How do I get rid of the panel on the right hand side of my screen?

The ads are how Microsoft makes the money to keep Outlook.com free.

You can upgrade to Outlook Plus (paid) to be rid of them permanently. 

If you have PLUS and ads please contact the Billing Department.

Hi DavidELSE,

Thank you for providing us the screen shot.

I understand that you want shrink the ad pane on the right side of the Outlook.com mailbox. You can post your suggestions and feature request on our feedback page. Our product specialist appreciates feedback from our customers.

Should you have other concerns, please let us know.

Hi everyone,

We understand how you feel about the recent changes happened on your email accounts. The system upgraded the user interface of all Hotmail users to Outlook.com. The launch of Outlook.com preview gave everyone an opportunity to learn together as we roll out and scale this new service.

Microsoft email account users received notification messages about the upcoming upgrade. There's no option to switch back to Hotmail.

You can read the following articles for more information about Outlook.com:

• Why am I seeing Outlook.com instead of Hotmail when I log in?
• My account was automatically upgraded to Outlook.com: Frequently asked questions
• Frequently Asked Questions for Outlook.com
• How do I get the best browser experience for SkyDrive, People and Outlook.com?

There are a lot of reasons why Outlook.com interface is not working properly on your computer. There is a possibility that your internet browser is not compatible with the new interface or it needs to be optimized. To make sure that your internet browser is Outlook.com ready, please do the following recommendations:

1. Upgrade or download the latest version of your internet browser to make sure its compatibility with the new interface. Refer to this link to know more about it.
2. If you are using Internet Explorer, reset its settings and check if the issue gets fixed. To Reset Internet Explorer settings, follow these steps:

a. Exit all programs, including Internet Explorer (if it is running).

Click Start, type the following command in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER: inetcpl.cpl and the Internet Options dialog box appears

b. Click the Advanced tab.

c. Under Reset Internet Explorer settings, click Reset. Then click Reset again.

d. When Internet Explorer finishes resetting the settings, click Close in the Reset Internet Explorer Settings dialog box.

e. Start Internet Explorer again.

Refer to this link for more details on how to reset your Internet Explorer settings.

3. Optimize your browser, clear browser's cache and temporary internet files to make sure that your browser’s setting is not contributing to your issue. Check this article for instructions. After optimizing your internet browser, close your entire browser and try again.
4. Make sure that the updated version of Silverlight is installed in your computer. Visit this link for instructions.
5. If all the above recommendations did not resolve your issue, we encourage you to visit the Fix It Solution Center to troubleshoot the possible issue on your computer.

Just choose the area you're having problems and it will automatically diagnose and repair common software problems in Windows, Internet Explorer or other Microsoft products.

Feel free to post your feedbacks here. This will help improve our services and features of Outlook.com.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Mark M.

Forum Moderator

Hi,

We understand that you want to remove the space of on the right side of your mailbox. In addition to JMH3143's reply, the space on the right side of your mailbox is for the contents or information from third-party network (like Facebook and Twitter). To disable this option, please follow the steps below:

1. Go to your inbox.
2. On the upper-right part of your screen, click the gear icon, and then select More mail settings.
3. Under Reading email, click Content from third-party networks.
4. Under Showing public content, select **Don't show public content from third-party networks.**5. Click Save.

If you have any additional concern, please let us know.

Thanks.