Phantom Unread Messages

[wenzlow9]

Greetings. I am using Outlook 2002, I have all the patches and service
packs installed on it, but I have a curious thing happening. My e-mail
is managed by Exchange Server 2003, and when I get my e-mail I have
rules that forward certain e-mails to certain folders. I get about 500
e-mails a day, so this is a necessity. Well anyway, the "curious
thing" is after I have viewed all of the unread e-mail in my folders, I
am still shown in the Folder List a parenthesied number, as if I missed
an unread message. I go back into the folder and don't see any. I
even select all the e-mails, mark all as read, and that parenthesied
number is still there. On one folder, it gradually increased over time
to show that I have not read 6 e-mails, when in fact all e-mails in
that folder have been read. That folder has stayed at 6 for several
months, but now another folder is doing the same thing. It has rapidly
added up to 7 unread messages; again, all have truly been read. What
is going on here? Is this an Exchange thing, an Outlook thing, a
virus, a bug...what exactly is causing this? Thanks in advance, and
have a wonderul day!

 

[Patricia Cardoza [Outlook MVP]]

It could be a filter. Go to View, Current View, Customize Current View.
Click the Filter button and see if you have a filter applied. If so, click
Clear All to remove all filters.

You can also simply check your view (sometimes it can get set to Last 7 days
or something like that), by going to View, Current View and making sure
you're set to Messages or Messages with AutoPreview.

--
Patricia Cardoza
Outlook MVP
Author - Special Edition Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Lead Author - Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference
Author - Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft OneNote 2003

http://blogs.officezealot.com/cardoza
http://www.cardozasolutions.com

 

[wenzlow9]

Patricia,

Thank you for the quick response. My Filter is set to Off, so I don't
have any filters. Changing the view hasn't improved anything either.
This problem is in the Folder List itself. You know how it shows the
Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, Sent Items, etc, in a list view on the left
side in its own window, well I have folders under the Inbox folder that
are showing an unread message count even though all messages have been
read. I hope that clarifies things better. Is there anything else I
can try?

 

[wenzlow9]

Patricia,

Thank you for the quick response. My Filter is set to Off, so I don't
have any filters. Changing the view hasn't improved anything either.
This problem is in the Folder List itself. You know how it shows the
Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, Sent Items, etc, in a list view on the left
side in its own window, well I have folders under the Inbox folder that
are showing an unread message count even though all messages have been
read. I hope that clarifies things better. Is there anything else I
can try?

 

[wenzlow9]

Patricia,

Thank you for the quick response. My Filter is set to Off, so I don't
have any filters. Changing the view hasn't improved anything either.
This problem is in the Folder List itself. You know how it shows the
Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, Sent Items, etc, in a list view on the left
side in its own window, well I have folders under the Inbox folder that
are showing an unread message count even though all messages have been
read. I hope that clarifies things better. Is there anything else I
can try?

 

[wenzlow9]

Patricia,

Thank you for the quick response. My Filter is set to Off, so I don't
have any filters. Changing the view hasn't improved anything either.
This problem is in the Folder List itself. You know how it shows the
Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, Sent Items, etc, in a list view on the left
side in its own window, well I have folders under the Inbox folder that
are showing an unread message count even though all messages have been
read. I hope that clarifies things better. Is there anything else I
can try?

 

[wenzlow9]

I apologize for the multiple messages. Google's website hung on me
while I was submitting my reply, so that has to be why it shows
multiple responses. Anyway, I do hope that this faux paus has not
deterred anyone because I am still experiencing these miscountings on
the number of unread messages in my folders. Thank you!