cannot view emails in View pane (in the right pane), I only see one line or nothing

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Dave Horne

Senior Member
Outlook version
Outlook 2019 64-bit
Email Account
POP3
We don't know what happened. We're using Outlook 2019 with Windows 10.

Just now my wife clicked on an e-mail and there is nothing in the viewing pane, the pane on the right side of the window. We can see (and change - Message Preview, none, 1,2, or 3 lines) on the left pane and see up to three lines on the left, but nothing or almost nothing in the right pane.

I went to create an email to send myself but when I start typing in the message area, the text I type starts a few inches down instead of at the top of the message area.

Also, if I double click on an email (in the left pane) to open it in a new window, I see the email in a new window but with no message of just a few words.

We didn't make any changes.

Any suggestion?
 
Last edited:
We don't know what happened. We're using Outlook 2019 with Windows 10.

Just now my wife clicked on an e-mail and there is nothing in the viewing pane, the pane on the right side of the window. We can see (and change - Message Preview, none, 1,2, or 3 lines) on the left pane and see up to three lines on the left, but nothing or almost nothing in the right pane.

I went to create an email to send myself but when I start typing in the message area, the text I type starts a few inches down instead of at the top of the message area.

Also, if I double click on an email (in the left pane) to open it in a new window, I see the email in a new window but with no message of just a few words.

We didn't make any changes.

Any suggestion?
Since I couldn't edit my original post, I'm replying to myself to add more information.

I opened an email where in the right pane there was nothing to read in that email. I performed a Crtl + A and then Ctrl + C. When I copied that into Notepad I could view everything. Could this be something as simple as the viewing font color being the same as the background color? We made no changes.

Also, Reset View in the Ribbon is grayed out.
 
Last edited:
Since I couldn't edit my original post, I'm replying to myself to add more information.

I opened an email where in the right pane there was nothing to read in that email. I performed a Crtl + A and then Ctrl + C. When I copied that into Notepad I could view everything. Could this be something as simple as the viewing font color being the same as the background color? We made no changes.

Also, Reset View in the Ribbon is grayed out.
Hi,

I just got calls from 2 of my clients that are experiencing the exact same issue. The Reset View button on the View tab is not greyed out, though. There are no Outlook Add-Ins enabled. I tried running Outlook in Safe Mode. Same issue. I installed Office updates via File->Office Account->Office Updates->Update Now. Problem still exists after updating. I tried a Quick Repair of Office and an Online Repair. Problem still exists. Anything typed in the body of a new message goes invisible after hitting Enter. But the recipient will see everything in the message.

I don't see any recent Windows Updates that coincide with this problem just starting today.
 
Hi,

I just got calls from 2 of my clients that are experiencing the exact same issue. The Reset View button on the View tab is not greyed out, though. There are no Outlook Add-Ins enabled. I tried running Outlook in Safe Mode. Same issue. I tried a Quick Repair of Office and an Online Repair. Problem still exists. Anything typed in the body of a new message goes invisible after hitting Enter. But the recipient will see everything in the message.
I had Updates paused for seven days, so it's unlikely a Windows Update issue. (I just reenabled Update, updated, but the issue still exists.)

At the very least, I'm glad I'm not alone. ;)

If you discover a solution, please write back. Thanks!
 
Are you able to click on view message in browser and see the email correctly? Wondering if it is a similar issue to one I am working on right now.
 
This problem is happening even if the message being opened is in Plain Text format.
 
I too installed the latest Office 365 desktop updates today along with windows 10 patch Tuesday updates. Now my email is not showing anything in the reading pane. I did a complete repair of Office 365 and it is still not working.
 
Heard from a few more of my clients that are experiencing this problem. Still in the early stages of this problem manifesting itself I guess. Just need to get enough momentum out there for the problem to get noticed, and then for a fix to be released
 
You can rollback your install -
Type cmd on the Start screen to find the Command Prompt then right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
Paste this in the command window and press enter to revert to the April 23 build, the last known good version.
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462

More information and a video of the steps is at Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run'
 
You can rollback your install -
Type cmd on the Start screen to find the Command Prompt then right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
Paste this in the command window and press enter to revert to the April 23 build, the last known good version.
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462

More information and a video of the steps is at Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run'
Thanks Diane. That worked for me.
 
You can rollback your install -
Type cmd on the Start screen to find the Command Prompt then right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
Paste this in the command window and press enter to revert to the April 23 build, the last known good version.
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462

More information and a video of the steps is at Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run'
Thanks this worked for me!
 
You can rollback your install -
Type cmd on the Start screen to find the Command Prompt then right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
Paste this in the command window and press enter to revert to the April 23 build, the last known good version.
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462

More information and a video of the steps is at Uninstall Updates in Office 'Click to Run'
Thx a lot Diane!
U saved my life.
 
I had a client who had the same issue. The fix seems to have fixed it very cleanly. Thanks Diane for the really fast work on a fix!
Seems to be happening on Outlook 365. I haven't seen it on my current installed version (Outlook 2016) but will watch to see if they break this client too. I wonder what non-tech-savvy folks do... I guess they give up and use a different client if they can.
John
 
Note: the problem shows up also when you are composing a message, and possibly when you open a message to read it vs. using the preview pane, but I can't verify that.
John
 
Just saw a notice that Microsoft has ""identified the root cause and are applying a fix, which will reach affected users over the next 3 to 4 hours. Users will need to restart the Outlook client to apply the fix after it's received. We expect to restore service to affected users by May 12, 2021, at 3:00 AM UTC."
 
It's Wednesday 7 AM here in the Netherlands, six hours earlier in the US East coast, just turned on my computer, went to Outlook, and the problem was already fixed by Microsoft, fixed in the background.

This was certainly interesting.
 
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