Stop Outlook from marking email as read when you preview it

by | Oct 13, 2026 | email, Microsoft Office

Does Outlook mark your email as read the moment you click on it, before you’ve actually read it? You can change that. Hovering the mouse over a message never marks it read. What does is selecting it, which shows it in the Reading Pane (the preview area). With one setting change, a message will only show as read when you open it or mark it read yourself.

Instructions for all three versions of Outlook are below. Not sure which one you have? If the top of the window has a File menu, you’re using Outlook Classic. If you see a gear icon in the top right and no File menu, you’re using New Outlook or Outlook on the web.

Outlook Classic (desktop)

  1. Go to File > Options > Mail.
  2. Under Outlook panes, click Reading Pane… (You can also get there from View > Reading Pane > Options.)
  3. Uncheck Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane.
  4. Uncheck Mark item as read when selection changes.
  5. Click OK, then OK again.

Prefer a middle ground? Leave the first box checked and set Wait __ seconds before marking item as read to 10–30 seconds. A quick glance won’t count as reading, but staying on a message will.

This setting applies only to Outlook on the computer where you change it. It does not carry over to other PCs or to Outlook on the web.

Outlook on the web

  1. Sign in at outlook.office.com and click the Settings gear in the top right.
  2. Go to Mail > Message handling.
  3. Under Mark as read, select Don’t automatically mark items as read.
  4. Click Save.

New Outlook for Windows

  1. Click the Settings gear in the top right.
  2. Go to Mail > Message handling.
  3. Under Mark as read, select Don’t automatically mark items as read.
  4. Click Save.

New Outlook and Outlook on the web store this setting with your mailbox, so changing it in one changes it in the other.

One catch with Outlook on the web and New Outlook

With “Don’t automatically mark items as read” turned on, messages you open in their own window may also stay unread. If that happens, you have two options:

  • Mark messages read yourself. Press Ctrl + Q, or right-click a message and choose Mark as read.
  • Turn off the preview pane. Go to Settings > Mail > Layout and under Reading pane choose Hide reading pane. Then go back to Message handling and choose Mark displayed items as read. With no preview pane, a message is only displayed, and marked read, when you click into it.

Need a hand setting this up on your computer? Contact Katy Computer Systems and we’ll take care of it.