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How to make Outlook show the unread count of a folder, including its sub-folders?

Fresh5 days ago
Mar 15, 2026111001 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

I have a folder in MS Outlook called Technology, and under technology I have Software and Hardware. If I setup rules to automatically forward email to Software or Hardware folder, I don't realize there are any unread mail unless I expand the Technology Folder. I would expect Technology itself to show that there are unread items in its folder structure. Is there a way to do this?

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Fix for: How to make Outlook show the unread count of a folder, including its sub-folders?

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I have a partial answer for you that I use to show counts of unread items in sub folders. This method gives an overall count of ALL unread items; but not a unread count for each sub folder. You set this up once, and it will keep track with no further input from you. I have my Outlook window configured to show set up to show the Navigation pane (Alt-F1) like this I then create a search folder to count the unread mail, as shown in the next two pictures: This keeps a count of the unread items and …

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