Microsoft is planning to integrate Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar into its Outlook.com web mail client. The software maker has started testing this integration on some accounts recently, and Twitter user Florian B was able to access it today. After a quick setup process, you simply link a Google Account to an Outlook.com account, and Gmail, Drive documents, and Google Calendar will all be automatically displayed inside Outlook.com on the web.
It looks very similar to how Outlook for iOS and Android work, with separate inboxes and side-by-side integration in the calendar. We haven’t been able to test the integration on our own Outlook.com accounts at The Verge, but Florian reveals that it seems to be an early test as you can’t add more than one Google Account, and switching between Outlook and Gmail accounts refreshes the entire page.
The Google Drive integration supports documents and files from Google’s service so you can quickly attach them to Outlook or Gmail emails. It’s not clear how many Outlook.com users will get access to this, or when Microsoft will roll this out more broadly. While most people would simply visit Gmail for their mail, this new Outlook integration could be useful for those who use a personal Outlook.com account and a G Suite email account for work.
Microsoft wouldn’t comment on exactly when all users will get access to this new feature in a statement to The Verge. “We are always looking for new ways to extend the best email experience to our customers and can confirm that we’re experimenting with a small set of Outlook.com users to learn and gather feedback,” says a Microsoft spokesperson.
Update, November 21st 5:25AM ET: Article update with comment from Microsoft.