Mark a message as read or unread

Right-click the message.

Click Mark as Read or Mark as Unread.

To mark several messages as either read or unread at once, click the first message, hold down Ctrl, click the other messages, and then select the option you want.

Repeat to toggle a message status from read to unread and back again.

Press Ctrl+ Q to mark the message as read or Ctrl+ U to mark it as unread.

Mark all messages in a folder as read or unread

From the folder pane, select a folder (only one at a time).

Click any message in the list of messages, and then press Ctrl+ A to select everything in the folder.

Right-click the selected messages. and then

Select Mark as Read or Mark as Unread.

If you want, you can slow down how quickly messages get marked as read. For example, after you select a message, Outlook can wait 30 seconds before marking it as read.

Click File > Options > Advanced.

Options > Advanced»/>

Under Outlook panes, click Reading Pane.

Select the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane check box.

In the Wait n seconds before marking item as read box, type how many seconds you want to wait between when you click a message in the Reading Pane and it appears marked as read.

Outlook marks a message as read when you select it. To change this behavior:

Select File > Options > Advanced.

Options > Advanced»/>

Under Outlook panes, select Reading Pane.

Uncheck the boxes for Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane and Mark item as read when the selection changes.

Click OK twice to return to Outlook.

Important: This new option is currently only available for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and Microsoft 365 Apps for business customers on Current Channel who upgrade to Version 1803 (Build 9126.2116) or later. It is not available on versions.

If your Deleted Items folder shows that you have unread items, there’s now a quick fix to make sure all deleted messages are marked as read.

Select File > Options > Mail. In the Other section, check Mark messages as read when deleted.

Manually mark messages as read or unread

Select the messages you want to change.

To select adjacent items, click the first item, and then hold down SHIFT and click the last item.

To select nonadjacent items, click the first item, and then hold down CTRL and click additional items.

To select all items, on the Edit menu, click Select All.

Note: Changing the view for items can make selecting specific items easier. For instance, if you want to select all messages that have the same subject, in the folder containing the messages, click View, point to Arrange By, and then click Conversation. Select the messages you want from the view.

Automatically mark messages as read in the Reading Pane

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.

Click Reading Pane.

Select the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane check box, and then type a number in the Wait n seconds before marking item as read box.

Mark a message as read or unread

Right-click the message.

Click Mark as Read or Mark as Unread.

To mark several messages as either read or unread at once, click the first message, hold down Ctrl, click the other messages, and then select the option you want.

Repeat to toggle a message status from read to unread and back again.

Press Ctrl+ Q to mark the message as read or Ctrl+ U to mark it as unread.

Mark all messages in a folder as read or unread

From the folder pane, select a folder (only one at a time).

Click any message in the list of messages, and then press Ctrl+ A to select everything in the folder.

Right-click the selected messages. and then

Select Mark as Read or Mark as Unread.

If you want, you can slow down how quickly messages get marked as read. For example, after you select a message, Outlook can wait 30 seconds before marking it as read.

Click File > Options > Advanced.

Options > Advanced»/>

Under Outlook panes, click Reading Pane.

Select the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane check box.

In the Wait n seconds before marking item as read box, type how many seconds you want to wait between when you click a message in the Reading Pane and it appears marked as read.

Outlook marks a message as read when you select it. To change this behavior:

Select File > Options > Advanced.

Options > Advanced»/>

Under Outlook panes, select Reading Pane.

Uncheck the boxes for Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane and Mark item as read when the selection changes.

Click OK twice to return to Outlook.

Important: This new option is currently only available for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and Microsoft 365 Apps for business customers on Current Channel who upgrade to Version 1803 (Build 9126.2116) or later. It is not available on versions.

If your Deleted Items folder shows that you have unread items, there’s now a quick fix to make sure all deleted messages are marked as read.

Select File > Options > Mail. In the Other section, check Mark messages as read when deleted.

Manually mark messages as read or unread

Select the messages you want to change.

To select adjacent items, click the first item, and then hold down SHIFT and click the last item.

To select nonadjacent items, click the first item, and then hold down CTRL and click additional items.

To select all items, on the Edit menu, click Select All.

Note: Changing the view for items can make selecting specific items easier. For instance, if you want to select all messages that have the same subject, in the folder containing the messages, click View, point to Arrange By, and then click Conversation. Select the messages you want from the view.

Automatically mark messages as read in the Reading Pane

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.

Click Reading Pane.

Select the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane check box, and then type a number in the Wait n seconds before marking item as read box.

