How to see all mail in Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is available in two different versions, MS Outlook 2019, as part of MS Office Suite, and Office 365 Outlook, a subscription-based service.

Both services offer a desktop version in addition to a web version. They also allow users to add more than one email account and a host of other customization options.

In this article, we will show you how to view all mail from multiple email accounts in Outlook. And we’ll cover other ways to filter and search your emails in Outlook to organize them more efficiently.

How to see all mail in Outlook

If you’re having trouble seeing all your mail in Outlook, maybe it’s just a matter of how your navigation pane is organized. If you can’t see any of your folders or email, it’s probably because they are minimized. Fortunately, that’s an easy fix. All you have to do is:

1. Click the “View” tab on the toolbar.
   
2. Then select “Folder Panel”.
   
3. If “Minimized” was checked, change it to “Normal.”
   

That’s all. Now she will be able to see all of her folders as she organized them.

How to see all mail in Outlook 365

As we mentioned, MS Outlook 2019 and Office 365 Outlook have certain differences in how they are purchased.

There are other differences as well, one of which is that Outlook 2019 requires users to purchase the upgrade, while Office 365 users receive it for free. However, in terms of the Outlook email client and its functionality, both are the same.

If you use Outlook for multiple email accounts, searching each one separately can be a time-consuming task. For that reason, we will show you how to view email from all Outlook accounts at once.

1. Click the Inbox of one of your Outlook accounts.
   
2. In the search bar at the top of the screen, enter “folder: inbox”
   
3. Additionally, you can use the filter in the navigation pane to define the period.
4. Next, in the search bar, click the down arrow next to the “Current Mailbox” option.
   
5. From the drop-down menu, select “All mailboxes.”
   

Now you will be able to see all the emails from all your inbox accounts simultaneously in the period you have defined. The next time you want to see all your mail, you’ll find this path under the “Recent Searches” option in the navigation panel.

How to View All Mail in Outlook on iPhone

Outlook users have the advantage of using the Outlook application when they are on the go. It is available for both iPhone and Android devices, and has the same great interface for both operating systems.

However, it doesn’t have all the configuration options available in the desktop client, so that’s where you’ll need to adjust the settings first. Still, if you can’t see all your mail in the Outlook app, they may not be in the “Focused Inbox” folder.

Outlook sets the “Focused Inbox” and “Other” as two default folders for incoming mail. If you’re waiting for a message but don’t see it, you may need to search for “Other” to check if it’s there. The good news is that you can disable this feature and have just one unified inbox. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Outlook application and click on the “Settings” option in the lower right corner of the screen.
   
2. Scroll down and look for the “Focused Inbox” option which has a toggle next to it.
   
3. Turn off the toggle button.
   

Now you will be able to see all the emails in your inbox at the same time. If you choose to allow Outlook to filter your messages, all you need to do is turn the “Focused Inbox” button back on.

How to view all unread mail in Outlook

Most of us receive so many emails that they tend to pile up. Before you know it, there are a lot of unread emails in your inbox. But they are located in different folders or are too far down the list.

Fortunately, there is a way to view all unread emails in Outlook. These are the steps you need to follow:

1. Open your Outlook email client and go to the navigation pane.
2. Click “Unread” under “Search for current mailbox.”
   
3. You can then switch back from “Current Mailbox” to “All Mailboxes” if you have multiple email accounts in Outlook.
   

Outlook will display all unread mail from all folders and subfolders of each active email account.

How to view all mail items in Outlook

Maybe you’re looking for something in Outlook and can’t seem to find it anywhere. It may be stored in a folder that you have completely forgotten about.

Outlook gives you the option to search the current folder and its subfolders, but also allows you to expand the scope and use the “All Outlook Items” option. That is how:

1. Use the “Filter” function in the navigation panel to add any known parameters of what you are looking for. There are many options such as searching by category, recipient, attachment, and others.
   
2. Then, at the top of the panel, switch from “Current Folder” to “All Outlook Items” in the drop-down menu.
   

When you do this, you will also see the “PersonMetadata” folder that was created and used by Outlook Customer Manager (OCM). Don’t be alarmed by that. This is a deprecated service as of June 2020, but Outlook still shows it sometimes. This is likely to change in the future.

How to view all sent mail in Outlook

In the same way, you can see all the emails received from your entire Outlook account, you can see the sent mail. The “Sent Items” folder is usually located just below the “Inbox” folder in the email client, unless you have changed the order of the folders.

Unfortunately, if you have multiple email accounts, you won’t be able to view them all at once, as you can with received email. All you can do is click on each folder separately and use the search filter to find what you’re looking for.

How to Set Up an “All Emails” Folder in Outlook

If you want to merge mail from multiple folders into a unifying folder, that’s an option you have in Outlook. The method described below applies to both Outlook 2019 and Outlook 365. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Click the “Browse for Folder” option in the left side panel of Outlook.
2. Then click on the “New Search Folder” option.
3. Scroll to the bottom and then select “Create a custom search folder” and click “Choose.”
4. In the pop-up window, give your new folder a name, for example, “All Mails.”
5. Then click “Browse” and select all the folders you want to be part of the new search.
6. When you click “OK”, you will be asked if you want to further specify your search criteria. And if you want to continue as such.
7. Click “Yes” and then “OK” once again.

You will now have the “All Emails” folder containing all of your emails from each folder you have selected.

Additional FAQs

You may have a few more questions about how to view all emails in Outlook. Hopefully these will complete the picture.

How do I show all emails in Outlook?

A quick and easy way to display all emails in each folder in Outlook is to use the method mentioned above and create a custom “All Emails” folder. But that will only work on each Outlook account separately.

How do I see all messages in Outlook?

You can only see all messages received from multiple accounts in Outlook. That doesn’t work for sent items and other folders. Additionally, you can use the filter function in the navigation panel to specify the sender, whether the email is unread or whether it has an attachment, etc.

Mastering your Outlook experience

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular and sophisticated email clients. It takes a little time to figure out all the details and learn how to best use them to your advantage.

If you’re the type of person who sends and receives a lot of emails, filtering things often means looking at all emails and starting from there. Hopefully, you will be able to navigate Outlook successfully and never miss an email again.