How to assign tasks in the New Outlook

Documentation last revised: Sept 21, 2025

In the new version of Outlook, Microsoft removed the ability to assign tasks to people. However, they also introduced a new app called Planner.

How to Assign Tasks in Planner:

1. Go to Planner: Open http://planner.cloud.microsoft and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.

2. Create a Plan: Click “New Plan” and give it a name (e.g., “Inventory Requests”).

3. Add Members: Invite as many people from your team as you’d like to have involved

4. Create Tasks: Add a task (e.g., “Inventory count”) and assign it directly to the person or people you want to handle that task.

5. Set Due Dates & Priority: You can add deadlines, labels, and notes.

Notifications: The people assigned will receive email alerts and see the task in their Planner dashboard. They could also view it in Teams or Outlook if integrated.

Integrating Planner into Teams

Open Teams → Go to the team/channel where you want Planner visible.

Add a Tab → At the top, click the + icon.

Search for "Planner" (sometimes listed as Tasks by Planner and To Do).

Pick Your Plan → Either create a new plan or select an existing one.

Pin to taskbar for Easy Access → The plan is now a tab inside the channel, so the whole team can view and update tasks without leaving Teams.

Integrating Planner into Outlook

⚠️ Important: Classic Outlook supports native Task integration, but the New Outlook (as of 2025) has limited support. Here’s the workarounds:

Outlook Web Access (OWA):

Go to Outlook on the web.

Open the App Launcher (the waffle grid in the top left).

Click Planner (or Tasks by Planner and To Do) and it will open in a panel.

Desktop Shortcut as App (New Outlook workaround):

In Chrome or Edge, open Planner

Open the 3 dot menu > Save and Share > Install page as app (Edge calls it Apps > Install this site as an app).

This gives you a standalone Planner “app” you can pin next to Outlook, simulating native integration.

Teams + Outlook Connector:

If you already integrated Planner into Teams, you can configure notifications to also flow into your Outlook inbox.

This way, assigned tasks automatically generate reminders without needing Planner embedded directly inside Outlook.