Outlook for Android and iOS now makes it easier to switch tasks when writing emails

Microsoft is adding a small but very useful and convenient feature to Outlook on mobile devices that makes it easier to switch between different tasks in the app when writing an email. In a nutshell, the feature lets you minimize your current draft and keep it as a small button at the bottom of the screen, ready to pop back on your display from any other part of the app, such as another email, calendar, or contact.

Previously, such actions required closing your email, saving it as a draft, and then returning it to the Drafts folder. Now, however, writing emails on mobile devices is more intuitive and "less disruptive," as Microsoft says in the announcement post.

Here is how the new minimize feature works:

1. When drafting a new email, find the minimize button in the upper-right corner of the screen. It looks like the minimize button in Windows or macOS.
2. Tap the button, and your draft will collapse into a small circle button in the bottom-right corner. If you have several emails minimized, the button will show a counter.

   

3. Navigate to any other part of Outlook you need, then tap the minimized button again to restore your emails.

The ability to minimize emails in Outlook for iOS and Android is now gradually rolling out to all users in the Stable Channel. It has been available to beta testers for some time, and Microsoft is now ready to roll it out to all users. Note that new features sometimes take more time to arrive since Microsoft releases new features gradually to ensure a stable rollout and prevent widespread bugs.

You can download Outlook for iOS from the App Store and Outlook for Android from the Google Play Store.