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I noticed that today, whenever I close my Outlook for Mac and then open it up again, it opens with the reading pane on the bottom of my list of emails, as opposed to on the right-which is how I always have it. Even when I change it, by going to View-Reading Pane-Right: when I close Outlook for Mac, it reopens with the reading pane on the bottom. This has never happened before and has only been happening today. Does anyone know why this might be? I am using Version 16.102.2.
Many thanks!
Configuring preferences and options in Outlook.com
I have a sort of update in that I did receive a reply from a Microsoft employee via the Help-Contact Support in Outlook for Mac and they wrote:
"...many users have reported this issue. I would request you to reproduce the issue and collect the incident ID".
I have since followed their instructions and provided them with the incident ID.
I'll update here when I have more info.
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It only seems to be happening in the 'Legacy Outlook' settings not the normal Outlook for me.
Hi Mark-yes, this is correct. According to MS's description of the issue:
Marla
Thank you for the report. I read it as Outlook for Mac 16.102.25110228
Is it fixed in Legacy, New, or both?
Marla
I believe that you are correct. The Reading Pane position bug was Legacy Outlook for Mac only. Sorry for the confusion. There have been so many different reports on this issue which don't specify Legacy/New.
No worries at all, Hornblower-it's easy to get confused, especially because there are other threads on this same issue.
All fixed with the latest update... Good news
Answer accepted by question author
It could be a bug in that build, I saw another person mention it but he just said outlook, not Outlook for mac.
I'm using an early release build, it just updated to 16.104 and cannot repro it in this build. I rarely quit Outlook so did not notice it last week when I had 16.102 builds.
Do you have Help > Contact Support? If so, use that to report it. Thanks.
Thanks very much, Diane. Yes, I did send a message to Contact-Support last night but haven't checked my messages yet. It did occur to me that this might be related to the world wide reported issue to do with Microsoft, because at first, I was unable to send any issues via Help-Contact Support and I was also unable to access the Help altogether. I'll report back if they have replied to me.
Diane P
-- it just updated to 16.104 and cannot repro it in this build.
Could you please confirm if the bug is fixed in 16.104? Reddit user reports:
abenusa 17h ago Same problem in the latest beta version as well Version 16.104 (25102831)
Did the people in reddit say they are using new Outlook or legacy? One of the mac MVPs said it is in legacy v. 16.102... I'm using 16.104, but new outlook, that is why I didn't repro it.
I switched to legacy and the pane is on the bottom initially but switching to right side then switching to the calendar didn't drop it back to the bottom. But restarting Outlook drops it back to the bottom.
Microsoft is aware of it (but no other information) - they don't have a support article on it yet though. Best guess: the work around they offer for now will be "use new outlook."
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YUP you are NOT alone: since latest update yesterday - CONSTANTLY and spinning wheel of death: probably because developers lagging in communications - happens sometimes, BUT should have been addressed by now, one would THINK??
Thanks, Diane. I turned off my auto updates yesterday so mine hasn't updated to 16.104. I'm still using Version 16.102.2
Should I turn my updates "on" and update to version 16.104? To be clear-I'm using Legacy.
Also, just to add: I did try and roll back to the Oct 20th release in that I installed it on my Macbook Air, but I wasn't sure if I should be deleting (moving to Trash) my existing Outlook App (the blue one attached). The 20th Oct one is the yellow one. My subscription is MS 365 Family.
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The option "Contact Support" does not exist in my Outlook for Mac (v16.102.2)
How do we fix this??!! And: why did they do it to begin with?!
Sorry, just to add to my previous comment and as a matter of reference:
In order for the "Contact Support" option to appear in the Help menu, one needs to have the "Send Additional Diagnostics and Usage Data to Microsoft" checked in Settings>Privacy + having "Connected Experiences" set to On in the same tab.
Stefan-I'm glad you figured out how to Contact Support. I would suggest that everybody does this because this is the latest reply I received late last night/early this morning, from Microsoft:
"Thank for the response. There is no official confirmation from Microsoft that a fix for the Outlook for Mac reading pane issue has been published. The bug is still active in build 16.102.2, and it is not listed among resolved issues on Microsoft’s known issues page. Since addressing this requires thorough testing and a structured rollout. I'll go ahead and close this ticket now. If you ever need further assistance, feel free to reach out through the same support channel. Your feedback is valuable to us! Please stay in this chat window to share your experience. Thank you for reaching out to Outlook Support. Wishing you a wonderful day ahead!" 🎉
I would really rather that they leave my ticket open, and update me on progress/when it is fixed (not that I wouldn't notice the fix myself). I have no way of asking them to keep the ticket open, because the only link they provide me at the end of the above reply is "proceed to submit survey".
Please can everyone who is having an issue with the reading pane in Outlook Legacy version 16.102.2 report it via the Help-Contact Support option.
Many thanks!
Hurray! I believe the latest update has resolved the issue-see attached. I've just installed it, and re-opened my Outlook for Mac and my reading pane is now on the right side. Screenshot 2025-11-04 at 17.54.17.png
It's all over the forums. No word from Microsoft yet.
Thanks very much, Hornblower-I did not see these other reports but it's reassuring that it isn't just me. I appreciate the links! Many thanks:).
Hornblower-I use the Legacy version so can only comment on this being fixed, but from what I had read, others who use the new Outlook for Mac did not have the reading pane issue. Perhaps I am mistaken, but that is what I recall-that the issue was only occurring in the Legacy version.
Has anyone updated to version 16.103 and is using Legacy (not the "New" Outlook)? If so, did the update retain the reading pane on the right? I'm concerned about updating from 16.102.3 because my reading pane is exactly where I want it now. Please share your experience if you've updated to 16.103. Many thanks!
Hurray! I believe the latest update has resolved the issue-see attached. I've just installed it, and re-opened my Outlook for Mac and my reading pane is now on the right side. Screenshot 2025-11-04 at 17.54.17.png
Rolling back to October 20 release should fix it.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac
I don't know if you can use mixed versions - trash the office apps then install the oct 20 version from that link.
Hello! Can't risk a roll-back, they really need to FIX this!
No-one ever asked for it!!