Groups emails are marked as read automatically when folder is deselected

Copper Contributor

Hello,

 

Can anyone explain me this Groups behavior in Outlook when you select Groups folder with new emails, don’t even read them and then select different folder and all emails in Groups are marked as read automatically, blue triangle after few moments disappear.

 

Users complain that they can’t remember which emails they already viewed in Groups. After selecting another folder even number of unread emails disappear next to folder.

 

What is motivation behind this functionality? It is very inconvenient for Groups to collaborate with emails they receive from external users.

 

Thanks.

22 Replies

Well there's no actual "read" status for those messages exposed, as in you cannot "mark them unread". Which I'm guessing is the reason why they are using a different method. But yeah, agreed, yet another unfortunate fact of life, when it comes to Groups implementation in Outlook...

Hi,

You are correct in pointing out that the Groups conversations list/folder behaves differently than your inbox or other folders. This is what we call the Groups Seen/Unseen model as opposed to the inbox Read/Unread model.

When groups feature was added inside Outlook, we decided to have a more simple triage model for the groups conversations list, where all the conversations would be marked as seen as you moved away from the group. This was based on the feedback from many users who would follow/subscribe to the important groups in their inbox, and use the groups space just as an archive of conversations. The seen/unseen model thus helped in easy triage. Also, a user is not expected to read each conversation in a group since not all conversations may not be important for the user. As opposed to Inbox where all emails can be equally important and the user can be expected to read (peruse) through all.

Having said that, we have received recent feedback, like yours, that this model causes confusion and does not allow users to be fully productive in the group space/folder esp. for those users who do not want to follow/subscribe to a group in inbox. Hence, we are currently working towards building an Inbox like Read/Unread triage model inside the Groups as well! :) You should be able to see this feature light up sometime in 2018, since this requires deep infrastructural changes for Outlook. Please bear with us for a bit.

Thanks for your feedback!

Nice to hear this is coming, can't wait. It is already there for OWA though, unless I am mistaken, so any delivery date for Outlook?

Yes, Read/Unread for Groups is supported in OWA right now.

 

We will soon be bringing this to other Outlook apps as well, starting with Outlook Mobile (iOS and Android) and closely followed by Outlook on Windows. There is no specific ETA for this, but I would estimate that by the end of this calendar year, we should be able to finish deployment of this feature. We will send out an update when we're ready to start deploying. 

 

Thanks for your patience. 

Is there any update on this feature for Outlook on Windows yet? We have a user who brought it up today 1/24/2019 and this post was incredibly helpful. 

Hi,

 

We are working hard to bring this functionality to Outlook on Windows and Outlook on iOS/Android. We do not have exact timelines yet for when this change will be deployed, but it would be safe to assume that this feature would be released on Mobile soon closely followed by Outlook on Windows. 

 

I will update this thread with the latest status soon, so that all of you have enough time to prepare for this change. 

 

Regards,

Ravin

Ravin,
Thank you for your updates.

My team is looking for a solution to migrate off of Public Folders; the Groups functionality seems  to have the capability to address our use cases. Specifically, read by status on a per user basis is key as Shared Mailboxes do not provide this.

However, the current folder switch behavior you describe negates any initial benefits.
Do you have any indication as to how this capability will function in the future?
As indicated, my team is looking for a means to get off an on premise implementation of Public Folders.

Can you provide some directional insight that would prevent a 'wait and see' followed by a 'disappointed once again/revise internal roadmap' situation?

 

Thank you.

@THOMAS SCHMIDT 

 

Has there been any updates to the outlook for windows groups issue of read / unread versus seen / unseen in outlook 2016?  I just put in place several groups folders that we are using internally with our customers and internal customer service reps and they need to know better when things have been read and dealt with.  I was looking for a central spot for 15 internal employees to manage customer email interaction across 3 shifts and groups seems like a good way to accomplish this, but the read / unread has been a little bit of a problem.

 

Thanks,

 

Dale

@dalbra0310 

I have not heard of any updates.

A user based read status for a common message repository (e.g.; Shared Mailbox) seems like a huge hot button across all the forums that Ive read. I have many use cases for a common message repository and Ive wasted a lot of time canvassing the community cannot find a single solution to address my requirements. 

 

It is a disappointment that Microsoft cannot simply provide that capability to Shared Mailboxes and have it governed by a configuration setting.

 

@Ravin Sachdeva

 

Hi Ravin,

 

Has there been any updates to the outlook for windows groups issue of read / unread versus seen / unseen in outlook 2016?  I just put in place several groups folders that we are using internally with our customers and internal customer service reps and they need to know better when things have been read and dealt with.  I was looking for a central spot for 15 internal employees to manage customer email interaction across 3 shifts and groups seems like a good way to accomplish this, but the read / unread has been a little bit of a problem.

 

Thanks,

 

Dale

I would like to know if there are any updates to this as well. We are trying to use a group mailbox as a simple helpdesk, and its kinda confusing not being able to mark items as read or unread

@Ravin Sachdeva

Has there been any update on resolving this for the Outlook client? We're in the same boat of trying to transition away from Public Folders but this read functionality working in the client similar to how it does in OWA and the phone apps is critical for our teams.

@Nsteinmetz - thanks for your patience. We have this fixed for OWA and Outlook Mobile. I will check back on the status for the Win32 client and post an update. Please stand by.

@Ravin SachdevaHello good day! I just want to ask if there is an update with the Outlook for Windows if 'mark as read' feature will be available as the same function in OWA for Office 365 Groups in Outlook client? Thank you!

@RaiL1994 Adding @Sri Ramya Mallipudi to help answer that question for Outlook on Windows. 

@Ravin Sachdeva 

 

Hi, 

 

My colleagues and I are being tracked at home for their diligence to reading, responding, and clearing emails daily during these strange times. Each day an "Unread" or "Unseen" report is run and consequences may arise from having messages unchecked. 

 

Our teaching community's biggest concern is messages "unseen" in the countless groups we subscribe to yet processed/read in the inbox. What can be done about this? It seems redundant to have to "read" and email twice.

 

 

los comentarios y observaciones, me ayudaron mucho a comprender mas el tema muchas gracias.@Ravin Sachdeva 

Would love to hear if there are implementation estimates for Outlook for Windows. Any updates that can be provided would be appreciated.

Our migration to Groups is still on hold as we're waiting for this change.