Can't adjust the width of the folder pane

Question

Can't adjust the width of the folder pane

Lindsay Graham 0

I lost the folder pane recently but managed to get it back OK. But now I'm not able to increase the width. It's not minimised but is not wide enough for me to read longer folder names. The double line vertical arrow appears at the right hand border, but dragging it to the right has no effect. How do I fix that?

Lindsay Graham 0 Reputation points

2026-08-09T06:00:00.7333333+00:00
Now fixed! It seems that changing the width of the Folder Pane is not possible when the Reading Pane is open at the right. I'm annoyed (and disappointed) that:

the effect on the Folder Pane of having the Reading Pane is not explained somewhere obvious; and

it should be possible to change the Folder Pane width even when the Reading Pane is open.

1 answer

Your answer

Lindsay Graham 0 Reputation points

2026-08-09T06:00:00.7333333+00:00

Now fixed! It seems that changing the width of the Folder Pane is not possible when the Reading Pane is open at the right. I'm annoyed (and disappointed) that:

the effect on the Folder Pane of having the Reading Pane is not explained somewhere obvious; and

it should be possible to change the Folder Pane width even when the Reading Pane is open.

Answer 1

For classic Outlook, try these steps in order:

Go to View > Folder Pane > Normal. This ensures the pane is in the standard expanded state.
If the pane is still narrow, use the expand control on the side of the window (>) to fully expand it.
Then point to the right edge of the Folder Pane until the resize pointer appears, and:
- Double-click the edge to toggle between minimized and expanded states, or
- Drag the edge to the right to widen it.
If Outlook is not letting the width change even though the resize pointer appears, minimize the Navigation Pane and then expand it again:
- Click the arrow at the top corner of the pane to minimize it.
- Click the arrow again to expand it.
- Then try dragging the right edge again.
If the pane remains too narrow after that, in View > Folder Pane, select Off, then turn it back on with Normal.

If the issue is specifically that the pane border shows the resize cursor but still will not widen, that exact behavior is documented for Access, where turning on the Search Bar restores resizing. That fix is not documented for classic Outlook, so the supported Outlook steps are to reset the pane state by switching between Normal, Minimized, and Off, then resize again.

References: