How to mark unread emails older than specific days as read automatically in Outlook?

Author: Xiaoyang Last Modified: 2024-08-19

If there are multiple unread emails in your Inbox folder, normally, you can apply the Mark All as Read feature to mark all unread emails as read emails manually. But, have you ever tried to mark unread emails which are older than specific days as read automatically in Outlook without setting it manually each time?

Mark unread emails older than specific days as read automatically with VBA code

Mark unread emails older than specific days as read automatically with VBA code

To auto mark all unread emails older than specific days as read, the following VBA code can do you a favor:

1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. In the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, double click ThisOutlookSession from the Project1(VbaProject.OTM) pane to open the mode, and then copy and paste the below code into the blank module.

VBA code: Auto mark unread emails older than specific days as read:

Private Sub Application_Startup()
        Call MarkOldUnreadEmailsAsRead
    End Sub
    Private Sub MarkOldUnreadEmailsAsRead()
    Dim xInboxFld As Outlook.Folder
    Dim xAccount As Account
    On Error GoTo L1
    For Each xAccount In Outlook.Application.Session.Accounts
        Set xInboxFld = xAccount.DeliveryStore.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)
        Call Processfolders(xInboxFld)
    Next xAccount
L1:     Exit Sub
    End Sub
    Private Sub Processfolders(ByVal InboxFld As Outlook.Folder)
    Dim xItems As Outlook.Items
    Dim i As Long
    Dim xSubFld As Outlook.Folder
    On Error Resume Next
    Set xItems = InboxFld.Items
    For i = 1 To xItems.Count
        If DateDiff("d", xItems(i).ReceivedTime, Now) >= 15 Then
           If xItems(i).UnRead = True Then
              xItems(i).UnRead = False
              xItems(i).Save
           End If
        End If
    Next
    If InboxFld.Folders.Count > 0 Then
       For Each xSubFld In InboxFld.Folders
           Call Processfolders(xSubFld)
       Next
    End If
End Sub

Note: In the above code, you can change the number of days within this script: If DateDiff("d", xItems(i).ReceivedTime, Now) >= 15 Then to your own needed.

the screenshot of marking unread emails older than specific days as read automatically in Outlook

3. Then save and close this code window, since then, every time when you launch Outlook, all unread emails which are older than predefined days will be marked as read automatically at once.

Note: This code is only available to the default data account.