How to enable or disable the Microsoft Outlook preview pane

Updated: 05/06/2024 by Computer Hope
Microsoft Outlook

The Preview pane, or Reading pane, in the Microsoft Outlook program and Outlook.com online e-mail service is useful for quickly reviewing e-mails. To enable or disable the Preview pane feature, select from the list below and follow the steps.

Microsoft Outlook

These steps are for the Microsoft Outlook client that's installed on a computer. These steps may vary slightly depending on the version of Outlook you are using.

Note

The steps below should enable or disable the Preview pane for all mail folders in Outlook. If it only works for one folder and all others are unaffected, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the Outlook program to fix the problem.

Enable Preview pane

  1. Open the Microsoft Outlook program.
  2. Click the View menu or tab at the top of the program window.
  3. Click the Reading pane or Preview pane option.
  4. Select the Right or Bottom option, depending on where you want the Preview pane displayed.

Microsoft Outlook Reading pane options.

Below are examples of what the Microsoft Outlook Preview pane looks like when enabled and displayed to the right and bottom.

Microsoft Outlook Preview pane displayed to the right of the Inbox.

Microsoft Outlook Preview pane displayed below the Inbox.

Disable Preview pane

  1. Open the Microsoft Outlook program.
  2. Click the View menu or tab at the top of the program window.
  3. Click the Reading pane or Preview pane option.
  4. Select the Off option.

Outlook.com

The steps below are for Outlook.com (previously known as Hotmail), and online e-mail service available through an Internet browser.

Enable Reading pane

  1. Log in to your Outlook.com e-mail account.
  2. Near the top-right corner of the browser window, click the gear icon to the left of your account profile icon.

Outlook.com settings gear icon.

  1. Select the Mail and Layout options in the left navigation menus, if not already selected.
  2. In the Layout page on the right, scroll down to the Reading pane section.
  3. Select the On the right or At the bottom option, depending on where you want the Reading pane displayed.

Reading pane options in Outlook.com Settings.

  1. Click the Save button.

Below is an example of what the Outlook.com e-mail Reading pane looks like when enabled. The Reading pane in this example is displayed to the right of the e-mail listing and shows the e-mail message currently selected.

Outlook.com Reading pane on the right.

Disable Reading pane

  1. Log in to your Outlook.com e-mail account.
  2. Near the top-right corner of the browser window, click the gear icon to the left of your account profile icon.
  3. Select the Mail and Layout options in the left navigation menus, if not already selected.
  4. In the Layout page on the right, scroll down to the Reading pane section.
  5. Select the Hide reading pane option and click the Save button.