Outlook vs Gmail: Which One Is Right for You?

Did you know that Outlook lets you know if you forgot to attach a file?

Are you looking to explore the differences between the email providers of Outlook and Gmail? 

In this article, explore whether you should go with Outlook vs Gmail for the right email fit.

Read on to see the similarities, differences, and find out which will take your email services to new heights!

What Is Outlook?

Outlook is an email program from Microsoft. It allows you to send and receive emails. 

You can now have Microsoft Outlook as a stand-alone option, or as a package. 

What Is Gmail?

Gmail is a free email service by Google. They offer the option to automatically organize messages that are related to each other. 

For Gmail to remain free, they do have ads. They’ll take a look at your messages, and show you ads based on them. 

They promise that user information is protected and that the ads won’t be bothersome. 

Searches

Do you ever find yourself needing to do a search within your inbox? Gmail will let you search through old emails while writing a new one.

The problem with Gmail in this respect is you won’t have dates, previews, and most of the subject you’re searching for. 

Unfortunately, you can’t change the size of your search bar, new message, or inbox to see them all at once. 

Outlook offers a cleaner process. It gives you a double panel option. Even with the double panel option, your inbox still gets cut off at the top. 

You have the option to switch your Outlook to a single-pane to look more like Gmail. 

To do this, you’ll go to settings and choose display settings. Next, choose to hide the reading pane. 

Design

When doing a comparison of designs, it’s subjective. Presently, Gmail’s design is more attractive to many, and Outlook’s a bit more dated. 

Productivity

Whether for work or at the office, you want the option to cut down on clutter in your inbox. 

Gmail offers different add-ins and extensions you can have to make sure your inbox is clutter-free. 

Crystal Knows is an app that can tell you about someone’s personality with public-data. Right Inbox is an app that has everything from customizable templates to signature management. 

Outlook email preview has many options as well. One app is called Evernote. This will help you with note-taking and saving time on projects. 

Another option is FindTime. This helps you find a time slot available for all attendees to attend a meeting.

Storage

Microsoft Outlook allows you 15GB of free storage, and so does Gmail. The free storage for Gmail includes both Google Drive and Gmail.

Google now offers unlimited storage of photos, but with certain limits. 

You can always buy more storage as well. 

Gmail does limit the size of an attachment though. It also takes longer to upload an image. With Gmail, you can only upload one photo at a time.

Since the images are shown as thumbnails, you can double-check that you’re sending the correct images.

Spam Filters

Outlook’s spam filtering doesn’t seem as advanced as Gmail. There are some features that it has that Gmail doesn’t. It has a feature called Sweep. 

Sweep can delete emails, and block future messages from a certain person. 

Gmail does a great job spam filtering. It occasionally might let a spam email slip through. 

It can normally detect unwanted emails that aren’t spam.

Ads shown will match your email content though. The ads are normally placed into the promotions or social tabs so they don’t interrupt your inbox viewing. 

Calendar Integrations

When doing a comparison of Outlook versus Gmail, it’s important to know that you can’t view your email and calendar side-by-side. 

You do have the option to sync events with your calendar though. 

The Outlook toolbar will bring you to a new window for your calendar. 

Gmail will allow you to keep your inbox open. It’ll add a new tab or window for your calendar. 

User Experience

If you’re looking for a bigger font in emails, Gmail is the way to go. Gmail also has a shading option with many of their templates. 

When you read an email, a darker shade will appear on that message. 

Unread emails will have their subject and sender in bold. 

For Outlook, they’ll have the subject and sender in blue. While it’s bolded, it’s harder to see since the font is smaller. 

For flagging an email, Outlook will highlight it yellow. Gmail also has different flagging options. 

In Gmail, you can’t search your inbox for the symbols. It’s easier to find a read email in Outlook than Gmail. 

Security

Outlook lets you have a two-step authentication. If you’re logging in on a new device, Outlook will ask you for a security code. 

Gmail also offers two-step authentication. While they both offer it, Gmail had this feature much sooner than Outlook. 

Outlook will show images but is now better at finding harmful messages. 

Gmail has you take a few extra steps to view an image. 

The Winner?

The winner is entirely subjective and up to what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a sleek design with easy readability, go with Gmail. 

If you’re looking for easier access to viewing images in emails, go with Outlook.

A Brief Comparison of Outlook vs Gmail

After doing a comparison of Outlook vs Gmail, you should have a better idea of which is the right fit for you.

Would you like to read more about technology? Check out our other articles today.