Gmail vs Outlook — which is better for your business?

Email is where most of your team spends a huge portion of their day. Choosing the right email client matters. This guide compares Gmail (the email tool in Google Workspace) and Outlook (the email tool in Microsoft 365) on the things that matter most in daily business use.

How each email client works

Both Gmail and Outlook let you send, receive, and organize business email from your own domain address (like hello@yourbusiness.com). The core experience is very different, though.

Gmail is built around labels and search. Google is blunt about it: Gmail does not use folders. Instead you apply labels, archive messages, and search. One message can carry several labels at once, and you click a label in the left panel to see everything filed under it. Many power users barely organize at all and just search.

Outlook is built around folders, rules and categories. You create a folder structure, set up rules to sort incoming mail, and move messages into the right places. This feels familiar to anyone who has used a traditional email client.

Neither approach is better in an absolute sense. It depends on how your brain works.

Side-by-side comparison

Where Gmail stands out

Where Outlook stands out

Which email signatures are easier to set up?

Both platforms let you create professional email signatures. Gmail's signature editor is simpler and works well for most needs. Outlook's signature setup is more involved, partly because the new and classic desktop versions keep the setting in different places. Either way, putting one consistent signature on everybody's email across a whole team is an admin job rather than something each person sets up.

See our related guides:

• Setting up your Gmail signature
• Setting up your Outlook signature

Shared inboxes (like support@ or hello@)

Many businesses want a shared email address that multiple people can monitor. Both platforms support this, but they handle it differently.

Microsoft 365 has a built-in "shared mailbox" feature, set up by an admin under Teams & Groups in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Microsoft's own guidance is that this is the cheaper route, because a shared mailbox can hold up to 50 GB without a license being assigned to it. The saving is on the shared address itself: everyone who opens it still needs their own licensed mailbox, and your plan has to include email. Two limits worth knowing: only people inside your organization can use a shared mailbox, and Microsoft supports a maximum of 25 people on one.

Google Workspace handles shared access through Gmail delegation (one person's mailbox opened up to others) or Google Groups (a group address that delivers to several people). It works well but is slightly more complex to configure.

Common questions

Can I use the Outlook app with a Google Workspace account?

Yes. Microsoft lists Gmail among the account types you can add to Outlook, and it publishes a guide for it. Microsoft warns that providers like Gmail may require you to change some settings on their side first; for older versions of Outlook its Gmail guide points to two-factor authentication and an app password. It works, but it is an awkward hybrid — you get Outlook's interface but lose some of the Gmail-specific features. If you want Outlook, Microsoft 365 is the cleaner choice.

Can I use Gmail on my phone if my company is on Microsoft 365?

The Gmail app can hold non-Gmail addresses as well as Gmail ones (Google's limit is five added email addresses), so it may well work — although whether a Microsoft 365 work account connects depends on your organization's settings. Either way it is not the setup we would recommend. The Outlook app for mobile is well-designed and works directly with Microsoft 365.

What if I hate labels and just want folders?

Gmail does not have folders. It has labels, and Google says so plainly. In practice they cover most of what you want folders for: your labels sit in the left panel, you can drag a message onto a label the way you would drag it into a folder, and clicking a label shows everything filed under it. The differences that catch people out are that one message can carry several labels at once, and that deleting a message removes it from every label, not just the one you were looking at.

Will my emails look different to people I send them to?

No. The recipients of your email see your name and email address. They have no idea whether you are using Gmail or Outlook to send it.

Does Gmail have an undo send feature?

Yes. Gmail's "Undo Send" setting lets you pick a send cancellation period of 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds. You hit send, see a brief undo button, and can cancel if you catch a mistake immediately.

Related guides

• Feature comparison, side by side
• Drive vs OneDrive & SharePoint
• Gmail basics for business
• Outlook basics for business
• Setting up your Gmail signature
• Setting up your Outlook signature

Learn more

• Gmail Help
• Outlook help & learning
• Organize & archive email — Google's own side-by-side of how Outlook and Gmail file mail