In Outlook, what are the Reading Pane, the Preview Pane, and AutoPreview?

Note: When using the Preview or Reading Pane, you can view information about a name in the "From:", "To:", or "Cc:" field by double-clicking the name.

Reading Pane

Outlook 2003 and 2007 offer the Reading Pane, in which you can view and work with items that are in your Inbox by simply selecting them from your Inbox list.

The Reading Pane is turned on and situated on the right of your Outlook window by default. To turn it off or reposition it, from the Outlook View menu, select Reading Pane, and then click Right, Bottom, or Off.

Preview Pane

Outlook 2002 offers the Preview Pane, in which you can view and work with items from your Inbox, similar to the Reading Pane in Outlook 2003.

To change how the Preview Pane looks or behaves:

1. From the Tools menu, select Options... .
   
   
2. Click the Other tab, and then click Preview Pane... .
   
   
3. Select the options you want, and then click OK.
   
   
4. To close the Options window, click OK.

AutoPreview

Using AutoPreview, you can read the first three lines of messages from the main Outlook window without opening them.

To turn AutoPreview on, from the View menu, select AutoPreview. These same steps will turn it off if it's on.

To preview the first three lines of unread messages only, follow the appropriate steps below.

Outlook 2007

1. From the View menu, select Current View, and then click Customize Current View.
   
   
2. Click Other Settings, and then click Preview unread items.
   
   
3. Click OK, and then, to close the View Summary window, click OK again.

Outlook 2003

1. From the View menu, select Arrange By.
   
   
2. Select Current View, and then click Customize Current View.
   
   
3. Click Other Settings, and then click Preview unread items.
   
   
4. Click OK, and then, to close the View Summary window, click OK again.

Outlook 2002

1. From the View menu, select Current View, and then Customize Current View... .
   
   
2. Click Other Settings... , and then click Preview unread items.
   
   
3. Click OK, and then, to close the View Summary window, click OK again.

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