Outlook for web: categorised emails don't appear in favourites (issue)

I was suggested to ask for a more in-depth look & intervention through our service desk since I'm on an enterprise account. People are still working on it...

If you guys find a solution, please post it here. I'm having the same problem with my work mail. All the rules are set correctly. The mails don't show in any of the favourites. I even installed the desktop exe, hoping it was a browser problem. But to no avail.

Exact same issue for me:

• Emails with categories don't appear in the favorite linking to that category
• It's not all favorites that do this
  • some categories are working 100% correctly
  • some categories are not working as intended (some emails show, some don't) 🤔
  • some categories are not working at all, nothing shows up like the screenshot from OP
• Searching by category will show all emails tagged (working as intended)

This problem appeared only a week ago for me, been using categories in the favorites for years.

I'm on the Microsoft 365 family plan (ongoing membership for a few years)

I tried the suggestion of using incognito/private mode, but to no avail. More than 1 browser, including non-chromium (Firefox). Still not working.

If you guys get a solution, please post it here.

I think I found the issue for Outlook.live.com, please pass along the information to the developer team...

Normally, when things work:

1. Clicking on a category in the favorites
2. Will fill in the Search box at the top
3. And then execute the search afterward

The current bug is:

1. Clicking on a category in the favorites ✅
2. Search box at the top is not filled ❌
3. And search is executed with an empty category ❌

If you click in the Search box at the top afterward, you will see the category be filled in automatically immediately on the focus event. Press Enter with the category filled in and boom! You get all your emails correctly.

At this point, it's pretty clear cut what the problem is:

1. Either it's a timing issue on how the category is passed to the Search box
2. Or the value passed to the Search box at the top is not reflected in the input correctly (default value vs current value, uncontrolled vs controlled input)

Again, please send that information to the developer team for a fix. This is really getting frustrating; we need the categories working.

Hello Baptist_290,

Good day! Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft community.

As per your description, it seems like that you have categorized emails and added those categories to Favorites in Outlook for Web. However, when selecting a category from Favorites, no emails are displayed, despite the unread email count showing correctly. Searching for the category manually retrieves the emails, confirming that categorization is working as expected.

There might be few reasons/ possibilities for these types of scenarios, for example:

• Some users have reported similar issues where personal or non-365-business users for categorized emails do not display properly in Favorites.
• The Favorites section may not be updating correctly due to cached data.
• A hidden filter (e.g., unread-only) might be unintentionally applied, even if not visibly selected.
• If Inbox rule is enabled, some categorized emails might not appear in Favorites.

Meanwhile you may follow bellow initial steps to see the outcome result:

• Check if the Hide option is selected or not.
• 
• Check and clear all mail filters.
• A corrupted browser cache or cookies can cause Outlook Error. So can browser plugins if they interfere with Outlook’s connection to the Microsoft servers.
• You can use Incognito mode or private mode to access Outlook and find out where the trouble lies. This is because private browsing modes disable cookies, site data, and plugins.
• If this works fine with "Incognito mode or private mode", and if you can access Outlook via incognito mode, you can narrow down where the problem lies. I suggest clearing your browser "cache and deleting your cookies." for "All Time".

As you know, the process/ navigation method depends on which type of app version/ license/ subscription you have. To better understand your issue, I need some addition information so that we can narrow down the main reason and find out the root cause by working together.

Please correct me if I am wrong and I need your help on sending all the answers along with the data only via Private Message:

• What's your affected user ID or domain?
• May I know your affected account type and subscription/ license details?
  • Is it Microsoft 365 family/ business, (basic, standard, premium, enterprise (E3/E5) etc.), educational or Microsoft Personal account (outlook.com/Hotmail.com/live.com) or any third-party account?
• Which one does it connect to outlook.office.com or https://outlook.live.com/?
• Are you able to sign in to Outlook Web App (OWA) at https://outlook.office.com?
• Have you tried accessing Outlook Web from a different browser or clearing cache/cookies?
• Does this issue occur in both the Outlook desktop app and Outlook Web, or just Outlook Web?
• Are the missing emails located in the Inbox, or were they moved to another folder after categorization?

Note: to access private message platform, please click on your name, on the right top corner. Select My Profile > View Private Messages.

Please understand that our initial response may not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

Thanks for choosing the MS community.

Looking forward to your response and have a great day ahead!!

Sincerely

S M Nazmun Nur | Microsoft Community Moderator