Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For home
Using older versions of Outlook for Mac for personal email and calendar
It's all over the forums. No word from Microsoft yet.
Microsoft needs to fix the Reading Pane setting in Outlook for Mac's latest update 10.29.25
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Bishop Cheen
85
Reputation points
Outlook for Mac update 16.102.2 on October 29, 2025 has a bug in the View setting. It forces the Reading Pane for a selected email to be below the list of recent emails rather than to the right of the the recent emails list. The settings change suggested by Microsoft is View > Reading Pane > Right ....but that setting does not last. The reading pane reverts back to Below email list whenever Outlook is opened again. Will Microsoft fix this bug on the next update?
Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For home
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Marla 170 Reputation points2025-10-30T08:40:11.04+00:00 Thank you for reporting this, Bishop-I have the same issue and have reported it on another thread. I have also reported it via the Help-Contact Support in my Outlook for Mac App.
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Ellen Matloff 35 Reputation points2025-10-31T15:35:24.4533333+00:00 Bishop, thank you !! This is making me NUTS.
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Rajan Gemawat 20 Reputation points2025-11-02T06:03:21.1266667+00:00 Hello Bishop
Good Morning.....
I am also facing this same issue & it's driving me crazy. Every time I restart my outlook, I need to change setting again. Do we have any solution for this ?
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-02T10:13:23.54+00:00 Rajan-good morning. As of yet, there is no fix. I reported this issue via the Help-Contact Support feature in Outlook and received the below reply (as of yesterday):
"Thank for the response. There is no official confirmation from Microsoft that a fix for the Outlook for Mac reading pane issue has been published. The bug is still active in build 16.102.2, and it is not listed among resolved issues on Microsoft’s known issues page. Since addressing this requires thorough testing and a structured rollout. I'll go ahead and close this ticket now. If you ever need further assistance, feel free to reach out through the same support channel. Your feedback is valuable to us! Please stay in this chat window to share your experience. Thank you for reaching out to Outlook Support. Wishing you a wonderful day ahead!" 🎉
And so it seems they are aware of the issue, but it does not sound like the fix will be quick. At least it is now listed as a known issue-this was not the case until very recently.:
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JK Thompson 15 Reputation points2025-11-02T17:33:30.6166667+00:00 I rolled back to version 16.102.2 (25101223)* which doesn't have this issue. Any version beyond including the latest beta still resets the Pane on relaunch. This version is in the installer I downloaded today (11-2). Didn't have any issues with my Profile on rollback. This is in 'Legacy' mode as well. Hope this is helpful.
CORRECTION: The version above is the working Outlook. Anything beyond including version 16.102.2 (25102623) is broken. Sorry for the confusion. : /
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Bishop Cheen 85 Reputation points
2025-11-02T17:44:32.1266667+00:00 thank you JK. very helpful. many of the comments have also been helpful but i've been traveling and could not get to all of them to say THANK YOU.
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Rajan Gemawat 20 Reputation points
2025-11-03T03:51:18.1166667+00:00 Thanks Marla for your outmost efforts & sharing this information.
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-03T08:06:42.7933333+00:00 JK Thompson-I, too have, version 16.102.2 but am using the Legacy version, and I do believe, that it is the Legacy version that is having the bug, i.e., see Microsoft's description of the issue here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/when-the-reading-pane-is-set-to-one-side-or-hidden-it-is-not-retained-upon-re-launch-in-legacy-outlook-for-mac-8b038098-e940-4d07-94b7-b33c62a157d1
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-04T17:58:11.7333333+00:00 Hurray! I believe the latest update has resolved the issue-see attached. I've just installed it, and re-opened my Outlook for Mac and my reading pane is now on the right side. Screenshot 2025-11-04 at 17.54.17.png
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JK Thompson 15 Reputation points
2025-11-04T19:29:57.2033333+00:00 Thanks, Marla. It appears that it's been fixed. Both the standard update and beta version releases have resolved the issue, and both on Sequoia and Tahoe. Cool, cool. : )
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-04T20:06:19.17+00:00 No worries, JK Thompson! Yes...cool cool! I'm impressed they have fixed it so quickly. It's quite a relief.
