How can I get New Outlook to mark emails as "read" once I have replied to them?

Question

I have my settings such that my emails do NOT get marked read after clicking on them/viewing them in the reading pane. I prefer they remain undread until I click that I have read it or reply to it. The previous version of Outlook marked an email as "read" if I replied to it, but that is no longer happening and I do not see a setting to change it - only to change its status based on selecting/viewing the email.

As an aside, I'm only using this version of Outlook becuase last week I started getting this message whenever i tried to open Outlook: "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed." I attempted to repair it, but that didn't change anything. I removed and redownloaded and installed it, but that didn't change anything. I ultimately ended up removing Office entirely and downloading and installing the whole suite of products, which came with New Outlook. If anyone has any recommendations on how I can resolve that and go back to old Outlook, that would also be great!

Answer 1

Dear KatieMMR,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community. I understand that you would like to change the settings in New Outlook to mark emails as "read" once you have replied to them or clicked to indicate you have read them. Please follow these steps:

Check the message handling settings:

• Open Outlook 365 and navigate to your inbox.
• Click **the Settings (**gear) icon.
• Go to Email, and then select Message handling.
• In the Mark as read section, change the setting to Don't automatically mark items as read.
• In the unread items filter, check Always keep items unread unless I explicitly mark them as read.
• Save your changes.

To switch back to the classic view in Outlook, follow these steps:

• Open Outlook.
• Navigate to the Outlook menu.
• Uncheck the option for the New Outlook.
• Click the Revert button.
• Allow the application to revert to the Outlook Classic view.

Toggling out of the new Outlook for Windows preview - Microsoft Support

If the toggling option does not show, you can go to New outlook.

On top navigation bar select > Help > Go to classic Outlook.

If you toggled into the new Outlook for Windows preview from classic Outlook for Windows, every time you try to launch classic Outlook for Windows you'll be redirected to the new Outlook for Windows preview. You can go back to classic Outlook for Windows by selecting the toggle in the new Outlook for Windows app.  

If you don't see a toggle in the new Outlook for Windows, troubleshoot with these steps:

• Launch classic Outlook for Windows from the Windows Start Menu, not the new Outlook (identified by the "New" tag).
• Open the Registry Editor by typing "Registry Editor" in the Start Menu search and selecting the app.
• Go to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences.
• Find and double-click on "UseNewOutlook" at the bottom of the list.
• Set the Value Data field to 0.
• Attempt to launch classic Outlook for Windows from the Windows Start Menu.

Regarding the issue with your previous version of Outlook, it sounds like there may have been a problem with your Exchange account. If you are still experiencing this issue, please do not hesitate to inform us. We will work together to resolve the issue.

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely  

Feroz Mahmud | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Hi. What am I missing. These MS responses are of NO use. The emails do NOT get marked as READ after actually Replying. They also do not get marked READ when you double click and OPEN the email. I use UN read email as a to do list, and the NEW version of Outlook is terrible in so many subtle ways. a major step backwards. From cursors jumping to bottom, to having to double or even triple click in an email body after hitting REPLY in order to type a response. But this function is basic to emailing... if I double click OPEN a message, it should be marked READ. If I reply to a message it should be marked READ. Fix it or add the Option is settings to do this like old Outlook. Please

Answer 3

This is the Old behaviour I want back too... I DON'T want to mark items as read when (per options in the New Outlook Settings | Email | Message Handling:

• Mark displayed items as read as soon as they're selected. ❌
• Mark displayed items read after 5 seconds ❌
• Mark displayed items read when the selection changes ❌
• Don't automatically mark items as read ❌

In the unread filter: [ ] Always keep items unread unless I explicitly mark them as read

I DO, as per the OLD Outlook behaviour (no view of the options anymore):

• Mark displayed items as read when they are OPENED or replied* to. ✔️

*I was not aware that Replying to the emails in old would also mark as read, but if this is current behavior, it should be kept and must be intuitively unconscious and also makes complete sense (perhaps also if forwarded?!) :)

Answer 4

Hi Feroz,

Thank you for the reply and I have followed the steps as you have suggested. However, as John has also indicated, the email is not 'marked as read' once I have double clicked to open it or replied to it which the old 'pre-updated' outlook used to do. Is this feature just not available at the moment? In which case I will have to revert back to the classic.....

Many Thanks,

Jags.

Answer 5

Dear Feroz

Although this stops emails being marked as read until I select them, it doesn't allow the function previously offered on the old version of Outlook.

Is it possible to suggest a feature to the New Outlook team to allow emails to be marked as read in the following circumstances:

• If a reply to the email has been sent.
• If the email has been forwarded.
• If the email is opened in a new window.

I believe many users of Outlook would greatly desire these features to allow the new outlook to function effectively.

Thank you

Andrew