Which free email service should you choose?
The one you choose may come down to your personal preference.
We reviewed both services to help you decide.
Overall Findings
Send and receive email from Hotmail, Microsoft Live, and Outlook.com addresses.
View emails on separate tabs on one Outlook.com page.
The immersive reader helps focus on one email.
Clean user interface (UI).
Easily sort messages using labels and folders.
Send and receive messages from gmail.com.
Full-page compose window, if desired.
UI can look cluttered.
Labeling system is counterintuitive.
Uses TLS to encrypt emails in transit
Works well in the Google ecosystem.
Both support the core email tasks: sending and receiving messages, attachments, filtering, and cloud storage.
These email services also support connected services, such as calendars and contacts lists.
Best of all, both are free.
Outlook.com is a free email client that is accessed from a web internet tool.
It’s not the same as Outlook, which is part of theMicrosoft 365suite of productivity applications.
User Experience: The Outlook.com UI Is Cleaner
Create messages in rich or plain text.
Send messages in rich or plain text.
Can view one email at a time, if desired.
Gmail UI can seem cluttered with fewer customization options.
Both Outlook.com and Gmail can compose email messages in eitherplain text or rich text.
you might select font color, insert tables, addhyperlinks, indent text, and make lists.
These options appear on a single line in the compose menu.
Outlook.com sets itself apart with its clean UI.
Outlook.com supports tabs, which enable you to open email messages in separate tabs within one Outlook.com page.
The immersive reader feature in Outlook.com helps you focus on one email and nothing else.
The email fills the whole page and blocks everything else to help you concentrate.
Attachments: Outlook.com’s Photo Viewer Is Unique
Integrated photo viewer shows photos in slideshow format.
Download and save to OneDrive or other cloud storage.
Immersive reader feature helps users concentrate.
Download and save attachments to Google Drive.
Right-click to save photos sent in the message body.
Attachments aren’t automatically included with replies.
If you receive email attachments, you’ll love the photo viewer integrated into Outlook.com.
Also, in Gmail, attachments aren’t automatically included when you reply to a message.
To include attachments, opt for down arrow and click Include Original Attachments.
Composing Email: Gmail Allows More Space
Compose window is small.
Even after adjusting the size, embedding pictures can be distracting.
Compose window can be as big as you want.
you’re able to make the Compose window a separate window.
One failing in Outlook.com is that the compose window, where you write emails, is small.
The Gmail compose window, in contrast, can be as large as you want it to be.
It’s small when you selectCompose, but you could selectFull-screento make it larger.
Advertising: Outlook Keeps Ads to a Minimum
Minimal advertising that uses same-colored tiles.
More subtle advertising experience.
you might control the ad experience somewhat.
Ads can be more distracting and draw your attention.
you’ve got the option to manage ad preferences in Gmail to see more relevant ads.
Outlook.com keeps advertising to a minimum.
Instead of the contrasting text links found in Gmail, Outlook.com uses same-colored tiles.
Outlook.com ads are served by Microsoft advertising, over which you have some control.
It’s an unobtrusive system and has cleaner webmail advertising.
Outlook.com can send and receive email from Hotmail, Microsoft Live, or Outlook.com email addresses.
The same is true for old Windows Live email addresses.
Connect multiple cloud storage services.
Each email address comes with 15gigabytes(GB) of free storage.
Encrypts messages in transit using TLS.
Supports multiple cloud storage services.
Each email address comes with 15 GB of free storage.
Each Outlook.com and Gmail email address comes with 15 GB of storage.
You canget additional storage for your Gmail accountand purchase add-on storage plans from Microsoft, as well.
As far as security, the free versions of Gmail and Outlook.com useTLSto encrypt emails in transit.
Most major email services use TLS, so this isn’t a huge risk.
Aliases and Shortcuts: Outlook.com Has More Customization
Supports email aliases.
Support for several keyboard shortcut systems.
Supports stealth email addresses.
Support for Gmail shortcuts.
As such, it excels at email management.
Messages will be delivered to your abc@outlook.com address.
Outlook.com supportskeyboard shortcuts, evenGmail shortcuts, which is fantastic for power email users.
it’s possible for you to use Outlook keyboard shortcuts or Yahoo Mail keyboard shortcuts, too.
If you like to jump around the screen with hotkeys, you’ll love this.
Blocking and Sorting: Outlook’s Features Are Slick
Ban emails from individual senders or entire domains.
Banning emails is simple and easy.
Easily sort messages to view storage hogs using the Filter function.
Takes a few clicks to ban a particular email.
Must use a search operator to sort messages.
The sweeping and blocking features for deleting unwanted emails are slick in Outlook.com.
Both Gmail and Outlook.com do this, but Outlook.com makes it easier.
When you sort emails by size in Gmail, you’re not sorting the messages.
Instead, you’re using asearch operator.
For example, search forlarger:10mto find all email messages larger than 10 megabytes.
In Outlook.com, selectFilterto sort emails by size and auto-categorize messages into sections.
This visualization is more appealing and accessible to grasp than in Gmail.
Folders and Labels: Outlook Makes It Easy by Using Both
Uses labels and separate folders.
Supports categories for more organization options.
Folders vs. labels are the most significant difference between Outlook.com and Gmail.
Unlike Gmail’s counterintuitive labeling system, Outlook.com uses both labels andseparate folders.
Microsoft nailed it with this dual-feature offering.
For many users, this is enough for them to switch from Gmail to Outlook.com.
Final Verdict
It isn’t easy to pick a clear winner between Outlook.com and Gmail.
Both connect to calendars and store contacts.
Best of all, both are free.
In the end, it primarily comes down to aesthetics.
With its clean UI and superior email management features, Outlook.com offers enterprise-class email on a budget.
