Outlook 365 sent items automatically marked read

Question

I was just upgraded to Outlook 365, and I want emails that go to the 'sent items' folder to show as unread. Currently they are automatically marked read. I cannot figure out how to set this up, even though I have had this behavior in previous versions of Outlook over the last 15 years.

Version: Microsoft Outlook for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2304 Build 16.0.16327.20324) 32-bit

I posted the above question in the MS Community, and they stated this functionality currently does not exist (even though it was normal functionality for ever previously). They suggested I reach out to this forum to see if a script exists that can handle the situation. I look forward to getting back to normal. Please see their reply below.

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Hello Chris Gaines,

 

Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to assist you.

 

After through research and consultations it has been concluded that the feature you are inquiring about is not yet available. However, thank you so much for bringing this to our attention, your suggestion is very helpful, and I believe it could make the use of Outlook even better. We will surely raise your concerns to our Product Development Team and hopefully this can be included in the future updates.

 

In the meantime, please reach out to Office Development - Microsoft Q&A, they can assist you if there are available scripts to achieve this requirement.

Meanwhile, please provide feedback on this feature request by creating a new post in the Feedback Portal at Outlook · Community (microsoft.com), Microsoft is committed to enhancing the customer experience by continually examining suggestions to include in the design and development of future product upgrades based on your suggestions. Hopefully, your suggestion will help many users in the future.

Thank you for your time and understanding. For other questions, feel free to add your post in the Microsoft Community.

 

Stay safe and healthy.  

 

Sincerely,

Simbarashe | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 1

In the Mail view, click View > Reading Pane > Options

In the Reading Pane dialog box, please uncheck both Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane and Mark items as read when selection changes options

Alternatively, you can also specify the options as follows: (1) check the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane option, (2) enter the average time you spend on reading an email, and (3) uncheck the Mark item as read when selection changes option.

Click the OK