Why do I keep getting this message after I've forwarded an email and go back to close the original email

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Why do I keep getting this message after I've forwarded an email and go back to close the original email

Eric Campbell 20

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Anonymous

Hi @Eric Campbell,

The message you're seeing: "The properties of the message have been changed. Want to save your changes to this message?", typically appears in Classic Outlook for Windows when you've made changes to the original email after forwarding it.

This can happen even if the changes are minor or unintentional, such as:

Clicking into the body of the original message
Adding or editing a category, flag, or follow-up
Modifying the subject line or any metadata

Outlook detects these as changes and prompts you to save them before closing the message.

If you didn’t intend to make any changes, you can safely click No.
If you want to preserve any edits (e.g., notes or flags), click Yes.
If you're unsure, click Cancel to review the message before deciding.

Hope my information helps. Let me know if you need any further questions.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Eric Campbell 20 Reputation points

2025-07-30T16:52:18.62+00:00

Thanks for your reply, Killian-N! Can you tell me how to prevent this popup in the future? This seems like a new thing as I've never noticed it before, and I don't actually find it helpful.
Anonymous

2025-07-30T17:21:58.52+00:00
Hi @Eric Campbell,

Thank you for your response, good to know that my information helps.

Regarding to your follow-up question, I'm sorry to say that at this time, there isn’t a built-in setting in Classic Outlook for Windows to completely suppress the “The properties of the message have been changed…” prompt. Outlook shows this dialog when it detects any change to the message, even something as subtle as clicking into the body or triggering an auto-save.

On the other hand, there are still some workarounds that you could try:

Open messages in Read-Only mode: Instead of double-clicking to open the message (which opens it in edit mode), try using the Reading Pane or right-click > Open in new window > Open as Read-Only (if available).

Avoid clicking into the message body: Even a single click can register as a change.

Use Quick View or Preview: If you only need to forward or reference the message, using the preview pane can help avoid triggering the edit state.

If you’d like to suggest improvements or request a feature to disable this prompt, you can submit feedback directly to the Outlook team:

In Outlook, go to Help > Feedback.

Choose "I have a suggestion".

Describe your experience and why you’d like the prompt to be optional or removed.

The Outlook team actively reviews user feedback to guide future updates.

Let me know if you’d like help drafting the feedback or if you have any other questions.
bovsklo 21 Reputation points

2026-08-01T00:26:07.0233333+00:00

Outlook DOES NOT open emails in Edit mode from a double-click. Why are you telling people that?