Switch between Outlook's main views in three clicks

Outlook has four main views you can switch between when ready: Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks. Each one shows you a different part of your account. To change views, look at the left sidebar — you'll see icons or text labels for each view. Click the one you want, and Outlook loads that workspace right away. There's no setup required; you're just choosing which part of your account to look at.

The Mail view is where you read and send messages. Calendar shows your schedule and lets you create events. People holds your contacts. Tasks keeps track of your to-do list. Most people spend most of their time in Mail, but switching between them takes one click, so you can move between them as often as you need.

Key Takeaways

  • Click the Mail, Calendar, People, or Tasks icon in the left sidebar to switch between Outlook's main views.
  • Within Mail view, you can change how your inbox looks by choosing between list, preview, and compact layouts from the View menu.
  • The Reading Pane — the panel that shows your full email — can be turned off, moved to the right side, or moved below your inbox list.
  • Sorting your inbox by sender, date, or subject happens in the View menu and stays the way you set it until you change it again.

Change how your inbox list looks

Inside Mail view, you can change the layout of your inbox itself. Go to the View menu at the top of the window. You'll see options for how to display your messages: Compact, Single Line, Preview, and others depending on your version of Outlook. Compact shows just the sender and subject line. Preview shows a few lines of the message below the subject. Single Line shows one line per message with minimal detail.

Pick the one that matches how you work. If you get a lot of mail and need to scan quickly, Compact saves space. If you want to see what's in a message before you open it, Preview helps. Once you choose, Outlook remembers your choice and uses it every time you open the app.

Move or hide the Reading Pane

The Reading Pane is the panel on the right side of your screen that shows the full text of whichever email you've selected. Some people like it there. Others want it below the inbox list instead, or hidden entirely so they have more room for the message list.

To change it, go to View and look for Reading Pane. You'll see options: Right (the default), Bottom, or Off. Choose Right to keep it where it is. Choose Bottom to move it below your inbox list — this works well on wide monitors. Choose Off to hide it completely; you'll open emails by double-clicking them instead. Your choice stays set the next time you open Outlook.

Sort your inbox by different columns

By default, Outlook sorts your inbox by date, with the newest messages at the top. You can change this. Click the column header at the top of your message list — you'll see "From", "Subject", "Received", and others depending on your view. Click any of them to sort by that column. Click again to reverse the sort order (newest to oldest becomes oldest to newest).

Sorting by From groups all messages from the same person together. Sorting by Subject groups related conversations. Sorting by Received is the default and usually the most useful. Outlook remembers which column you sorted by and keeps using that sort until you change it.

Use Focused Inbox to separate important mail

Outlook can split your inbox into two tabs: Focused and Other. Focused shows messages Outlook thinks you care about — mail from people you contact often, messages with your name in them, and messages you've marked as important. Other holds everything else: newsletters, notifications, and messages from people you rarely hear from.

To turn this on, go to View and look for Focused Inbox. Toggle it on. Your inbox will split into two tabs at the top. Click Focused to see important mail. Click Other to see the rest. You can move messages between tabs by right-clicking them and choosing "Move to Focused" or "Move to Other". This helps if you get a lot of mail and want to see the important stuff first without deleting anything.

Group messages by conversation or sender

Outlook can group related messages together so you see one conversation instead of ten separate emails. Go to View and look for Group By. You can group by Conversation (all replies to the same subject line together), From (all messages from one person together), or Date (all messages from today, yesterday, last week, etc. in separate groups).

Grouping by Conversation is useful when you're working through a back-and-forth with someone. Grouping by From helps when you want to see everything from a specific person at once. Once you choose a grouping, Outlook keeps using it. You can change it back to no grouping by selecting that option in the View menu.

Switch between different folder views

Your inbox is just one folder. You also have Sent Items, Drafts, Deleted Items, Junk Email, and any custom folders you've created. Click any folder name in the left sidebar to view its contents. Each folder remembers its own view settings — your inbox might be in Preview layout while your Sent Items is in Compact layout, and each stays that way.

If you have multiple email accounts in Outlook, each account has its own set of folders. Click the account name in the left sidebar to expand it and see all its folders. This is useful if you need to switch between work and personal email or manage multiple accounts in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have different view settings for different folders?

Yes. Each folder remembers its own layout, sort order, and grouping. You can have your inbox in Preview layout sorted by date, and your Sent Items in Compact layout sorted by recipient. Outlook keeps each folder's settings separate.

What's the difference between Focused Inbox and creating rules?

Focused Inbox automatically learns which mail matters to you and shows it in a separate tab, but the mail stays in your inbox. Rules let you move mail to different folders automatically based on sender, subject, or keywords. Rules are more permanent; Focused Inbox is more flexible and learns over time.

If I change my view, will it change on my phone too?

No. Your phone version of Outlook has its own view settings. Changing the view on your computer doesn't affect your phone, and vice versa. Each device remembers its own layout choices.

How do I get back to the default view if I've changed too many things?

Go to View and reset individual settings one at a time — turn off Focused Inbox, change the Reading Pane back to Right, switch grouping back to None, and change the layout back to Preview. There's no single "reset all" button, but changing each setting back takes just a few clicks.