How to download office an Office version that does not require choosing to sync before installion.

Dan Morgan 40 Reputation points
2026-10-29T03:02:20.3333333+00:00

My original question (about being forced to sync to install Outlook) is now blocked from further comments, which is sorta okay anyway because that was a dead end. So here is another approach to the issue: just skip using the MS-forced installation, then set it up for Gmail using IMAP, which worked well on my old installation. Other posters have said this also works on new Outlook, I just cannot find place to download a sync-free version.

Another option, if the above solution has been pr-empted by MS, would be to accept all the evil stuff they could do to my account (like delete all my emails), install it, remove Gmail as my provider and then reinstall it as my provider using IMAP.

Are either of these two even possible and if so, how would I do it?

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For home
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Kai-H 30,835 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-10-29T10:06:45.75+00:00

Hi, Dan Morgan

Since you’re using Windows, classic Outlook is the option to use, rather than looking for a different new Outlook installer. New Outlook connects Gmail through the Microsoft Cloud. Removing Gmail and adding it again as IMAP does not bypass that cloud connection.

You can download classic Outlook from the official installation page. Choose your language, select Download, and run the installer. You’ll need a license that includes classic Outlook; the download itself does not provide a free license.

Once installed, open classic Outlook and select File > Add Account, enter your Gmail address, and select Connect. Complete the Google sign-in and permission prompts. This uses Gmail’s IMAP connection without new Outlook’s Microsoft Cloud mailbox syncing.

One important distinction: IMAP still synchronizes mail between Outlook and Gmail, so deleting a message in Outlook can affect Gmail too. Avoiding Microsoft Cloud syncing does not mean avoiding all synchronization.

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