New Outlook - Grouped Emails - Remove Auto Drop-down Feature

Question

New Outlook - Grouped Emails - Remove Auto Drop-down Feature

Cal McCarthy 25

I have my emails grouped by conversation. Recently when I click to read an email, the full conversation automatically drops down. I really don't like this feature and prefer to click on the email and manually choose to expand the conversation. I don't know why it recently changed to automatic drop down, but is there a way I can revert to manual?

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Gerald Rosero 0 Reputation points

2026-09-15T15:26:17.2433333+00:00

I'm having a similar issue like this. I have toggled the messages to be group by conversation but I do not see that dropdown arrow when selecting on a long thread in my inbox. I have toggled it back and forth but it does not seem to fix . Any thoughts on what I can try ? I am using new outlook
Hornblower409 15,140 Reputation points

2026-09-16T07:04:04.1533333+00:00

@Gerald Rosero said

I'm having a similar issue like this.

I understand that you have the same or similar issue to the one discussed in this thread. But you will probably not get any help by adding to an existing post.

I would suggest that you start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem and what steps you have already tried to fix it.

This provides much higher visibility to your issue than adding on to an existing post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.

(You can put the link for this page in your new Question for reference)

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Gerald Rosero 0 Reputation points

2026-09-15T15:26:17.2433333+00:00

I'm having a similar issue like this. I have toggled the messages to be group by conversation but I do not see that dropdown arrow when selecting on a long thread in my inbox. I have toggled it back and forth but it does not seem to fix . Any thoughts on what I can try ? I am using new outlook
Hornblower409 15,140 Reputation points

2026-09-16T07:04:04.1533333+00:00

@Gerald Rosero said

I'm having a similar issue like this.

I understand that you have the same or similar issue to the one discussed in this thread. But you will probably not get any help by adding to an existing post.

I would suggest that you start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem and what steps you have already tried to fix it.

This provides much higher visibility to your issue than adding on to an existing post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.

(You can put the link for this page in your new Question for reference)

Answer 1

In new Outlook, the behavior of expanding an entire conversation when selecting a message is controlled by the conversation and layout settings. To move away from the auto-expanded conversation view and get closer to a “single message at a time” experience, adjust the conversation and message-organization options:

At the top of the page, select Settings.
Select Mail > Layout.
Under Message organization, choose how messages should be grouped:
- To avoid conversations entirely, select the option that shows messages as individual messages instead of Show email grouped by conversation.
- If keeping conversations, use the Arrange the reading pane options (such as Show each message separately) so messages are listed individually rather than as a fully expanded thread.

If conversation grouping is turned off, each email will appear as a separate line in the message list and will not auto-expand a thread when selected.

If using classic Outlook instead of new Outlook, conversation expansion is controlled by View > Show as Conversations and Conversation Settings, but those options apply only to classic Outlook, not new Outlook.

References: