How to automatically mark email as read while in preview in Outlook?

By default, Outlook won’t mark an email message as read until you select another message. You will find out when you press Delete key to remove a message you just received while previewing it in the reading pane, the message you have deleted is still marked as unread in the Deleted Item folder. That may cause inconvenience for you. If you want to automatically mark email as read while in preview in Outlook, please look at the following tutorial.

Automatically mark email as read while in preview in Outlook 2007

Automatically mark email as read while in preview in Outlook 2010 and 2013

Automatically mark email as read while in preview in Outlook 2007

In Outlook 2007, you can do it as follows:

1. Please click Tools > Options. See screenshot:

2. In the Options dialog, please click Other tab. And then click Reading Pane under Outlook Panes.

3. In the Reading Pane dialog, please check the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane box. And enter a certain time in the Wait seconds before marking item as read field. And then click OK to close it. See screenshot:

4. When it returns to the previous dialog, click OK to finish the whole settings. Now if you click the unread message and read it in the Preview Pane, 5 seconds later, it will be marked as read email automatically.

Automatically mark email as read while in preview in Outlook 2010 and 2013

You can also mark email as read automatically while in preview in Outlook 2010 and 2013.

1. Please click File > Options. See screenshot:

2. In the Outlook Options dialog, click Advanced on the left pane. And then click Reading Pane under Outlook Panes.

3. In the Reading Pane dialog, please check the Mark items as read when viewed in the Reading Pane box. And then click OK to close it. See screenshot:

Note: In the Wait seconds before marking item as read field, enter a certain time in the box.

4. When it returns to the previous dialog, click OK to finish the whole settings.