Outlook Graphical Glitches

Summary

Explains how employees can fix jumbled, overlapping, or incorrectly sized text and buttons in classic Outlook for Windows.

Body

If text, buttons, or other parts of Outlook appear jumbled, overlapping, or incorrectly sized, changing Outlook's display compatibility setting may fix the problem.

This issue can occur when using a laptop with an external monitor, especially when the screens use different display scaling settings.

Examples of the issue:

Example of jumbled or overlapping content in classic Outlook

Example of incorrectly displayed text and buttons in classic Outlook

Change Outlook's Display Settings

Important: These instructions apply to classic Outlook for Windows. They do not apply to new Outlook or Outlook on the web.

Open Outlook.
Select File, then select Options.
Under General, find User Interface Options.
Select Optimize for compatibility instead of Optimize for best appearance.
Select OK to save the change.
Close Outlook, then reopen it.

Check whether the text and buttons now display correctly.

If the Problem Continues

If changing the compatibility setting does not fix the display problem:

Close Outlook.
Restart your computer.
Open Outlook and check whether the display problem continues.
If the problem continues, repair Microsoft 365 using the Windows repair options.

Learn more: Repair a Microsoft 365 application

Additional Support

For further assistance with Outlook display problems, visit Microsoft Outlook Support.

Details

Article ID: 3129

Created

Fri 2/25/22 2:11 PM

Modified

Wed 10/7/26 2:54 PM