New Outlook, Reading Pane "popout only" not working

Question

I am trying to use New Outlook and I want e-mails to open in a sperate window, not in a reading pane. So I have looked at the reading pane options and I can choose "popout only", but doing this just means e-mails will not open, double or single click.

Please can this be fixed, I cannot use new outlook if I cannot open e-mails outside of the reading pane.

Answer 1

Hi Webb, Elizabeth

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum 

Thank you for the details. I completely understand how frustrating it is when emails won’t open the way you expect. 

To give the best advice, may I know a few more details: 

1.When you have “Popout only” selected, what exactly happens when you double-click a message? Does nothing happen at all or do you get any error message? 

2.Please make sure your Outlook is the latest version 

In the meantime, please try the very first basic step: 

1.Quick Online Repair 

-Close Outlook completely 

-Go to Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps 

-Search for Outlook 

-Click the three dots > Advanced options > Repair > choose Online Repair  

-Once it finishes, open Outlook again and test “Popout only” + double-click 

2.Reset the Outlook app 

-Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Outlook > Advanced options 

-Scroll down > click Reset 

-Sign in again and test 

3.Completely uninstall and reinstall Outlook 

-Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Outlook three dots > Uninstall 

-Reinstall Outlook and test 

 

The initial response may not fully address your needs, please give these a try and let us know how it goes and we will investigate further 

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Answer 2

In the New Outlook, if you have selected the "popout only" option for the reading pane, it is designed to restrict emails from opening in the reading pane and instead require them to open in a separate window. However, if you are experiencing issues where emails are not opening at all when double or single-clicked, this may be a bug or a limitation in the current version of the New Outlook.

To troubleshoot this issue, you can try the following steps:

1. Ensure that your New Outlook is updated to the latest version, as updates may fix bugs.
2. Check your settings again to confirm that "popout only" is selected correctly.
3. Restart the application to see if that resolves the issue.
4. If the problem persists, consider providing feedback to Microsoft through the app, as they may need to address this functionality in future updates.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, you may need to continue using the reading pane until a fix is implemented or consider using the classic version of Outlook for the time being.

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References:

• Activate your Outlook add-in without the Reading Pane enabled or a message selected
• Implement a pinnable task pane in Outlook