How to remove duplicate message heading

Question

messages in my email inbox have two headings, one in bold text which is empty and one in normal text which contains the message. How do I return to the regular format?

Answer 1

Hi tom and stephanie driscoll walls,

From your description, this sounds more like a message list display issue than a problem with the emails themselves. Since the date header setting has already been suggested, you could also check whether the inbox view has been switched to a grouped or conversation-based layout.

Please try these quick checks:

1. Turn Conversation View off temporarily and see if the blank bold heading disappears.
2. Refresh the mailbox in an InPrivate/Incognito browser window to determine whether the behavior is related to a browser extension or cached settings.
3. If available, check the same mailbox from another browser and compare the message list display.

If the issue only occurs in one browser or one session, it may point to a localized display setting rather than a problem with the messages themselves.

If you can share a screenshot of the message list (with any personal information obscured), the community may be able to identify exactly which view element is creating the extra blank heading.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction, and please let us know what you find after trying the checks above.

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Answer 2

This is usually a view/layout issue in Outlook on the web rather than a duplicate email.

Try these steps:

1. Open the folder where this appears.
2. Select Sort and choose Date.
3. Go to Settings > View all Outlook settings > Mail > Layout.
4. Under Date headers, select Don’t show date headers in message list.

Those bold header lines can make one message look like it has an extra empty heading.

If the issue continues, check whether the message list is just showing the same item twice visually:

1. Open one of the affected messages.
2. Select … > View > View message details.
3. Do the same for the other entry.
4. Compare the Message-ID values.

If the Message-ID is the same, it is a UI/display issue rather than two separate messages.

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References:

• Junk mail duplicates even though categories of messages set to individual - Microsoft Q&A