Outlook (365) - mark item as read only AFTER I OPEN the item.

Anonymous
2023-08-23T23:38:26+00:00

PLEASE!!! Only answer this if you have completely UNDERSTOOD my question. I've seen countless threads here where people are asking the same question, but the reply they get is NOT the answer to their question.

Pay Attention!!

Microsoft 365 - Outlook (desktop or web) (NOTE: Not regular Outlook (which was wonderful and powerful), but the %^%$## product from M...365 which looks like it was written for little kids writing to their BFFs or for grandmas).

Mark an item as read ONLY AFTER YOU OPEN IT. Not previewed, but opened. Not replied to, but opened!

Do NOT try to tell me how to keep it from marking it read when I view it in the reading pane, or move selection, or after 5 seconds. I DON"T NEED THAT! Pay Attention!

I need a button (in microsoft 365 outlook) that says to mark as read when item is opened just like I had in the original program (that my office has forced me to get rid of in favor of this mess).

BTW - I tried to post a screenshot (as suggested above) but it doesn't work (surprise!!)

moved from: Outlook / Outlook.com / Settings

Outlook | Web | Outlook on the web for business | Settings

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

88 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-07T18:57:18+00:00

    Terry,

    Novice here, but I wonder if this answers your Q. When you hover your mouse pointer over an in-coming e-mail several icons appear - flag, pin, trash and ENVELOPE.

    The ENVELOPE symbol is for "Mark as Read". Long-shot guess but I wonder if the intent was to replace "double-clicking and closing" with the single-step ENVELOPE ICON.

    I also feel like the feature is "missing", but maybe it's designed a little differently and could take some getting used to.

    Hope this helps.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-01T13:24:53+00:00

    No resolution and the issue persists. It is a pain to have to click "mark as read" for every email, even though you have opened it and replied. I'm ready to switch back to the old Outlook until they fix this.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-02-19T10:00:03+00:00

    Martin Rico, this maybe work as interim solution but it is not the solution for New Outlook, you are just opening the "old Outlook" locally installed app instead of new one. I have them both still installed also. And indeed, the older version works differently for this.

    I am also looking forward to have solution for this as it is very annoying like this.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-02-16T08:05:34+00:00

    Having the same issue as everyone else. Seeing no solution, so I am trying to move back to the non-New Outlook version.

    Wish I found this thread 30 minutes earlier instead of fumbling (and remember that the setting existed) around trying to set the correct option for read-only-when-opened-not-when-previewed. Let me know when they decide to put the option back into the "New" Outlook.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-01-23T14:54:42+00:00

    I also am having this difficulty. Bring back the way old Outlook worked.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments