Why the desire to use the Outlook app instead of native mail apps? For one thing, Outlook is a better user experience in my opinion. I don’t think that’s an accurate analogy, but I understand the frustration. One customer said to me it would be like Microsoft charging extra for the Teams desktop or mobile app for E1 users. This is the type of little nit-picky license stuff that irritates people, especially when it’s not easily discoverable by way of actual enforcement (Exchange Online doesn’t block Outlook for non-licensed users).

Mobile access to that email is an obvious use case, and the “free” Outlook app provides that… except they’re not actually licensed for Outlook as an E1 user. This becomes a problem for companies who are trying to minimize their license spend, for example by using Enterprise E1 licenses to provide email to users who don’t typically need the full suite of Office apps as well.

For commercial use, no, a license is required. If you only have an Exchange Online license (without Office) or an Exchange on-premises (Exchange Server) license, you are not allowed to use the app.

However, commercial users require an Office 365 subscription that includes the Office applications: either Business, Business Premium, Enterprise E3, E5, ProPlus, or the corresponding versions of those plans for Government or Education. Outlook for iOS and Android is free for consumer usage from the iOS App store and from Google Play. Q: Is a license required to use Outlook for iOS and Android? The answer is also now available on the FAQ page for Outlook for iOS/Android: Outlook requires an eligible Office 365 commercial subscription for commercial use rights – an Office 365 plan that includes the Office apps… Non-commercial use of Outlook is free (,, etc). I ended up asking a Microsoft representative for a plain-language interpretation of the license terms. Like most people I just assumed back then that a free app was free to use. But I certainly hadn’t read them until this was brought to my attention. Nobody actually reads licenses… well one person did, that’s why they asked me about it. You may install and use one copy of the software on an iOS-based device that you own or control for non-commercial use purposes, unless you have commercial use rights under a valid commercial Office 365 subscription or as may be otherwise licensed. However, the usage of the app is governed by the license terms. You can download Outlook from the Apple app store or from the Google Play store and not pay any money for it. It’s a simple answer, but perhaps not one that you were expecting. A recent discussion among MVPs and Microsoft reminded me of a question I was asked back when Outlook for iOS and Android were first released – is the Outlook app for iOS and Android devices a free app?

Download outlook 365 free