Outlook email remains unread even after you have read it

When reading an email in Microsoft Outlook, if you notice that it is not read even after you have read it, you are not alone. The default behavior is such that continues to be read even when you select an item to read the message in Microsoft Outlook. In this article, we'll explain how you can mark these mails as read or select an item to read in Microsoft Outlook.

Outlook mail remains unreadable even after you read it

Select an item to read the message in Microsoft Outlook

All Microsoft email clients are similar and come with the reading pane. Here are the configurations for the clients mentioned below if they are not marked as read when you select an email.

1. Microsoft Outlook client
2. Outlook Web
3. Mail application and Calendar

I'm sure Microsoft Exchange 2020/13/10 offers similar options. You can find it in the options where all the settings related to the email client are available.

1) Microsoft Outlook Client

This is the Office 365 mail client.

• Launch Outlook, and then click File> Options.
• In the Outlook Options window that opens, switch to the Mail section in the left pane.
• Scroll to find the Outlook Panes section. In this, click the Playback Pane button.
• Check the box that says – Mark the items as read when they are displayed in the reading pane.

Outlook will mark as read the email when selecting the email and will display in the reading pane. In the same place, you can set a timer for the box to be marked as read. Many times you want to preview the email, but you want to keep it unread for later viewing. the Waiting option offers the same thing.

There is another check box option – Mark the item as read when the selection changes. Its checked by default, but it also marks a message as read when you select it. Uncheck to change the behavior.

You can also configure Outlook for Always preview messages.

Note that one or the other of these options remains checked. When you check Mark the item as read when the selection changes., then he will uncheck the Mark the item as read when the selection changes box automatically.

How to mark multiple read messages in Outlook

Since you've enabled this option, to mark multiple words as one, read the first message, hold down the Ctrl key, and select more messages. Then right click and mark them as read.

2) Outlook Web

Outlook Web also offers a Pane view with similar settings. If your emails are not marked as read when you switch between them or when you select them, here's what you need to do.

• Click the Gear icon at the top right, and then click View All Outlook Settings.
• Then switch to Message Handling and choose how you want the emails to be marked as read:
  • When they are selected
  • After a few seconds
  • When the selection changes
  • Keep them unread.

If that does not change for you, the option was previously set to keep them unread.

3) Mail and Calendar App

If you use the Messaging and Calendar application in Windows 10, it has settings similar to those of the above clients.

• Click the configuration icon at the bottom left to open a list of configuration items.
• Select Reading Pane and change the options for Mark the article as read.

Although these options may seem annoying, the main idea is to manually mark them as read. In this way, you will never miss an email. I usually mark emails as unread after reading them, and there are many. In my case, the option is useful.

We hope that the steps were easy to follow and that you could select an item to read the message in Microsoft Outlook.