I am trying the New Outlook. I cant sort my inbox by typing a letter - am I missing a setting?

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I am trying the New Outlook. I cant sort my inbox by typing a letter - am I missing a setting?

Ray Hibbs 0

This question was placed out there over two years ago, and many times since. I have read over 12 pages asking the same question, and only a coupe responses from Microsoft, that do nto answer the question. Can you please tell us the straight answer? It is an important feature that should not have been removed.

Thank you!

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Answer 1

Julie Huynh 1,275 Independent Advisor

Dear @Ray Hibbs,

Good day! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum!

Based on your description, I understand that you’re using the New Outlook and are unable to sort your inbox by typing a letter. You’re wondering whether there is a missing setting to enable this behavior.

Regarding this situation, you can use the “From” sort + Go To option to quickly move to senders that start with a specific letter:

Open the New Outlook for Windows
Go to your Inbox (or any mail folder)
At the top of the message list, select Sort and choose From so messages are sorted alphabetically by sender
Look for the Jump to box that appears near the top of the message list
Type the letter (for example, “M”) corresponding to the sender’s name
Click Go
Outlook moves you directly to the first sender whose name starts with that letter

I hope this helps clarify how the feature works today in the New Outlook.

Thank you for taking the time to test and share your findings.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions or need further assistance.

I appreciate your time and patience.

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Julie Huynh 1,275 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-05-08T14:41:54.0366667+00:00

Dear @Ray Hibbs,

Good day! I hope everything is going well on your end.

It’s been a little while, so I just wanted to follow up and see how things are progressing with your concern. If you've run into any challenges or if there's anything further that I can help with, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Any updates you’re able to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your time and attention! I look forward to hearing from you.
Ray Hibbs 0 Reputation points

2026-05-08T15:01:37.1833333+00:00

Yes...that method will work...but it was so convenient in the Old Outlook. And I have NO desire now to switch back...that doesn't make sense to me. Based on the many people who have commented, I am surprised MS won't consider adding that feature back in. Very disappointed.
Julie Huynh 1,275 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-05-12T13:40:53.49+00:00

Dear @Ray Hibbs,

Thank you for letting me know.

To make sure that your feedback is known by the product team, please kindly send your feedback via the Feedback Portal.

Once you have sent the feedback, you could put the link to it here so other users with the same query to add their votes to your feedback as well.

Thank you for your kindness and understanding!
Tess Wild 0 Reputation points

2026-05-15T02:05:02.2133333+00:00

I have a similar issue - Categories has gone from my filter so I can no longer sort my inbox by category. I've tried both the web and new outlook recommended methods to enable sort by category. There is no sort or category option on the top bar in Outlook or group by option in the view settings. Has there been some update pushed out? I've been using New Outlook for over a year and have been sorting by category since it was enabled.
Tess Wild 0 Reputation points

2026-05-15T02:10:42.17+00:00

Never mind, I reopened outlook and it reappeared :-)
Julie Huynh 1,275 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-05-15T09:43:14.62+00:00

Hi @Tess Wild, Thank you for letting me know.

Should you need further assistance, please kindly reach out to me.

Wishing you a great day ahead!

Answer 2

New Outlook for Windows does not currently support sorting or jumping in the message list by typing a letter (e.g., pressing “S” to jump to senders starting with S). This behavior is available in Classic Outlook, but it has not been implemented in New Outlook.

In New Outlook, sorting and filtering are limited to the options exposed via Filter at the top of the message list (such as date, category, sender, size, importance, subject, and similar options), as described in the product documentation. There is no setting in New Outlook to restore the classic “type a letter to jump/sort” behavior.

To get closer to the old experience, either:

Use the Filter menu in New Outlook to sort by sender, date, size, etc., or
Switch back to Classic Outlook, which still supports more traditional column-based sorting and navigation.

For feature changes or to request that this behavior be added back, feedback must be submitted through the Microsoft 365 feedback mechanisms from within Outlook.

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I am trying the New Outlook. I cant sort my inbox by typing a letter - am I missing a setting?

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