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Nicolas Durand 5 Reputation points2025-11-05T07:34:59.61+00:00 Hi Everyone,
I find a solution:
Open Outlook application and set your Reading Pane to Right.
Quit Outlook
Open Mail application once (to force upgrade)
Quit Mail
Open Outlook again
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Ellen Matloff 35 Reputation points
2025-11-05T14:50:14.9333333+00:00 This fix unfortunately does not work if you want your reading pane off, as I do.
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JK Thompson 15 Reputation points
2025-11-05T19:05:01.2366667+00:00 Tech Note has been updated confirming issue resolution and solution. Cheers!
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-05T19:25:59.7033333+00:00 Ellen-I don't know whether you're using Legacy or New, but I am using Legacy and am able to hide my reading pane-see attached. Do you not have this option?
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Ellen Matloff 35 Reputation points
2025-11-06T19:01:25.5166667+00:00 Thanks Marla. I am able to turn my reading pane off, but it goes right back on again when I close/open Outlook. Mine looks a little different, attached.
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-06T19:52:45.3233333+00:00 Hi Ellen-ah! I hear you. Sorry. I thought you meant you can't turn it off at all. It may be worth reporting this via the Contact Help, if you haven't already. I don't know if this is a bug or if it's the way MS intended it to be, but it's worth asking.
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Rob Grierson 10 Reputation points2025-11-12T19:17:08.75+00:00 Mine updated to 16.103 (25110922) yesterday [still using Legacy] and although the reading pane glitch is fixed (I want none, and it says none every launch) it seems that I can no longer apply a Category to new emails -- the list of choices is not available. Previous emails still have categories, and some new emails get categories applied due to the contact's category or a rule I've got. But -- no list of choices! Anyone else?
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Hornblower409 16,350 Reputation points2025-11-12T19:33:24.6133333+00:00 You might be better served by posting you problem with Cats as a new question ([Ask a Question] button).
The only people who will see your comment here are people who are already following this thread.
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Marcin Zieliński 0 Reputation points2025-11-14T14:01:47.6366667+00:00 Same here 16.103 (25110922) [using Legacy]
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Marla 170 Reputation points
2025-11-14T15:30:56.76+00:00 I've started a new thread (link below)-just to signpost anyone with this issue who can add their comments on the new thread, but I wonder if the latest update has caused more than one unintended consequence. As per my new thread (link below), I am no longer able to search for emails "from" or "to" a particular person: whatever I type in the search bar, nothing comes up.
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3 answers
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Benusa, Allen D 0 Reputation points2025-11-12T03:44:29.14+00:00 FIXED by running the Beta Version 16.104 (25111010)
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Kayece Jan Mae Amizola 16,765 Reputation points Independent Advisor2025-10-30T01:28:50.0566667+00:00 Hi,
It seems that there are users who have the same issue as yours. Please try the solutions below.
Please try to clear the cache on your Outlook app, then restart your device.
If it does not work, try resetting Outlook on Mac.
- Ensure that all Microsoft Office applications are closed before proceeding.
- Open the Finder application on your Mac.
- Navigate to Templates Folder:
Go to ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates.
- Move the file Normal.dotm to the Desktop. This will allow Outlook to rebuild the template file.
- Locate Preference Files:
Go to ~/Library/Preferences.
- Locate the files com.microsoft.outlook.plist and com.microsoft.Office.plist.
- Move these files to the Desktop. Outlook will rebuild these preference files upon restart.
- Restart your MacPlease try to clear the cache on your Outlook app, then restart your device.
If the above does not work, please send feedback regarding this issue. You can send feedback directly from your Outlook, or you can send it to the Microsoft Feedback Hub.
If you require further assistance, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Stay Safe!
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Michael Callahan 0 Reputation points2025-10-30T17:04:54.2133333+00:00 Hi Kayece. Thank you for offering a solution. I tried it but it didn't change anything. I just moved the two .plist files back.
Also, I dragged the Outlook app into the trash and reinstalled an older version, 16.101.3. It works just fine and View allows me to hide the reading pane. All is well, for now.
Mike
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