Outlook marking emails as read when downloaded from server. I want it to stop

I currently have my PC set up with Outlook and I have it set up via POP3. The problem is that I have my phone set up IMAP so that I can get the benefit of PUSH emails. When I check my email on my phone I see no new messages, when I actually open the folder there are plenty of new messages but they are already marked as read therefore not telling me I have new email. The reason seems to be that Outlook marks them as read on the server at the time of download . I would like to know how to change this. I want all my emails to go to both places but I want them to drop into my phone as unread as that is where I do most of my work. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide me.

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Welcome to Microsoft Community forum. I understand your trouble with your emails after configuring it to your computer.

First, you’ve mentioned that you’re using IMAP on your device and POP3 on your computer. Right? The first configuration was in your mobile and the last changes you’ve done is configuring your account to your computer via POP3.

This issue normally occur when you skipped the POP3 configuration to Leave a copy of messages on the server . To resolve this issue, please remove and reconfigure your account on your computer by following this steps:

Sign in to your Outlook.com account.

Click the Options icon , and then click Options .

Under Managing your account , click Connect devices and apps with POP .

Under POP , select Enable .

Even if you accidentally set up POP3 to delete messages after downloading them, Outlook.com will save a copy of the mail in a folder called POP until you verify the POP3 delete command.

Sign in to your Outlook.com account

Click the Options icon , and then click Options .

Under Managing Your Account , click Connect devices and apps with POP .

Under POP , make sure Enable is selected.

Select Don’t let devices or apps delete messages … to override any delete requests.
– Or –
Select Do what the device or app says … to allow devices and apps to delete messages from the inbox.

For more information, please refer to this link. Let me know if you have other concern. I’ll be happy to assist you.

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with the update to new outlook.com any of those options are not available anymore.

can you solve the same questions but for the new outlook.com ?

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We’re here to help to resolve your concern.

You can try to follow what Geoffrey_A. suggested including the link he provided.

We are also suggest you to set your reading pane to show a message only after you select it. Here’s how:

• Log in to your Outlook.com account.
• Click the Gear icon, select Options.
• Under Mail, select Mark as read.
• Choose the options you wanted to set up, and then click Save.

Let us know how it goes.

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I’ve tried this option too: «Mark items as read when the selection changes», but when my Gmail account (which is my backup for outlook) is fetching the new emails via POP3, it also mark them as read. So when I log into my outlook account all my emails are marked as read, even though I’ve never read it.

That was not happening before the update to outlook.com.

Hotmail/Live was much much better and faster and smoother than outlook.com, I don’t understand how Microsoft is screwing everything up after an major update.

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How-To Mark All as Read in Windows 10 Mail?

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Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

You can mark the messages as read, by manually selecting the messages (click the check box next to the mail) and then marking them as read. However, there is no Select all feature available.

You can post this query in the Feedback app. We will work on the issue. Your feedback is important to us.

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What was Microsoft thinking! Eliminating one of the most useful items in the Outlook/Email readers! I noticed it in the Windows phone first. Pplease remember that Desktop users and Tablet Users ARE NOT THE SAME! Using things for office use requires wholesale marking as read since there is so much spam around.

I cannot believe that in all these years, you guys would do something as dumb as this!

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I can understand how they missed this important method of selecting all to perform a mark as read. What is unacceptable and a big reason people switch to Apple is because Microsoft does not respond to these types of usability shortcomings. Complete disregard for their customers. It’s only a matter of time.

I personally use outlook but the app is a quick convenience but useless when you don’t know when new emails come in.

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We at Microsoft always keep your requirements in mind. We always welcome feedback from our customers to improve your experience. To be frank, lot of features has been re-fixed in the latest Windows 10 Insider Builds depending on customer’s feedback.

Suggest you to post your feedback on Mail app by clicking Settings/> Feedback, which helps and to ensure that no miss outs on each of your requirement.

Keep us posted if you require any assistance with windows, we’re glad to help you.

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I can understand how they missed this important method of selecting all to perform a mark as read. What is unacceptable and a big reason people switch to Apple is because Microsoft does not respond to these types of usability shortcomings. Complete disregard for their customers. It’s only a matter of time.

I personally use outlook but the app is a quick convenience but useless when you don’t know when new emails come in.

I don’t agree with this statement at all.

Microsoft fully involved the public in the development of Windows 10 through the preview builds programme — where people (anyone) were encouraged to download, install and comment on each version. If you should blame anyone, it is in fact the public for not encouraging Microsoft to look at this particular shortcoming; but I’m sure there were bigger fish to fry.

In addition, within the email app, there is a Feedback icon and one can only assume this is for posting feedback to Microsoft.

I doubt this is why users are moving to Apple and would offer an alternative opinion, that users are moving from Apple to Microsoft. It’s only a matter of time.

Windows 10 is a wonderfully sleek, yet to be polished OS (IMO).