How to Setup Outlook Appearance - Color and Patterns

Question

How to Setup Outlook Appearance - Color and Patterns

Donald Sisneros 0

A workstation update caused my Outlook program to change in appearance. It is not apparent on how to change the appearance to what it was before the update and tools are not intuitive enough to find on my own!!!

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Hi Donald,

Since you're using Classic Outlook, go to File > Options > General. Under Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office, you can change the Office Theme to adjust the overall appearance.

If Outlook is automatically changing the background color of messages and you'd prefer it not to, select the Never change the message background color option. This will keep message backgrounds consistent regardless of the theme you choose.

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I hope this helps clarify the issue.

If you're using New Outlook, or if you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please feel free to leave a comment on this post, and I'll be happy to help further.

If the answer is helpful, please click 'Yes' and kindly upvote it.

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Answer 2

For Classic Outlook on Windows, the appearance change can usually be adjusted in a few different places depending on what changed:

If the whole Outlook app changed to dark or black colors
- Go to File > Options > General.
- Under Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office, adjust the Office theme.
- If message backgrounds are changing and that is not wanted, check Never change the message background color.
If the mailbox or message list appearance changed
- In Outlook, open the View tab.
- In the Messages group, select Conversations to customize Conversation view.
- If the folder layout looks wrong, use Reset View for the affected folder.
- Then use View Settings or Current View to restore columns, sort order, grouping, and reading pane position.
If the color or pattern change is in email composition
- Open a message window.
- Go to the Options tab.
- In the Themes group, choose Themes.
- From there, change:
  - Themes
  - Colors
  - Fonts
  - Effects
  - Page Color
If Outlook stationery, backgrounds, or patterns changed for all new messages
- Go to File > Options > Mail.
- Select Stationery and Fonts.
- On the Personal Stationery tab, select Theme.
- Choose the theme wanted, or select (No Theme) to return to the default look.
- This works only when the message format is HTML. To check that:
  - Go to File > Options > Mail.
  - Under Compose messages, set Compose messages in this message format to HTML.
If the update changed calendar Out of Office colors specifically
- This is a known issue in some Outlook versions starting with Version 2403.
- It is fixed in Version 2406 Build 17726.20000.
- A registry workaround exists, but it changes Outlook behavior at the system level. Use it carefully:
  - Registry path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences
  - Create DWORD: DisableAestheticPatterns
  - Set value to 1
- Risk: incorrect registry changes can affect Outlook or Windows behavior.

If the update made Outlook look like a different app entirely, check whether the New Outlook toggle is turned on in the top-right corner and switch back to Classic Outlook if needed.