Views give you different ways to look at items in a folder. Each Outlook folder, such as Inbox and Calendar, allows you to customize your view to change fonts, the organization of items, and many other settings.
What would you like to do?
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Remove the dark background
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Read about the types of views available
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Create a new view
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Move the navigation bar
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Change the font size in the message list
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Change the font size in the Reading Pane
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Change the font size when composing a message
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Delete a custom view
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Apply the current view to multiple folders
Remove the dark background
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On the ribbon selectFile, then selectOffice Account.
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Under Office Theme, select White or Colorful orUse system setting.
For more details about dark mode, see Dark Mode in Outlook.
Types of views
There are several different types of views you can choose when creating new view.
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Table A table view shows your information in rows and columns. This is one of the most effective views for email messages.
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Timeline A timeline view shows your items along a fixed timeline. It's useful for tasks or for folders that contain a small number of items spread out over a period of time, for example, a collection of twenty emails for a specific project.
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Card Card views are typically used for contact folders. In a card view, you'll see a variety of fields that apply to each item, whether they're filled in or not.
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Business Card Business card views are typically used for contact folders. In a business card view, you only see fields that contain data.
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People A people view is a view of your contacts that doesn't show the same level of detail you see from Card or Business card views. You'll see a list of your contacts with their name and photo.
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Day/Week/Month A Day/Week/Month view is typically used for Calendar folders, but you can use it for email folders as well.
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Icon An icon view shows your items with an icon and their subject. This view is useful for folders with few items or for notes folders.
Create a new view
Sometimes, it's easier to start with a new view rather than modifying an existing view. You can create a new view in any Outlook folder.
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Click View > Current View> Change View > Manage Views > New.
Note:If you want to start from an existing view, in the Manage All Views dialog box, select <Current view settings> and then select Copy.
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Enter a name for your new view, and then choose the type of view.
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Under Can be used on, accept the default setting of All Mail and Post folders or choose another option, and then choose OK.
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In the Advanced View Settings: New View dialog box, choose the options that you want to use, and then choose OK.
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To use the view immediately, choose Apply View.
Move the navigation bar
For instructions, see Customize the Navigation Bar.
Change the font or font size in the message list
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Select View > View Settings.
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Select Other Settings in the Advanced View Settings box.
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Select Column Font or Row Font.
Note:To change the font size of the message preview, sender name, and subject in the default Inbox view, choose Row Font.
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Select the font, font style, and size you want, then click OK three times to save your settings and apply your changes.
Note:If you only want to change the font or font size for the message preview (the line of message text you see under the subject and sender, select Font under Message Preview.
Change your font or font size in the Reading Pane
The Reading Pane doesn't allow you to change the default font or font size. However, you can zoom in or zoom out easily. You can also tell Outlook to display all of your email messages in plain text, and have more control over the font size.
If you're aMicrosoft 365 subscriber, you can select a zoom percentage that persists across all of the messages you read.
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At the bottom right corner of the Reading Pane, click the percentage (usually 100%) to display the Zoom While Reading dialog box.
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Choose one of the default percentages or enter your own percentage. Select the Remember my preference checkbox to keep your zoom level the same across all messages you receive.
If you're not aMicrosoft 365 subscriber, the Zoom percentage will not save from one message to the next. Every time you switch messages in the reading pane, you'll need to zoom in or out. To change your zoom percentage, use the following steps.
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To zoom in or out in the Reading Pane, look for the magnification slider at the bottom right corner of the Reading Pane.
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Move the slider left or right to change the size of the text in the Reading Pane.
Note:Any change you make to the zoom level only persists while you're viewing the message. If you select a different message, the zoom percentage will return to 100%. If you click back to the first message, the zoom percentage isn't saved.
Change the font size for messages when composing, replying, or forwarding
To change the font size for messages when composing, replying, and forwarding, use the following steps.
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Select File > Options > Mail > Stationery and Fonts.
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Select the Font button for New mail messages or Replying or forwarding messages to change the default font, font size, and font color when composing or replying to messages.
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Click OK twice to save your changes.
For additional tasks, choose from the options below.
Delete a custom view
Important:You can't delete a predefined view, even if you've changed its settings.
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On the View tab, in the Current View group, choose Change View > Manage Views.
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Under Views for folder, select the custom view that you want to remove.
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Choose Delete, confirm deletion, and then choose OK.
Apply the current view to multiple folders
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On the View tab, in the Current View group, choose Change View > Apply Current View to Other Mail Folders.
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In the Apply View dialog box, select each folder that you want to apply the view to. (A small check mark appears next to the folder name to indicate it is selected.
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Select OK.
See Also
Go to the next or previous item in email
Dark Mode in Outlook
Customize the Navigation Bar
