Message Body Font in Outlook Suddenly Small

If you aren't in "compact mode" (mine wasn't after it updated either), you should be able to go to your reading pane and right click within the "subject" column header. In the drop-down menu go to "View settings". Click the icon for "other settings". In that window you can click into the font selection for column, row, and message preview. I like mine adjusted to 12 pt. Calibri, but use what you like.

If you uncheck the compact mode box you can keep editing like that, but I checked it and now can't find the settings again. If anyone knows how to get that back please let me know!

Hi. I had the same issue and none of the replies here includes a fix to make the font of the inbox pane bigger. I tried the Outlook help and found the solution.

1. Select Mail.
2. Select View > View Settings.
3. Select Other Settings.
4. To change the font or font size for the column headers in your inboox (like "From" and "Subject"), select Column Font, and then make the desired adjustment.

5. To change the font or font size of the message subject lines in your inbox, select Row Font, and then make the desired adjustment.

So, when you make the columns and rows bigger, the font size in them becomes bigger.

Let me know if this helped.

Thank you! This worked for me!

Interesting to see how many comments there are here. None of the solutions presented here work for me.

I'm working on the Desktop application on a Macbook. (Recently updated the OS to Sonoma.)

Emails appear normal in Inbox view and Sent folders.

When I go to compose an email, newly or as a reply, the text of the email body appears tiny. Both the text I type and an initial message are now tiny. The composing space shows tiny text.

• This is not due to a tiny font size -- font size normal and when I've enlarged it, it's just a little less teeny.
• The body of an email in my inbox looks normal until I go to reply to it.
• This happens whether I open the email in a separate window or not.
• What I've tried:
• There is no relevant option in Outlook > SETTINGS> Composing or >General.
• There is no View > Settings.
• Display density was & is Roomy.
• In the message pane itself, there is no View option or Zoom, as mentioned here (whether opened as a separate window or reading view)
• No evident way to change column / row sizes. I'm not sure this would the issue anyway, since the text shrinks within the message pane itself.
• After I send the email/reply I've composed in tiny text (not tiny font), it looks normal in the sent folder.

tl;dr My composing pane on Outlook Desktop shows tiny text (not tiny font size) and the steps to change that are mysterious and obscure.

Found an answer that worked:

1. Place the cursor in the body of the email message you're composing.
2. Select Format > Zoom.
3. Select a zoom percentage or enter a custom percent.

This could be more obvious, since it really seems like what we'd call View.

IOW It's a View issue, not a Me issue.