Hi! I’m Jon LeCroy, a Program Manager on the Outlook team. I’m excited to share that accessing Outlook on public Wi-Fi networks is now easier than ever. Have you ever had to sign in on a web page before joining a Wi-Fi network? In situations like these, Outlook now helps you get connected.
Accessing Outlook on public Wi-Fi
When you join a hotel Wi-Fi or another captive portal where you need to sign in via web page to finish connecting, Outlook used to display technical SSL errors. It didn’t make it evident that to join, the sign-in process needed to be completed on a web page. We’ve heard your feedback and have simplified the process.
Now, with some help from Windows 10, we detect when you need to sign in using a web page and let you know! No more SSL errors, now just a bar, right below the Outlook ribbon, that tells you what’s happening and provides a link to finish connecting.
To give it a try, join a Wi-Fi network that requires a web page interaction to gain network access (Starbucks, Gogo Inflight, etc.)
Availability
This feature is available in Outlook for Windows for Current Channel (Preview) users on Version 2004 (Build 12730.20150) or later.
We typically release features over some time to ensure that things are working smoothly. This is true for Insiders as well. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as Insiders, have had the opportunity to try them.
Feedback
If you have any feedback or suggestions, you can submit them by clicking Help > Feedback.
Learn what other information you should include in your feedback to ensure it’s actionable and reaches the right people. We’re excited to hear from you!
Sign up for the Office Insider newsletter and get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!