Outlook on the web adds a new 'My Day' pane for seamless Calendar and To Do access

Microsoft today announced the rollout of a new ‘My Day’ side pane to Outlook on the web that houses To Do and Calendar views, allowing users to not only view email, calendar, and To Do tasks in the same tab side-by-side, but also create quick reminders or tasks by dragging and dropping emails. While OneNote and To Do lists were available in a similar side pane in the past, the new My Day section packs more features and better integration.

Dragging and dropping emails into the Tasks section of the pane automatically creates a To Do item for that email with a link to the email for reference when using the service outside the browser. Tasks that are created using this feature will be sent to the default Tasks list in To Do. However, users have the option to select a different list in the side pane and drop emails into those lists.

In addition to the drag and drop feature, the To Do section features the ability to simply just add new items via text and navigate through the different lists created by users. While there currently seems to be no way to set reminders and the like, users can navigate to the full-fledged To Do web app for granular settings. Nevertheless, the simple interface is a nifty way to create, access, and manage tasks without leaving the Outlook web app.

Just like with To Do, users can also create events and block time in Calendar from within the tab. The feature displays a list of upcoming events for the next three months and allows for navigating through the calendar to add new events or reminders. Another nifty feature is the ability to highlight text in an email, create a task for it, and edit it in the side pain, all within the same tab.

The addition of the My Day pane might be useful for those that use Outlook on the web extensively, giving them a quick and easy way to manage To Do lists, create meetings, and more, all within the same tab. The company says that the My Day feature is also rolling out on the Office.com portal. Though the feature was announced just today, some users might have already noticed it show up for them.