How to make Outlook go to 0 unread mails when I have clicked on the very last one?

Question

Say, if Outlook indicates that I have 3 unread emails, and I clicked on each one to read it.

Then I went to other apps (on the Mac). And Outlook would still show I have 1 unread email, which is the last one I clicked on already. I had to click on any other email to make the count go to 0.

Is there a way that I can make Outlook count it as "already read" after I clicked on it?

Answer 1

This is normal behavior for Outlook. However, you can change a setting that will auto-read the email once it's been opened. To do this:

1. Open Outlook and go to File > Options > Mail.
2. Click on "Reading Pane..." - which is under the Outlook panes heading.
3. Tick "Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane" and set it to 0 seconds.

This will automatically set the email to read when it's opened in the preview pane.

Answer 2

Outlook will go to 0 when all emails have been read (clicked on for the Reading Pane; or otherwise opened). This is default Outlook behavior.

If you have done all the above, look through your folder list. Sometimes emails get moved to a folder before being read and that causes what you see above.

Try the suggestions to see if they help you.

Answer 3

This is a somewhat annoying "feature" of Outlook. Thankfully, Microsoft has some good documentation on how to make it so viewing an email immediately sets it as read. View this Microsoft article and look under "Change how quickly messages are marked as read".

Answer 4

Please refer to the suggestion of NiallUK to go to File > Options > Mail > Reading pane > Check "Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane" and set it to 0 seconds.

Answer 5

Let me add an answer for the Mac:

Outlook ➜ Preferences ➜ Reading ➜ When viewed in the reading pane for 0 seconds