Microsoft Office 365 Outlook: Desktop Mail Display Density - Full vs Medium vs Compact

Desktop users of Microsoft (MS) Office 365 Outlook Mail may have noticed that they have the option to adjust the software's "Display Density" between full, medium, and compact ("compact" being the way to show the most text, with everything being condensed).

The differences among the three display options may seem negligible, especially when you realize the most obvious changes . . . which are not all that obvious. However, a user's perception and ease of viewing may be significantly impacted.

Although actual character counts and visibility hardly seem changed, the way a user's eye takes in information will likely be keenest to one of the three options.

Which Outlook Display Density setting should you use?

It's important to make this decision while you have a few moments free to relax, being that it's a bit like sighting the mysterious visage in an autostereogram. But, let's not digress.

First, you'll open your Outlook in a desktop tab, and click on the settings wheel at top right.

You should be able to see the option to adjust your "Display Density" after clicking the wheel, as shown above.

To fully view the result of each selection, first expand your desktop window to full screen via your keyboard. (This isn't necessary, however, especially if you don't normally do this often enough to know how. In that case, just continue to refer to Outlook's Display Density options in the right-hand pane.) 

As stated above in our first paragraph, you'll find display options labeled full, medium, and compact. Short descriptions of each option are as follows:

• Full - In the full display setting, user profile icons are visible to the left of each incoming message (as under "inbox" in the image above); subsequently, fewer messages are visible because the icons themselves take up more space in the pane. The display setting affects all panes, so there will be fewer folders visible as well. Also, there will be somewhat fewer characters per line.
• Medium - In the medium display setting, user icons disappear, and more folders and messages are visible.
• Compact - In compact, the setting shown above, several more of your folders will show in visible screen, along with more messages in the inbox pane. Overall, there will be more text content on-screen.

Again, differences between the three Outlook display options seem to be barely noticeable! Still, the result is perceptible, and users at attention will realize that they prefer one of the three options.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference is in the presence or absence of the MS user profile icons. While some users will prefer to see these icons (full mode), others will prefer to have the most possible text (including folders) condensed into the viewable screen (compact mode).

You likely have hundreds, if not thousands, of emails in backlog on any given day, and can surely benefit from making every visit to your inbox as pleasing as possible. If we've helped you today, or you have another idea for easing the inbox experience, leave us a comment. We'd love to know. Or, comment with one of your personal preference inbox tricks.

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