive-Outlook integration: Why is it important?

Well, both Outlook and OneDrive have been getting a lot of intriguing and useful updates and features in the last months, and they will continue to do so in 2024. Both platforms are getting AI capabilities, with Copilot coming to both of them, so the OneDrive-Outlook integration is a necessary feature to have, for many reasons.

First, it offers a sense of seamless experience, and users will be able to get work done easier and faster without getting lost in dozens of open tabs and emails. With just a few clicks, they will now have everything they need in just one frame.

Second, the OneDrive-Outlook integration will enhance the existing capabilities of both platforms. Imagine you have a file that you need to urgently send through an email. With a drag-and-drop, it can be done in a matter of seconds, effectively. The same could go for Copilot, for example.

The AI tool would be able to inspect and analyze files and documents that can be found in OneDrive, to write a report email in Outlook.

What do you think about this integration? Let us know in the comments section below.