Tip 836: Missing Mail Favorites?

We get a lot of questions about the Mail Favorites gone missing. In many cases, they aren't really missing, but the user is looking at the wrong navigation pane. When this is the case, you can use the Mail button on the navigation pane or press Ctrl+1 on the keyboard to jump to the mail pane.

These screenshots show Outlook 2010's Mail Navigation pane and Folder list pane.

The Favorites list is visible only in the Mail pane.

If the Mail navigation pane (#1, or Ctrl+1) is selected, you should see the Favorites panel. If the Folder list (2) is selected, you won't see the Favorites list.

Hide/Show the Favorites pane in Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013

If you use Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2013 and the Favorites section is missing when you in the mail pane, you need to enable the display of Favorites.

Switch to the View tab.
Click on down arrow on the Navigation Pane button (Folder Pane in Outlook 2013)
Select Favorites. It needs to have a checkmark to the left of the command (as seen in the screenshot) to display in the Mail pane.

You can show or hide the Favorites pane section using the View ribbon, Folder pane (Navigation pane) command and minimize it by clicking on the arrow to the left of "Favorites". (In Outlook 2007, the minimize arrow is on the right of "Favorites").