In the new Outlook for Windows, your connected accounts appear as separate tabs at the top of the navigation pane. You might want to change the order of these tabs so your primary mailbox appears first or to group work and personal accounts together. The new Outlook does not include a menu command for sorting accounts, but you can drag and drop tabs to rearrange them in any order you choose. This article shows you how to reorder mailbox tabs using the mouse, explains what happens when you drag a tab, and lists limitations you should know about.
Key Takeaways: Reorder Mailbox Tabs in New Outlook
- Drag a tab left or right on the tab bar: Moves the mailbox to a new position in the account tab order.
- Release the mouse after the tab snaps into place: The new order is saved immediately and persists after closing and reopening Outlook.
- Only the primary account tab can be renamed: You cannot rename secondary account tabs or reorder them into a different group.
How Account Tabs Work in the New Outlook
The new Outlook for Windows displays each added email account as a separate tab near the top of the left navigation pane. These tabs show the account display name and the associated email address below it. Clicking a tab switches the folder list, calendar, and other modules to show data from that account only.
The initial tab order matches the order in which you added accounts to Outlook. If you added a work account first and a personal account second, the personal account tab appears to the right of the work account tab. You cannot change this order through any menu option or setting dialog. The only way to rearrange tabs is to use the drag-and-drop gesture described in the next section.
Each tab represents a single mailbox. Shared mailboxes, public folders, or group mailboxes also appear as separate tabs if you have added them. The drag-and-drop reorder method works for all mailbox tabs, including shared and group mailboxes.
Steps to Drag and Reorder Mailbox Tabs
The reorder action requires only the mouse. No keyboard shortcut or menu command exists for this operation. Follow these steps to move a mailbox tab to a new position.
- Locate the tab you want to move
Look at the horizontal row of account tabs at the top of the left navigation pane. Each tab shows the account name and the email address. Identify the tab you want to reposition. - Click and hold the tab with the left mouse button
Place the mouse pointer on the tab text or icon area. Press and hold the left mouse button. Do not release the button yet. - Drag the tab left or right to the target position
While holding the mouse button, move the mouse horizontally. A thin vertical line appears between existing tabs indicating where the tab will be placed. Drag until this line appears at the desired position. - Release the mouse button to drop the tab
When the vertical line is in the correct spot, release the left mouse button. The tab snaps into the new position. All other tabs shift to accommodate the change. - Verify the new tab order
Click each tab to confirm the folder list and calendar display the correct mailbox. The order persists after you close and reopen Outlook.
What Happens When You Reorder Tabs
The reorder action changes only the visual arrangement of tabs in the navigation pane. It does not alter any of the following:
- The account settings, such as server addresses or sync settings.
- The default send account for new messages.
- The default data file for archives or offline storage.
- The order of accounts in the folder pane when viewing a combined inbox.
The default send account and combined inbox view are controlled from File > Account Settings > Account Settings > Change. Changing the tab order does not affect those settings.
Limitations and Things to Avoid
Cannot reorder tabs using the keyboard
The new Outlook does not support Alt+Shift+Arrow or any other keyboard shortcut for moving tabs. You must use the mouse drag method described above. If you prefer keyboard navigation, consider switching to classic Outlook where the account order is managed in the account settings dialog.
Tab order resets after removing and re-adding an account
If you remove an email account from Outlook and then add it again, the tab for that account appears at the far right of the tab bar. The previous drag-and-drop order is lost. You must reorder the tab manually after re-adding the account.
Cannot group tabs into folders or categories
The new Outlook does not support grouping multiple account tabs under a single parent tab. All mailbox tabs appear at the same level in the tab bar. You cannot create sub-tabs or collapsible groups.
Drag-and-drop may not work in the web browser version
The new Outlook for Windows desktop app supports drag-and-drop reorder. The Outlook on the web version at outlook.office.com does not currently offer this feature. If you use both the desktop app and the web app, the tab order you set in the desktop app does not sync to the web app.
Tab width may clip long display names
When you add many accounts, the tab bar may become crowded. Outlook truncates long display names with an ellipsis. Hovering the mouse over a truncated tab shows the full name in a tooltip. To reduce truncation, use shorter display names when adding accounts in File > Account Settings.
New Outlook Tab Order vs Classic Outlook Account Order
| Item | New Outlook (Windows) | Classic Outlook |
|---|---|---|
| Account tab location | Horizontal row at top of left navigation pane | Vertical list in the folder pane or separate navigation pane |
| Reorder method | Drag and drop tabs with the mouse | Up and Down buttons in File > Account Settings |
| Keyboard reorder support | None | Alt+Shift+Arrow keys |
| Order persists after restart | Yes | Yes |
| Order affects default send account | No | Yes, the first account in the list is the default send account |
| Syncs to Outlook on the web | No | No |
The table above shows the key differences between the two Outlook versions. In classic Outlook, the account order in the account settings dialog directly controls which account is used by default when sending new messages. In the new Outlook, the default send account is set separately and is not tied to the tab order.
If you rely on the account order to determine the default send mailbox, you must configure that setting manually in the new Outlook. Go to File > Account Settings > Default Send Account and select the account you want to use for new messages.
You can now reorder your new Outlook mailbox tabs in seconds using the mouse drag method. This gives you control over which account appears first when you open the navigation pane. To further customize your workspace, try pinning frequently used folders to the favorites section in the left pane. Remember that the tab order you set applies only to the desktop app and does not affect the default send account or the web version.