Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Microsoft is finally fixing one of the worst parts of Outlook

By Fionna Agomuoh Published October 10, 2023

Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 in Outlook. — Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

Microsoft Outlook is set to get an update that will address the size limit that is currently in place when sharing files on the email service. In the future, instead of attachment limits, users will be able to upload files to OneDrive and share them through email.

Recommended Videos

The way Microsoft Outlook is set up makes it challenging for users to attach and send large files. It is easy to exceed the maximum size limit and be unable to send certain files through Outlook.

However, the planned update would allow you to dip into Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage to complete the task. Explaining the function on the official Microsoft 365 road map, the brand said that if you attempt to attach Outlook files that reach the maximum size limit or if an attachment causes an email to go over the 20MB size limit, you will be prompted to upload the file via OneDrive for easier sharing.

Microsoft is expected to deploy the feature in September 2023, first to Android users, with other platforms set to follow not long after.

The update will be especially useful to those using the free version of Microsoft Outlook and who have the most restrictive Outlook and OneDrive limits. The brand has made its Outlook free storage capacity 15GB, while its OneDrive free capacity is 5GB. With the update, free Microsoft users have 20GB of storage to juggle between the two services.

Still, the limits are likely the brand’s efforts to convert more free users to its paid Microsoft 365 services. Paid options would include larger storage capacities and less opportunity for email congestion. They would also be financially advantageous for the company.

Microsoft isn’t the only brand using storage limits on free accounts to encourage users to buy into its ecosystem. Google offers 15GB of storage with a free Gmail account, which also encompasses its Google Photos, Google Workspace, Google Drive, and other services that are initially free. However, these services can also quickly eat up storage, after which Google suggests two options, delete data to clear storage or purchase additional storage with its Google One plans.

Computing Writer

Fionna Agomuoh is a Computing Writer at Digital Trends. She covers a range of topics in the computing space, including…

Topics

Computing

Microsoft 365 Copilot gets an AI Researcher that everyone will love

Researcher agent in action inside Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

Microsoft is late to the party, but it is finally bringing a deep research tool of its own to the Microsoft 365 Copilot platform across the web, mobile, and desktop. Unlike competitors such as Google Gemini, Perplexity, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, all of which use the Deep Research name, Microsoft is going with the Researcher agent branding.
The overarching idea, however, isn’t too different. You tell the Copilot AI to come up with thoroughly researched material on a certain topic or create an action plan, and it will oblige by producing a detailed document that would otherwise take hours of human research and compilation. It’s all about performing complex, multi-step research on your behalf as an autonomous AI agent.
Just to avoid any confusion early on, Microsoft 365 Copilot is essentially the rebranded version of the erstwhile Microsoft 365 (Office) app. It is different from the standalone Copilot app, which is more like a general purpose AI chatbot application.
Researcher: A reasoning agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot
How Researcher agent works?
Underneath the Researcher agent, however, is OpenAI’s Deep Research model. But this is not a simple rip-off. Instead, the feature’s implementation in Microsoft 365 Copilot runs far deeper than the competition. That’s primarily because it can look at your own material, or a business’ internal data, as well.
Instead of pulling information solely from the internet, the Researcher agent can also take a look at internal documents such as emails, chats, internal meeting logs, calendars, transcripts, and shared documents. It can also reference data from external sources such as Salesforce, as well as other custom agents that are in use at a company.
“Researcher’s intelligence to reason and connect the dots leads to magical moments,” claims Microsoft. Researcher agent can be configured by users to reference data from the web, local files, meeting recordings, emails, chats, and sales agent, on an individual basis — all of them, or just a select few.

Why it stands out?

Computing

Microsoft 365 apps help keep your files safe with OneDrive backup

Microsoft OneDrive files can sync between a PC and a phone.

Microsoft 365 apps will encourage users to back up their files to OneDrive, as announced in a new Message Center entry, to improve data security. Microsoft will display a prompt across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in the following months to prevent data loss and ensure users can access their important files seamlessly.

Microsoft will begin showing these prompts in mid-March 2025, encouraging users to sign up for the OneDrive Known Folder Move (KFM). The public preview will last until early April 2025 but will generally be available by May 2025. What is KFM? It's a feature in OneDrive that lets you sync and back up your important local folders, such as Desktop or Documents. Afterward, you can easily access your files across various devices.

Computing

Microsoft suggests four fixes for ancient Microsoft Store bug

Microsoft Store

After six years, Microsoft has officially released four methods for fixing the "Try that again" or "0x80131500" Microsoft Store error. The bug was first reported in 2019, but the good news is that there is now an official solution for you.

You can fix the "Try that again" error by resetting the Microsoft Store app, using the Microsoft Store troubleshooter (Windows 10 only), checking for updates, and updating your internet's TLS (Transport Layer Security) settings. However, Microsoft recommends enabling TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 for compatibility. However, if the first three methods don't work, the issue may be due to TLS incompatibility. If this sounds too technical, don't worry; just follow these steps: press the Windows key > search for Run > type inetcpl.cpl > press enter > click Advanced tab to ensure that the Use TLS 1.2 and 1.3 are checked. That's all there is to it.