Windows Mail is gone. What to use instead
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If you opened Windows Mail one day and it refused to send or receive anything, you are not alone. Microsoft ended support for the Mail, Calendar and People apps on 31 December 2024. Since then they no longer send or receive email, and Microsoft points everyone to the new Outlook (Microsoft Support).
The good news: your emails were never really in the Mail app. They live with your email provider, so any app you connect to the same address shows them again. The question is only which app you want to look at them in.
The options at a glance
| App | Free version | Paid, for one person | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Outlook | Yes | Not needed | Microsoft’s successor, mail and calendar in one |
| Thunderbird | Yes, “free forever” | None | Open source, mail and calendar, many settings |
| eM Client | 2 email accounts, home use on 1 device | €49.95 a year, or €74.95 once | Classic layout, mail, calendar, tasks |
| Mailbird | 1 email account | €3.22 a month, paid yearly, or €79.80 once | Unified inbox with app integrations |
| Spike | 1 email address, 60 days of search history | $6 a month, billed annually | Email as a chat, with AI and team chat |
| Chail | 1 email address, the last 10 messages of each chat | €3.99 a month, billed €47.88 a year | Email as a chat, sorted by people, emails stay on your device |
Sources: support.microsoft.com, thunderbird.net, emclient.com/pricing, getmailbird.com/pricing, spikenow.com/pricing, chail.app. Prices as shown on 20 October 2026; they can change.
If you want things to stay the way they were
The new Outlook is the obvious first try. It is Microsoft’s own replacement, it is free, and it keeps mail and calendar together like the old apps did.
Thunderbird is the free alternative if you prefer something independent. It is open source, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, and lets you change almost everything. That flexibility is also its downside: there are many settings to look through.
If you want a classic app with more features
eM Client and Mailbird are polished desktop apps with a familiar three-column layout. Both have a free version with limits: eM Client allows two accounts for home use on one device, Mailbird one account. Paid licenses remove the limits.
If the classic inbox was the problem
Some people take the end of Windows Mail as a chance to try something different. Spike and Chail both show email as conversations with people instead of a long list.
Spike runs on Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android and the web, and adds AI features and team chat. Chail is what we make: every person is one chat, newsletters and shops go to Updates, and your emails stay on your device instead of passing through our servers. It runs on Windows PCs and is free to start. If you want the details, we compared the two in Chail vs Spike.
How to switch in five minutes
- Pick an app from the list and install it.
- Add your email address. For Gmail and Outlook.com most apps let you sign in with Google or Microsoft directly.
- Wait a moment while your emails come in. They were never gone, they were with your provider the whole time.
- If you had emails stored only on your PC, Microsoft explains how to export them from Windows Mail and import them into the new Outlook.
Questions
Does Windows Mail still work?
No. Microsoft says support for Windows Mail, Calendar and People ended on 31 December 2024, and the apps can no longer send or receive email. Microsoft recommends the new Outlook.
Is the new Outlook for Windows free?
Yes. Microsoft offers the new Outlook as the free replacement for Windows Mail and recommends moving to it.
Can I keep my old emails?
Yes. Your emails live with your email provider, not in the app. Any app you connect to the same address shows them again. Microsoft also explains how to export local emails and contacts from Windows Mail.
Which free app is closest to the old Mail app?
The new Outlook is Microsoft’s own successor. Thunderbird is a free, open source alternative with mail and calendar in one app.