Folder pane width change

[rseiler]

It's so funny that they never fixed this. I wonder if they really ever even understood it.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I thought it was fixed in the beta builds - at least for a few weeks. It's broken again though.

 

[rseiler]

It definitely could have been, as I only think to check it every couple months. Hard Computer Science problems take time.

 

[Blair]

I thought it was fixed in the beta builds - at least for a few weeks. It's broken again though.

I'm not sure this is necessarily a 'fix', but I was having a very similar issue as what you describe, but the converse. I have two monitors - when I run Outlook on the one that's in a landscape orientation, I can resize the folder pane with no problems. When I move the outlook window to the other monitor which is in the portrait orientation, I can only reduce the size of the folder pane - it won't resize larger beyond a fairly narrow size. I discovered through another forum a sort of a workaround... (This assumes the reading pane is on and is set to be on the right.)

When Outlook won't let you resize the folder pane the way you want, drag the left edge of the reading pane as far left as you can. For some reason when this is done, I can then resize the folder pane. Afterwards, just resize the reading pane back to where you want it. This is continuing to work after a few restarts of Outlook. May be worth a minute of your time to check if it works for you also.

Good Luck!

 

[rseiler]

Interesting, but that has no effect on the folder pane here. It's still a hard wall when you try to move it left (without the earlier dumb workaround of mine). Do you think it's maybe some byproduct of your dual monitor setup (just one here) that's aiding you somehow?

I'd really like to find some resolution to this, since it's also broken in the "new UI" in 16.0.14301.20004 out today. Further, my dumb workaround nullifies the new UI in not only Outlook but Word, Excel etc. That is, deleting those keys resets things to the old UI, and if you want the new UI again you have to re-enable it again and then not use my dumb Outlook workaround. But, of course, if you don't you're back to the Outlook problem....

 

[Diane Poremsky]

When I move the outlook window to the other monitor which is in the portrait orientation, I can only reduce the size of the folder pane - it won't resize larger beyond a fairly narrow size.

How wide is it? Portrait has some changes to best accommodate narrower screens. I think the break point is around 1000px width, but I no longer use a portrait regularly and forgot exactly.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Hmm... quickie test on a 24" monitor (2 monitors, Outlook is on #2) The width of the message list seems to be the key - with the list at its minimum width - i can change the folder list to cover half. The reading pane get shrunk. So... shrink the message list, adjust the folder list....

Wider message list - folder list max width -

message list at its max width -

Reading pane turned off - message list narrow

 

[rseiler]

Diane, your third screenshot shows what we're after (though only if your message list doesn't need to be that wide), but are you implying that your preceding maneuvers are what allowed you to get that far left? Or were you already in the state where it wasn't a problem to get that far left? When in that state, I've tried all kinds of dragging of everything but can't find anything to "unlock" the ability to get that far left, which is why I resort to deleting the Registry items.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

The third one - i just moved the bar in the reading pane to make it narrower. Basically, the width of one element is related to another and the order my make changes affects how much you can do.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

If you can't resize it, try turning off the reading pane, resizing it then turn it back on. That worked on another computer where i couldn't make it wider.

The narrowest i can go and still show the folder is 200ish px.

 

[rseiler]

Maybe that would have worked, I don't know, but nothing previous did (for me, though we may each have different expectations about this so may be talking about two slightly different things) except the Registry.

And as of 16.0.14322.20000, not even that works, which is not a good sign at all. The "experiment" may be over.

 

[rseiler]

All builds after 14315 show the problem, with no known workaround (including the reading pane one mentioned), so I'm forced to revert to that one every time. Tested through 14405.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Is it not resizing at all? I've noticed I need to be very careful and slide a little at a time - it fails if it try to slide too much. Every pane does this. And sometimes dragging a little bit will end up moving the pane to its largest or smallest size. It's definitely possessed.

 

[rseiler]

It's the original problem: drag right as much as you want, but not as far left as you could before this bug came into being last year. And since the Registry workaround (Experiment* keys) no longer works, only reverting the build does. Speed doesn't seem to matter here, unless you drag left fast, which then collapses the pane completely (that's a feature, not a bug), which I don't want.

So, on newer builds you're left with a choice between a collapsed pane and one where there's a silly amount of space between the end of folder names and the unread message count.

 

[rseiler]

After really zooming into your third image above, I noticed that it doesn't have tight spacing at all. It's just that the lines are so long for the first half of your Favorites that I mistook it to be. The rest of it, including, most importantly the Inbox itself at the bottom, is very broad. And I think that was your best-case image.

This is of renewed interest because I tried installing the latest build in a VM and do NOT see the problem I've been describing. In fact, the spacing is extremely tight, closer even than I remembered being possible:

So, there's another variable in play here such that in a clean install the spacing is like that automatically but otherwise you're out of luck. I assume it's some other part of the Office Registry.

 

[jjaeger]

After really zooming into your third image above, I noticed that it doesn't have tight spacing at all. It's just that the lines are so long for the first half of your Favorites that I mistook it to be. The rest of it, including, most importantly the Inbox itself at the bottom, is very broad. And I think that was your best-case image.

View attachment 3398

This is of renewed interest because I tried installing the latest build in a VM and do NOT see the problem I've been describing. In fact, the spacing is extremely tight, closer even than I remembered being possible:

View attachment 3397

So, there's another variable in play here such that in a clean install the spacing is like that automatically but otherwise you're out of luck. I assume it's some other part of the Office Registry.

Came across this thread a few months back and have been using the registry edits to get back to a 'normal' width navigation pane. System update took place and was surprised to see the first registry command fail (looks like it no longer exists) and as noted here - we are now stuck again with no workaround to avoid a very wide pane.

Is this indeed the current status, as it will take me some time to get used to this as my new normal. Appreciate all those here who have been contributing with suggestions on how to remedy this strange behavior.

 

[rseiler]

Thanks for the confirmation. I still have no answer short of completely wiping Office from your system (especially the Registry), but it continues through 14427 (tested with two distinct accounts/Office profiles). When I put 14315 back on, no more problem. Yet, on that VM I mentioned, I can't reproduce the problem no matter what I do regardless of build.

Best as I can figure that points to some Registry entry (aside from all the "Experiment" ones, which no longer pertain) that matters to post-14315 builds but has no bearing on earlier ones. Finding that, if that's even what it is, might be difficult given the vast number of Office Registry entries.

 

[rseiler]

Diane, has Mac been dipping into a little too much Mac-n-Cheese, or is the suggestion that it's by design actually correct?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/folder-pane-width-cant-be-changed-part-deux/56da6710-545e-4ced-b03a-db15377bffde

If it is, how does that square with your hearing from contacts last year that it was in fact a problem and being resolved?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

The switch from a space to block right is by design. As far as I know, a fix for the navigation pane was not about the number position but with the ability to shrink the pane - this is currently about as narrow as it will go - next step down is collapsed. I believe at the time of my earlier screenshots, the navigation pane's smallest width is the one in the screenshot you enlarged. So progress.... just not what we want.

 

[rseiler]

When you say "from a space to block right," does that mean right-justified? I'm not really sure what you mean by that.

In any case, you tend to have very long folder names, which I think makes this whole thing a non-issue:

But when you don't: