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Mashed up listing mails in conversation

Aggelen van, G (Govert) 0 Reputation points
2025-10-23T15:34:25.48+00:00

The last couple of days I notice a change in Outlook classic the order of mails listed in conversations. It is different from what it was. It was: most recent mail on top and down to the oldest in the same conversation, irrespective in what folder the older mails are.

It now is only in that order IF a) all mails are in the same folder, mostly the Inbox, or b) viewing the conversation from within another folder than the Inbox. If the older mails are in other folder, then viewing from the Inbox only the mails in the Inbox and same conversation are listed from most recent down to older, and the other mails in that same conversation that are in another folder are listed below.

How do I get it back to list the mails in the same conversation from recent to oldest irrespective in what folder these other mails are, and irrespective from what folder I view the mails?

It looks like in Outlook new the order of mails is listed OK.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business
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  1. Hani-N 4,220 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-10-23T18:43:15.4033333+00:00

    Hi @Aggelen van, G (Govert) 

    Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.        

    It appears you're noticing a change in how Outlook Classic displays conversation threads, especially when messages are stored across different folders. Previously, all emails in a conversation were shown in descending order (newest to oldest), regardless of which folder they were in. This behavior appears to be part of a recent update to Classic Outlook. 

    In Classic Outlook, you can try the following steps to restore the previous view: 

    1/ Enable conversation view across all mailboxes 

    • Go to the View tab. 
    • Click Show as Conversations. 
    • Choose All mailboxes. 

    2/ Adjust Conversation Settings 

    • Still in the View tab, click Conversation Settings. 
    • Ensure “Show Messages from Other Folders” is checked.  
    • Also check “Newest on Top”.  User's image User's image

    3/ Apply View to all folders 

    • In the View tab, click Change View > Apply Current View to Other Mail Folders. 
    • Select all relevant folders (Inbox, Sent, Archive, etc.).  User's image User's image

    4/ Avoid sorting by columns 

    • Sorting by columns (e.g., clicking “From” or “Date”) can disable or alter conversation view.  User's image
    • If this happens, right-click the column header and choose Arrange By > Date (Conversations) to restore it.   User's image

    Note: Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.  

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.  

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.  

    I'm looking forward to your reply.  

     

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

    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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