Highlight Color of Selected Message in Outlook for Mac

Anonymous
2023-09-11T15:46:07+00:00

I have my Outlook for Mac inbox setup with the list of emails on the left and the reading pane on the right.  When scrolling through the list of messages in the list on the left, in my inbox as well as messages stored in other folders, it is very difficult for me to tell which email is selected in the list.  Many years ago, when a message was selected in the list it was highlighted in a deep blue color… Now it’s a very faint light blue color that is really hard for me to see (yes I do have some vision issues... but it's also so faint I have to imagine others have the same issue).  

As a result, I frequently delete the wrong email etc. because I can't tell what is actually highlighted.  Is there a way to change the default color of a highlighted message in the list, to make it easier to tell which message is highlighted?  I tried messing around with the overall theme in the settings, and while the red theme made it a bit better I sort of hate the look of the other themes... so is there a way to only change of the highlighted message? If not, do you have any recommendations on how to avoid these mistakes?

Thanks for your help

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-12-22T22:57:51+00:00

    So this is clearly a UI / UX problem, that should've been spotted during Q/A. What do we need to do to escalate this issue? It's a real pain, unless you work in a dark room all of the time.

    Many thanks.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-12-23T10:07:17+00:00

    Hello to all of the above contributors to this issue I also encounter. I would like to get the possibility to identify clearly which I have selected as I have exactly the same issue as the first person mentioned.

    Furthermore I confirm the answer given by the support is not useful at all

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-04T18:50:06+00:00

    This is a HUGE problem! I am so happy to have found this page/question as I have been struggling with this for such a long time. The fact that folks with no vision issues struggle with being able to determine which message is highlighted should be a loud and clear message to the developers that this product design is terrible.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-01-04T19:11:03+00:00

    This is a HUGE problem! I am so happy to have found this page/question as I have been struggling with this for such a long time. The fact that folks with no vision issues struggle with being able to determine which message is highlighted should be a loud and clear message to the developers that this product design is terrible.

    So true, Julie. I kept thinking I would find some "high contrast" setting for accommodations, or something, just to be able to see. Nothing... Good luck to us all!

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-01-07T17:29:53+00:00

    I have the same issue - spent hours to try and figure it out!!

    Hopefully Microsoft will fix it soon!!

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