Email navigation disrupted and is not time efficient with upgrade to Outlook 365

Shipp Mandie 0 Reputation points
2025-11-04T20:32:23.23+00:00

I have many emails in my corporate inbox, if I'm reading the 60th email in my inbox and determine that I need to refer to an email in another folder (in order to reply to that 60th email in my inbox). After I've opened another folder and go back to my inbox, my last selected email is no longer displayed-instead Outlook highlights the first email of the list by default. As a result I'm forced to scroll back through or search my inbox to locate the email again. This is an inefficient function, and causes a loss of valuable time that I can't afford to lose. Is there a plan to update Outlook to have an option or setting to allow Outlook to return to the last viewed email within all folders? This is also problem moving from any and all folders to another, including the sent folder. If I have to open each and every email that I need to reference in it's own screen in order to make sure I can easily jump back to it, I would have so many screens open, that it would again be very inefficient use of my time!

Is there a way I can log a complaint? This is an unacceptable function!!

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For business
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  1. Jay Tr 5,325 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-11-04T22:39:56.01+00:00

    Hi @Shipp Mandie, 

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.  

    Thank you for raising this to our attention and sharing your experience. The behavior you described, where Outlook returns to the top of the message list after switching folders, is by design in the current Outlook experience. When you navigate between folders, Outlook refreshes the view and does not retain the previously selected email.  To avoid losing your place, you can open the email you are working on in a separate window before switching folders. Here is how: 

    • Double click the email to open it in a new window. 

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    • Switch to the other folder to reference the needed email. 

    When you return to your Inbox, your original email will still be open in its own window, ready for you to continue your reply 

     

    We understand how important this functionality is for your workflow. I recommend submitting feedback directly to Microsoft via the Feedback Portal to help prioritize this feature in future updates. 

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    Sharing your experience through this channel is the most impactful way to advocate for a change that would benefit you and other users.     

        

    Note: As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have  influence product design decisions and have limited access to internal development details , we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.        

    Thank you again for your patience and for bringing this to our attention. While I can't change the product's design, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions.   

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.     

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