How to Change the Layout in Outlook (Reading Pane, Density and Folder Pane)
Outlook's default layout isn't right for everyone. On a small laptop the reading pane squashes your email into a narrow column; on a big monitor you might want to see 40 messages at once. Every part of the window can be moved, shrunk or hidden — here's where the switches are.
Quick reference
| What you want | Where |
|---|---|
| Move or hide the reading pane | View → Layout → Reading pane |
| Fit more emails on screen | View → Density → Compact |
| Hide the folder list | View → Layout → Folder pane |
| Hide the ribbon | Click the small arrow at the right of the ribbon |
1. Move the reading pane
The reading pane shows the selected email without opening it.
New Outlook and Outlook on the web: click View → Layout → Reading pane, then choose Show on the right, Show on the bottom or Hide.
Classic Outlook: click View → Reading Pane, then Right, Bottom or Off.
• Right suits wide screens.
• Bottom gives you the full width for the message list — good for seeing long subject lines.
• Off means you double-click to read each email in its own window. Some people prefer it; it also stops emails being marked as read just because you clicked past them.
• Bottom gives you the full width for the message list — good for seeing long subject lines.
• Off means you double-click to read each email in its own window. Some people prefer it; it also stops emails being marked as read just because you clicked past them.
Drag the divider between the list and the reading pane to resize it.
2. Show more emails on screen
New Outlook: click View → Density and choose Full, Medium or Compact. Compact removes the preview text and sender pictures, so roughly twice as many emails fit.
Classic Outlook: click View → Message Preview → Off to hide the preview lines, and View → Use Tighter Spacing if your version has it.
3. Folder pane
The folder list on the left can be collapsed to a thin strip, giving the message list more room.
• New Outlook: View → Layout → Folder pane → Hide (or click the ☰ icon at the top left to toggle it).
• Classic Outlook: View → Folder Pane → Minimized, or click the small < at the top of the pane.
• Classic Outlook: View → Folder Pane → Minimized, or click the small < at the top of the pane.
4. Hide the ribbon
New Outlook: click the arrow at the far right of the ribbon and choose Simplified ribbon (one tidy row) or Hide ribbon.
Classic Outlook: press Ctrl + F1 to collapse the ribbon to tabs only. Press it again to bring it back.
5. Change how emails are grouped and sorted
Above the message list, click Filter or the sort arrow (new Outlook) to sort by date, sender, size or importance, and to turn off Group by conversation. In classic Outlook, click the column heading (By Date) and pick a different arrangement.
6. Make the text bigger
• Everything: Windows Settings → Accessibility → Text size.
• Just the reading pane: hold Ctrl and scroll your mouse wheel while the pointer is over an email.
• Message list (classic): View → View Settings → Other Settings → Column Font and Row Font.
• Just the reading pane: hold Ctrl and scroll your mouse wheel while the pointer is over an email.
• Message list (classic): View → View Settings → Other Settings → Column Font and Row Font.
Troubleshooting
My folder list has disappeared. It's minimised. Click the ☰ or > at the left edge of the window, or use View → Layout → Folder pane → Show.
Emails are marked as read as soon as I click them. In new Outlook, go to Settings → Mail → Message handling → Mark as read and choose Don't automatically mark items as read or set a delay. In classic Outlook, use View → Reading Pane → Options.
The layout reset itself. New Outlook stores layout settings in your account, so they follow you; classic Outlook stores them per view. View → Reset View puts a classic folder back to its default.
Wrapping up
Put the reading pane where your screen shape suits it, switch to Compact density on small screens, and collapse the folder pane once your Favourites are set up. Five minutes now saves a lot of squinting later.
