Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home
Using Classic Outlook on Windows for personal email, calendar, and contact management
Crazy this issue still exists...
How to set "Unread" as the default inbox filter in Outlook, and still be able to view Read messages
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Anonymous
Another article describes setting the default filter in Outlook to Unread under View Settings. I did this and found that after doing so, I was no longer able to view Read messages, they just didn't appear in the inbox after setting the Inbox filter to All.
What I'm looking for is a setting that will make Unread the default filter setting, but still allow me to see Read messages when switching the filter to All or Read. Does this setting exist?
Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home
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.
77 answers
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Anonymous
2025-06-27T22:57:20+00:00 -
Anonymous
2025-01-28T16:35:02+00:00 As others have noted, this does not address the requested preference of having the inbox open showing unread messages only as the default. It's a small but constant annoyance to have to reselect the 'unread' filter every time you return to the inbox or move between inboxes with multiple accounts.
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Anonymous
2024-05-22T23:37:08+00:00 Why can't this simply work like GMail. They have it figured out. Unread on top and all your read messages move to the bottom. Even when selecting Unread if Focused, once you click on the email and read it, it just stays there like the filter isn't even working.
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Anonymous
2024-05-21T18:15:02+00:00 Microsoft is very aware that few admins will move their organization away from Outlook over this.
It's not a deal-breaker.
If I could bring my own app to the organization, it would not be Outlook. But I'm not making that decision.
The upvotes are pointless unless you are a decision maker at a major account.
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Anonymous
2024-05-17T03:13:23+00:00 Much needed feature! Microsoft please, this should be an easy implementation and it would improve my (not only my) inbox immensely.