How to adjust headings column width within Outlook (new Outlook for Windows)

Question

How to adjust headings column width within Outlook (new Outlook for Windows)

David Jackson 0

I've only had this HP PC a few months and the touch pad is extremely sensitive.

In Outlook, the columns have become exceptionally wide, I don't know how this happened and I can't seem to restore them.

The left column, Inbox, Sent, Files and so on is now at least twice as wide as it was

The From column is about 10x wider than before, no exaggeration

The Subject column is about 2 page widths

The Received column is the width of the computer screen.

The above is with text size normal

Outlook now covers the width of 3-4 screens. Crazy

Seemingly, I can not "click and drag" to reduce column widths. I've tried a plug-in mouse but to no avail.

All other Windows are unchanged. I've shutdown and restarted the PC but Outlook remains

Any help and advice would be very much appreciated.

Moderator note: thread updated with Outlook version (new Outlook for Windows)

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Answer recommended by moderator

Robert Sparnaaij [MVP] 18,406 MVP Volunteer Moderator

What is your exact version number of New Outlook?

File-> About Outlook

I tried to repro the issue, but I have issues with resizing the columns;

When you right-click on the column header, do you have the "Resize" command?

User's image

In case you don't like the column view, you can configure Outlook to force the multi-line layout regardless of the available Message List width; Settings-> Mail-> Layout-> Message height-> Always use multiple rows

User's image

David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-06-01T08:17:18.0266667+00:00

Thanks for your help, Robert. When I look at File, it shows Account Info, Download, Print and Settings. It does not show About Outlook.

Right clicking as per your screengrab freezes my screen

The message height section is greyed-out, can't change it and is set to Switch between one and multiple rows based on screen size
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP] 18,406 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-01T08:29:32.5666667+00:00

That's odd that you don't see all the options in the File menu but that could also be because you are on an outdated version.

Anyway, choose Settings and then select General-> About Outlook

The current version is 1.2026.520.400

If you are using an older version, you can force an update from the command line or Run command;

olk --force-update

Note the space in the command above and yes, you indeed need to use 2 dashes.

For more info about using New Outlook command line switches see; Command line switches for New Outlook (including secret ones!) - Robert 365
David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-06-01T09:08:23.1766667+00:00

Wonderful! Followed your force update and now have an icon "new outlook" and all is back to normal, I can right click and adjust column widths. Thank you so much, Robert.

I'm retired and trained using slide rules and log tables. Although I "used" computers fairly extensively I always had call upon an amazing IT team. I remain in awe of the knowledge and experience that you guys have together with your willingness, generosity and patients and tenacity to help us lesser mortals. Thank you all so much.
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP] 18,406 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-01T09:23:35.69+00:00

You're welcome and good to hear the issue is now resolved 🙂
Thanks for the compliment as well! ❤️
Rodrigo Queiroz 78,705 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-06-01T13:32:55.0166667+00:00

Great! Glad that this answer solved your issue

2 additional answers

Your answer

David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-06-01T08:17:18.0266667+00:00

Thanks for your help, Robert. When I look at File, it shows Account Info, Download, Print and Settings. It does not show About Outlook.

Right clicking as per your screengrab freezes my screen

The message height section is greyed-out, can't change it and is set to Switch between one and multiple rows based on screen size
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP] 18,406 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-01T08:29:32.5666667+00:00

That's odd that you don't see all the options in the File menu but that could also be because you are on an outdated version.

Anyway, choose Settings and then select General-> About Outlook

The current version is 1.2026.520.400

If you are using an older version, you can force an update from the command line or Run command;

olk --force-update

Note the space in the command above and yes, you indeed need to use 2 dashes.

For more info about using New Outlook command line switches see; Command line switches for New Outlook (including secret ones!) - Robert 365
David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-06-01T09:08:23.1766667+00:00

Wonderful! Followed your force update and now have an icon "new outlook" and all is back to normal, I can right click and adjust column widths. Thank you so much, Robert.

I'm retired and trained using slide rules and log tables. Although I "used" computers fairly extensively I always had call upon an amazing IT team. I remain in awe of the knowledge and experience that you guys have together with your willingness, generosity and patients and tenacity to help us lesser mortals. Thank you all so much.
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP] 18,406 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-01T09:23:35.69+00:00

You're welcome and good to hear the issue is now resolved 🙂
Thanks for the compliment as well! ❤️
Rodrigo Queiroz 78,705 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-06-01T13:32:55.0166667+00:00

Great! Glad that this answer solved your issue

Answer 1

Rodrigo Queiroz 78,705 Independent Advisor

Hi, I'm Rodrigo, and I will help you.
Try restoring the view settings to the default.
Go to View on the top bar > View Settings > Reset Current View

User's image

David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-05-30T21:41:20.8833333+00:00

Hi Rodrigo,

Thank you so much for wanting to help me, much appreciated. When I open View, View Settings, I do not see the screenshot per your message. This is what the account looks like now when I login on the PC
David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-05-30T21:42:57.5333333+00:00

This is my View, View Settings
Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-05-30T23:57:48.17+00:00

Your screen shot suggests that you are running the new Outlook for Windows. I'll update the thread info to reflect that fact.
Hornblower409 15,925 Reputation points

2026-05-31T04:28:49.2333333+00:00
@David Jackson
If you don't get any other suggestions, you can Reset your New Outlook for Windows Profile. But this is pretty drastic. It clears all of your settings and accounts. It's like you are starting New Outlook for the first time.

Close Outlook completely.

Make sure it isn't running in your system tray.

Press the Windows Key + r on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.

Type olk.exe --reset and press Enter.
David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-05-31T06:47:21.11+00:00

I have a much older Dell PC running W7. I've opened Outlook on this machine and can adjust column width by clicking and sliding, as per my expectation. Sadly, the newish machine does not appear to respond to this. At the side of the column, when the icon changes from finger to the line with two arrows, I can click right or click left but column width doesn't change.
Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-05-31T18:27:50.91+00:00

I have a much older Dell PC running W7. I've opened Outlook on this machine and can adjust column width by clicking and sliding, as per my expectation.

Which version of Office is installed on your older PC? Maybe it is a version which includes the classic desktop version of Outlook? See the screen shot below for a quick comparison of the user interfaces.
David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-05-31T19:28:55.63+00:00

Hi Stefan,

The older PC uses Classic Outlook.
Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-05-31T19:48:11.5966667+00:00

Thanks for the follow-up. Classic Outlook has more features than new Outlook, so that probably explains the different experiences in your different devices.

Answer 2

Rodrigo Queiroz 78,705 Independent Advisor

Try dragging the New Outlook window borders to reduce the window size. After reducing the New Outlook window, try reducing the columns by dragging from the column border.

David Jackson 0 Reputation points

2026-06-01T06:34:37.75+00:00

Thanks again for trying to help but nothing that I've tried has changed the width of the headers. If I "fit" the account to one page (two fingers sliding together on the touchpad) it is ludicrously small. As I hover the cursor to try to change anything, it changes to line with two arrows, as expected, at the end of the header columns, from, subject, date, but I can't change their width. Single, left click and slide moves the lines with two arrows but but width does not change. Two fingers, right click and slide freezes the cursor.