Org Explorer in Microsoft 365: New Features & Comparison with OneDirectory

In today’s dispersed workplace, understanding “who’s who” in your organization is crucial for effective collaboration.

Microsoft’s Org Explorer in Microsoft 365 is a tool designed to help users visualize their company’s structure right within Outlook. Recent updates have made Org Explorer more accessible and feature-rich than ever.

At the same time, solutions like OneDirectory build on the same Microsoft 365 data to provide even deeper insights and functionality.

In this article, we’ll cover the latest Org Explorer features and upcoming releases, explain how it works, and compare Org Explorer with OneDirectory – including how businesses can use both tools together to get a complete picture of their workforce.

What is Org Explorer in Microsoft 365?

Org Explorer (also known as Organization Explorer) is a visualization tool integrated into Outlook that allows you to explore your company’s internal org chart. First introduced in 2021, Org Explorer lets users see managers, reporting hierarchies, team structures, and detailed profile info for colleagues​

It essentially provides a quick, interactive org chart experience inside Microsoft 365, so you can identify who is who in your organization and how everyone fits together.

To access Org Explorer, simply select the Org Explorer icon from the navigation bar in Outlook​

This opens a full-page view of the organization’s hierarchy. From there, you can click on a person’s card or photo to focus on that individual and see their details Org Explorer is available in Outlook for Windows (new version), Outlook on the web, and Outlook for Mac – and is reaching classic Outlook clients as well with the latest rollout (more on that below).

What Information Does Org Explorer Show? 

Once you select a person, Org Explorer displays their profile details and where they sit in the org chart. You’ll see the person’s title, department, manager, peers, and their direct reports. It even shows counts of a person’s total reports (everyone under their management chain) and direct reports​

You can also find basic contact information like email and location, as well as their current online status​.

One useful feature is the “Works with” section, which highlights colleagues that the person frequently collaborates with. This list is generated automatically based on public communication signals in your organization (such as shared groups, calendar meetings, and email interactions)​. The “Works with” section gives insight into cross-team connections that aren’t obvious from the formal org chart.

Another key capability is the search function. Org Explorer includes a search bar for finding people by name or alias​

As you type, it suggests matches; selecting a name will navigate the org chart to highlight that individual and their position. This makes it easy to jump directly to any employee without manually browsing the hierarchy.

Navigating the org chart is straightforward. You can expand a team to see more of the hierarchy by toggling “Expand team”​, which reveals additional levels of direct reports under a manager. This allows you to broaden or narrow the scope of the chart as needed. If you want to refocus on someone else, just click their card to make them the center of the org view.

Overall, Org Explorer provides a quick, high-level view of your organization’s structure and personnel. It’s great for understanding reporting relationships, finding contact info, and exploring how different teams connect – all without leaving Outlook.

Latest Updates for Org Explorer

Previously requiring a Microsoft Viva license, Org Explorer is now becoming available to all Microsoft 365 users without additional licensing, rolling out fully by early 2025. This broadens access, allowing everyone to quickly access organizational charts and employee information directly from Outlook.

Recent improvements include:

• More consistent reporting counts
• Enhanced integration with Outlook profile cards
• Improved search functionality to quickly find individuals

Limitations of Org Explorer

Org Explorer excels at providing quick, high-level org chart views but has some limitations:

• Only basic employee details available
• Limited layout and viewing options
• No analytics, custom fields, or profile editing in org explorer
• Not ideal for very large organizations

How OneDirectory Enhances the Experience

While Org Explorer is excellent for a quick look at organizational structure, many companies require more detailed directory tools.

This is where OneDirectory comes in. OneDirectory is a leading employee directory and org chart software built for Microsoft 365 environments​. It uses the same underlying data (your Microsoft 365/Azure AD profiles) as Org Explorer, but offers a richer feature set, deeper insights, and enhanced usability for larger or more complex organizations.

OneDirectory can be thought of as an advanced, full-featured version of an org explorer. It automatically generates an interactive org chart that is always up to date with your Microsoft 365 data​.Every change in your directory (like a title change or a new hire) is reflected in OneDirectory’s org chart, ensuring data consistency across tools.

OneDirectory complements Org Explorer by using the same Microsoft 365 data but offering richer, deeper functionality:

• Detailed Employee Profiles: Include photos, skills, bios, custom fields, and editable profiles.
• Advanced Search: Find employees by location, skills, departments, and more.
• Interactive Org Charts: Customizable layouts, easy navigation, export options, and scalable for large organizations.

Using Org Explorer & OneDirectory Together

Rather than choosing one over the other, many organizations can benefit from using both Org Explorer and OneDirectory in tandem.

Since Org Explorer is now becoming universally available in Outlook, it will naturally be used by employees for quick org lookups. OneDirectory, as a separate platform, can be adopted alongside to offer a more comprehensive employee directory portal.

How can they complement each other? 

Think of Org Explorer as the quick reference tool and OneDirectory as the deep dive tool.

For example, if an employee receives an email from someone they’ve never met, Org Explorer lets them quickly see who that person is, who they report to, and maybe a few colleagues they work with – all without leaving Outlook. It’s fast and context-specific. Now suppose that same employee wants to find an expert on a certain topic or get to know their broader team structure during onboarding; OneDirectory would allow them to search skill tags, browse the full org chart of the department, and view rich profiles with bios and project history.

Org Explorer and OneDirectory can coexist effectively:

• Quick lookups: Use Org Explorer in Outlook for fast access during daily tasks.
• Detailed insights: Use OneDirectory for deeper dives into team structures, talent searches, or strategic planning.

Both tools use the same data, ensuring consistency and accuracy across your organization.

Conclusion

Microsoft's Org Explorer is ideal for simple, convenient organizational chart viewing in Outlook. OneDirectory provides the additional depth, flexibility, and advanced features organizations need for comprehensive employee insights.

Together, they offer a complete, efficient way to manage and visualize your organization's structure.

Ready to see how OneDirectory complements Org Explorer? Start your free trial of OneDirectory today.