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Install Office for Mac now Unmistakably Office, designed for Mac Get started quickly with new, modern versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote—combining the familiarity of Office and the unique Mac features you love. Outlook 2016 And The Mysterious Disappearing Folder Pane. Home / Index / Office / Outlook 2016 And The Mysterious Disappearing Folder Pane; Previous post Next post. June 22, 2016. 112 Comments. This happened to me today on Outlook for Mac Version 16.8 (Office 365). I had a crash and when I relaunched the Sidebar was gone.
Follow the instructions below to setup Microsoft Outlook after the Microsoft Office 2016 installation has completed.
- In order to ensure a successful import of your data to Microsoft Outlook 2016, you should be running version Microsoft Outlook 2011 version 14.3.5 or above. Please contact the HUIT Service Desk (617-495-7777) for assistance if Microsoft Outlook 2011 needs to be updated.
Step 1. Click the ‘Finder’ icon located on your dock at the bottom of the screen (Figure 1, A).
Step 2. Select ‘Applications’ on the left side of the ‘Finder’ window (Figure 1, B).
Step 3. Click ‘Microsoft Outlook’ to open Microsoft Outlook 2016 (Figure 1, C).
Figure 1
Step 4. Click the right arrow on the first screen that appears to continue (Figure 2, A).
Step 5. Click ‘Get Started’ (Figure 3, B).
Step 6. Click ‘Start Using Outlook’ (Figure 3).
Figure 3
Step 7. Click ‘Import’ to import the users 2011 Microsoft Office data (Figure 4, A).
Figure 4
Step 8. Allow the import to complete, this can take several minutes depending on the size of the mailbox (Figure 4).
Figure 5
Step 9. If you receive a notification that Outlook was redirected;
- Check the ‘Always use my response for this server’ (Figure 5, A)
- Then click ‘Allow’ (Figure 5, B).
Figure 6
Step 10. Add Outlook 2016 to your doc by right clicking on the Outlook icon in the dock at the bottom of your screen. Then hover over ‘Options’ and select ‘Keep in Doc’.
- If you do not have a right click mouse or track pad:
- Control click to add it to the dock
OR
- Hold the click until the contextual menu comes up. Then hover over ‘Options’ and select ‘Keep in Doc’.
- Side note: You can add all other Microsoft Office 2016 applications to your dock as well. Just follow steps 1 through 3 to launch the application and step 10 to add the application to your dock.
Please give your Outlook 2016 client some time to sync. If you run in to any issues with setting up your Outlook client please contact the HUIT Service Desk at 617-495-7777 or [email protected].
Reference (currently unsolved):
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_outlook-mso_mac/messages-list-is-blank-when-reading-pane-set-to/8dfe6a3a-de79-476c-95a7-e428e5eb60b9?auth=1
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_outlook-mso_mac/messages-list-is-blank-when-reading-pane-set-to/8dfe6a3a-de79-476c-95a7-e428e5eb60b9?auth=1
The Quick Fix
rename the folder ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.outlook
Background
I decided to try contribute a solution that I could not find anywhere else.
This issue had occurred before on the user's Mac, where previously I had restored his view to defaults which did resolve the issue the first time, unfortunately the second time I was not so lucky.
Symptoms / Description
Outlook 2016 for Mac - when reading pane is set to right, the column to the left that contains a list of messages will appear blank, that is, the headings for groups will be present and the list items are blank that would normally give you the message's subject, sender and message preview.
The problem was not evident in a second account that existed prior to troubleshooting (same Outlook profile).
Only the message list column is blank, the content of the messages is still visible in the reading pane.
Troubleshooting Attempted and finally the Solution
- Tried resetting view to defaults - Result = Fail, same issue.
- Cleared Cache - Result = Fail, same issue.
- Created a new Outlook profile - Result = Fail, same issue.
- Created a new Outlook profile and set up a different e-mail account - Result = Fail, same issue.
- Logged onto the Mac using a different user, set up a profile in Outlook - Success! No issue present here, which helped me conclude the problematic file must be isolated to the user's profile.
- I hunted down every Outlook related preference file I could find, already knowing the GroupContainers folder contained data pertinent to the databases per Outlook identity, long story short I eventually found the culprit by renaming the folder
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.outlook
There is most likely a more efficient method, e.g. just renaming a specific .plist file within this folder. However, Outlook promptly recreates this folder after launching.
I was presented with the colorful / classic choice when opening Outlook and the profile and data were still intact after completing this selection. The added bonus is that items in the list were no longer blanked out.
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