Need easy way to toggle between inbox and sent without having the panel taking up room on the side.

Question

Need easy way to toggle between inbox and sent without having the panel taking up room on the side.

Wheeler, Shawn 0

Need easy way to toggle between inbox and sent without having the panel taking up room on the side. Miss the easy side tabs of old outlook. short cut doesnt work either. annoying to have the folder pane always open, even more annoying to have to open and close it every time to toggle. everything says i need to go to help > feedback to ask for this enhancement, but there no feedback option under the help tab. seems like the new version has gone backwards.

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4 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

In new Outlook for Windows, there is currently no built-in shortcut to jump directly between Inbox and Sent Items like in classic Outlook, and there is no built-in way to assign custom shortcuts to favorite folders.

What is supported:

Collapse the folder pane when not needed
- New Outlook allows the folder pane to be collapsed, but the experience is different from classic Outlook.
- Some classic folder and favorites behaviors are not available in new Outlook.
Use classic Outlook if that workflow is important
- If quick folder switching without the pane is essential, switching back to classic Outlook is the closest match for the older experience.
- In new Outlook, use the toggle to switch back to classic Outlook.
Run both versions side-by-side
- It is supported to run new Outlook and classic Outlook side-by-side.
- From classic Outlook, select Try the new Outlook.
- From new Outlook, select the toggle to switch back to classic Outlook.
- After switching back, pin both apps to Start or the taskbar so each version can be launched directly.
Pin both apps for easier switching
- Go to Start and type Outlook.
- Right-click Outlook and select Pin to taskbar or Pin to Start.
- Repeat for Outlook (classic).
Feedback location
- If feedback was skipped when switching back to classic Outlook, feedback can still be sent from the Outlook ribbon by selecting Help > Feedback.

If Help > Feedback is not present in the current app view, the supported workaround in the available guidance is to switch between new Outlook and classic Outlook and use the feedback path that appears there. If the missing feedback command is blocking that step, using classic Outlook for this workflow is the practical option supported here.

References:

Answer 2

Lin V 1,970 Independent Advisor

Hi Shawn,

I understand the concern. Based on current Outlook for Windows (new Outlook) functionality, there is currently no built-in option to display Inbox and Sent Items as separate side tabs like in classic Outlook.

Regarding feedback submission, you can also submit feedback via the Outlook (new) feedback portal, where you can suggest product enhancements and vote on existing ideas. This helps ensure the feedback is reviewed directly by the Outlook product team.

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.

I hope this helps clarify the available options. Let me know if you have any questions.

Wheeler, Shawn 0 Reputation points

2026-09-26T00:53:49.7733333+00:00

thanks for the direct link to the feedback portal :)
Lin V 1,970 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-29T14:15:17.4233333+00:00

Hi Shawn,

Thank you for the response.

If you feel the reply was helpful, you may also consider upvoting and accepting it. That can make it easier for other users with similar ideas or feedback to find this information quickly and join the discussion.

Thanks again, and have a great day.

Answer 3

@Wheeler, Shawn said

Need easy way to toggle between inbox and sent without having the panel taking up room on the side.

1 -- Right-click on both folders and Open In New Window. Then it's just Alt-Tab.

2 -- Ctrl-Shift-I should always get you to the Inbox.

The rest of this depends on what you have set at File -> Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Keyboard shortcuts.
Click the "supported shortcuts" link to see what you have available.

User's image

3 -- It's not a single keyboard shortcut but pretty easy.

Ctrl-y will open the "Go to folder" dialog
Type the first few characters of the folder name and press enter

4 -- This one is tricky.

File -> Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Keyboard shortcuts = Outlook for Web.
Is suppose to give you:
But I can't ever get it to work consistently. Seems like you have to have the focus in just the right place and sometimes you have to do the sequence twice. Let me know if you figure it out.

Answer 4

Gauruv Grover 0

In New Outlook. Go to Settings->General->Appearance and Enable Classic Outlook Style. After applying it you should be able to see Favorite Folders shortcut on the left side same as Classic Outlook Easy Tab.

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Hornblower409 18,970 Reputation points

2026-11-11T11:28:13.9866667+00:00

@Gauruv Grover said

Enable Classic Outlook Style... see Favorite Folders shortcut on the left side

My testing indicates that the Folder Pane -> "Show favorites" choice is there regardless of your Settings -> General -> Appearance -> Enable classic Outlook style setting. It's just in a different place.

With Enable classic Outlook style ON:

With Enable classic Outlook style OFF:

If you see the same, please use the "stacked dots" menu -> Edit under your Answer to update your post.

If you do not see the same, 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 this specific problem. 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.
Gauruv Grover 0 Reputation points

2026-11-11T11:41:56.7866667+00:00

Hi @Hornblower409 , I wasn't asking a question. I was providing a solution to the original question asked here. As per my attached screenshot, the user could access shortcuts to Inbox and Sent Items folder in the easy-side tabs version. And I was talking about new Outlook for Windows not the Classic Outlook.