Outlook 365 Options, General Pane

[britechguy]

On my own machine, and every one I've ever touched in recent years, the first item in the General Pane (ALT + F, T) is the Cloud Storage Options section with a single checkbox: Store my Outlook settings in the cloud (requires restarting Outlook), which is checked by default.

The section that follows is the section entitled, User Interface Options, with a pair of radio buttons:
1. Optimize for best appearance [activated by default]
2. Optimize for compatibility (requires application restart)

I now have a client telling me that they do not have the Store my Outlook settings in the cloud (requires restarting Outlook) checkbox or its section at all, but on those systems the Optimize for compatibility radio button is activated.

I'm wondering if that compatibility option being activated might cause the Cloud Storage Options to be hidden.

 

[frase]

@callthatgirl use your super 365 powers.

 

[britechguy]

I thought it might be a 32-bit versus 64-bit thing, but I've now got instances of both behaving in both ways.

Now I'm wondering if it's connected to whether OneDrive is running or not. I can't imagine buying M365 and not using OneDrive, but stranger things have happened. And that theory comes from the fact that if Outlook 365 is going to store settings in the cloud, the only integrated cloud storage that's part of the Microsoft ecosystem is OneDrive.

But there is still no definitive answer.

 

[callthatgirl]

@frase

I saw one the other day without the store settings in the cloud and I didn't worry about it as I had other things to fix at the time. So I don't know and can't help, but Outlook is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Blows my mind everyday the things I see going on in the wild.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Should depend on the update channel that their 365 tenant is configured to. Basically how often the "click to run" apps are updated.

Information about Store my Outlook settings in the cloud - Microsoft Support

How to use the new Store my Outlook settings in the cloud feature in Outlook Desktop to store your Outlook Microsoft 365 account settings and preferences in the cloud.

support.microsoft.com

I'd wager that your clients tenant is not set to a tighter update cadence. Or...the current install of Office is just too outdated.
I set all my clients tenants to the monthly enterprise channel.

I can't see it being related to if OD is connected or not. It's just a...sort of...."roaming profile for Outlook"...to tie in tool bar settings, signature, etc. See above article.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Also in a 365 tenant, for AzureAD joined/InTune managed...you can get a more broad scoped "roaming profile"

 

[britechguy]

Remember, we're not talking about business clients here, at least not in the majority.

These are M365 Personal and Home users, and I have already verified that we are running the exact same bit-depth and version numbers of M365.

The "automatic update" setting is far from it. I've found many instances where M365 was out of date even with that feature on. But in all the instances I've been working with to try to figure this out, the first thing is determining what bit-depth and version number, and doing a forced update now if it's at all out of date.

None of that has had any impact, at all, on whether the cloud storage option is appearing or not, so it's got to be something else. It is particularly frustrating when you are working with screen reader users that even for M365 of the same version and bit-depth, one cannot count on Outlook 365 (and probably other desktop app) settings to be the same across machines. Maddening, in fact.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

That...could be different for "home" (outlook.com) users. I find in the biz versions, managing the client updates does have impact.
I'm wondering if...age of the tenant may also have impact on this. Older tenants that did not get the feature enabled yet. If I recall, the "store settings in the cloud" mostly got rolled out Q3/Q4 of last year....may not be avail for all tenants yet.

 

[britechguy]

Older tenants that did not get the feature enabled yet.

Not doubting you, but it's not particularly handy if all the world is not getting features such as this one rolled out in a very short period of time. And it's even worse if some M365 Personal/Family users have it while others don't months after the initial release.

But, I'll just add this, the following statement was made by someone elsewhere, and she's usually accurate: "I did not have OneDrive on and enabled, and I had this option in 2021." [And I presume she means Office 2021, not the year 2021. She's now running M365.]

 

[alexsmith2709]

Ive not seen this mentioned, but is the affected client definitely using a microsoft hosted mailbox? If they arent then that option probably isnt going to show.

 

[britechguy]

@alexsmith2709

Excellent question, and I should have made clear that I am also discussing only instances where an account or accounts that use Exchange are involved. Most are outlook.com, but some are of the other Microsoft-owned email services that also use Exchange.

What's funny is that I never checked what Outlook showed there before I added my Outlook.com account. But I have a backup machine where I've never configured it, but Outlook 365 is on it with a Gmail account using IMAP, so I'll have to take a look and do a "compare and contrast."

 

[alexsmith2709]

@alexsmith2709

Excellent question, and I should have made clear that I am also discussing only instances where an account or accounts that use Exchange are involved. Most are outlook.com, but some are of the other Microsoft-owned email services that also use Exchange.

What's funny is that I never checked what Outlook showed there before I added my Outlook.com account. But I have a backup machine where I've never configured it, but Outlook 365 is on it with a Gmail account using IMAP, so I'll have to take a look and do a "compare and contrast."

I would assume if any are added it would show, but knowing Microsoft it might be determined by the order accounts are added so definitely worth checking

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I can guarantee that having OD enabled/signed in...does not stop this feature. It's unrelated. OD is for file sync/storage, the "Outlook settings in the cloud" is a roaming profile feature of Outlook, not related to OD...or Word, or Excel, or Teams.

 

[britechguy]

I can guarantee that having OD enabled/signed in...does not stop this feature. It's unrelated. OD is for file sync/storage, the "Outlook settings in the cloud" is a roaming profile feature of Outlook, not related to OD...or Word, or Excel, or Teams.

Thanks. Had figured this out already simply because of the mix of circumstances so far.

It doesn't seem to be a 32 vs 64-bit thing, a whether OneDrive is in use thing, or even a "is the version and bit depth of Outlook 365 exactly the same" thing. So far, your tenant theory is the best one as far as I'm concerned. I believe that a massive pseudo-tenant composed of a multitude of real M365 tenants exists for the population of M365 Personal & Family users. If this change is in the process of a slow rollout on a cohort by cohort of tenants basis then it will be much like Feature Updates for Windows. Who gets it exactly when (and, in this case, even precisely why) is not easily determined or even possible to determine in advance.