More color options for icons in the Quick Access Toolbar
Icons in the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) are now monochrome in Microsoft Outlook 2016. The custom icons which are colored are very limited in number. It would be nice to get Quick Access Toolbar icons in different colors.
Also, as someone with challenged vision, I find Outlook 2016 more difficult to see. I have had to turn on reading pane in order to zoom my emails so I can read them. But I really don’t like using reading pane. I have found a way to increase the font size in my emails list, which is helpful, but other than that, everything in Outlook looks too small (icons, calendar list, mailbox list, etc). I can find no way to enlarge these things a little bit so that I can look at them without straining my eyes. Please provide an easy way to customize Outlook appearance for people who are visually challenged.
John C
shared this idea
22 comments
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kahopkins
commented
I whole heartedly agree. The older colorful and descriptive icons were so much more usefule and easy on the eyes, not to mention that you knew exactly what they were going to do because they were more realistic design. This monochrome version I always have to hover first to read what it is supposed to do, and this one color thing across everything does not actually help any of the users. I also don't think that it makes the interface look nicer/better. They have been brainwashing us for years now with this simplified/modernized look-and-feel, but in my experience all that they achieve is hiding functionality completely from the viewport, making finding things and features harder to find (I don't want to have to type in the search bar for everything I want to do...), and we have all this white space/area on the screen with minimum amount of buttons/menus, and now we have to click 4-5 times to do something that used to be a 1 click thing. Who in the world decided that that was a great idea, I don't know....but it is really a shame. Around the 2010 versions of software the user was really the focus, where we could add/remove/customize toolbars, where we could make any program to fit our own individual preference, where things like colors were in my control. Now everything is set to use WHITE/LIGHT GRAY fonts in hidiouos flat and dark backgrounds, which just results in being difficult to read, and god forbid if you need to print anything, especially with BW printers....
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O-AB
commented
This used to be better with Office 2003 .. then its all down-hill design wise from there! Don't know if its color challenged or intelligence challenged people working at MS but I find no logic in taking something that worked beautifully and changed it to something cold and mechanical with zero aesthetics! Why??
Seems we went from creative / artisitic GUI designs to this cold monolithic one and people try to 'beg' MS to improve the current monotone mess to something closer to what was originally there!
This applies across the board for all MS Office related products.. shame!
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Alistair Sutter
commented
The January 2019 Update for office let us use more than 15 colors in our quick-access menu. (If you right click on the category for a mail or click on the drop-down menu)
The March 2019 Update for office removed this very needed functionality.
Whoever decided that categories should be limited to the 15 most recent choices was very short-sighted.
We rolled back to January 2019 and disabled updates because we need this so much. In terms of coding, what even happened in January that made this possible? Feels like a prank from a disgruntled developer.
Let the users decide how many categories they want to access in the drop-down/context menu. Do not impose arbitrary limits. If the menu ends up being too big add a scrollbar.
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Patrick
commented
These new flat colorless outline style icons within outlook is bland color schemes There is no reason for "Flat" icons. Add more color icons.
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dgreen98@hotmail.com
commented
Please make the Quick Action icons larger and darker for those of us over 70. The revised version of Outlook/Hotmail made font size smaller and pale. Please consider making the change back to what Hotmail used to look like.
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Eleanor
commented
Return color to quick access toolbar Icons!
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JKC
commented
I use quick steps to assign categories/move emails to designated folder. It would be useful if the set of icons included all of the (somewhat limited) category colors. That way the icon and the category color match.
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Yash
commented
Add color code to Task icon in the Navigation pane, Green for No tasks, changes to Red on pending Tasks
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PReinie
commented
Outlook 2016 (v 1701 as Office 1705 broke Excel spreadsheet import for another local program's import function) should allow user designed icons for the QAT like Office 2003 (and 2007) had.
The QAT macros in Outlook 2016 all look the same. Give back user defined/editable ions!
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Joshua Crosland
commented
The lack of color on the Quick Access Toolbar for ALL the 2016 Office Apps is the single WORST design flaw of any 'Update' I've ever encountered! This is absolutely HORRIBLE! At least offer us the option to use the regular colored icons, or your worthless monochrome icons, Microsoft!
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Steve
commented
I know this is politically incorrect, but please stop tasking blind employees with designing the standard user interface. Use sighted employees, and make a special effort to find or hire those who do not suffer from monochromatic colorblindness, or indeed any color blindness.
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Juliane Meusch
commented
Directly citing from my current Outlook 2016 UA translation (into GER) [using Outlook 365 Business Premium as a reference source on my computer]:
"On the bottom of the navigation pane, you can find the quick access buttons for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks."
My request:
I would like to read the real names of these buttons/icons when I hover over them. "Mail", "Calendar", "Contacts", "Tasks", "Outlook Customer Manager", "More".
Currently, hovering only provides upward pop-ups for Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks so I know their purpose.
Actually annoying is the icon/button for Outlook Customer Manager: I had to click it for finding out its purpose and then was confronted with the Outlook Customer Manager sign-in window I did not intend to use. Best way to definitely finish the program's sign-in trials was to click its Close button (thus closing Outlook, too). :-((
With regard to the pop-ups (opening upward), there would be place on the icons/buttons to (even continously) show their names ... -
Derek
commented
Hey Microsoft, Please don't change my Outlook settings. I used to like to click "unread" at the top of the inbox to show active emails. Now it's changed :( I have to go to the drop down menu all the time. Please put the setting back as it was, or at least allow me to change the setting.
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Steve Veloski
commented
I agree. Quick Access isn't 'quick' when you have decipher between monochrome icons to figure out what to click on. PLEASE FIX IT.
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Anonymous
commented
Monochrome icons are impossible to work with. Finding what you need takes much, much longer. There is no 'Quick' to the Quick Access bar with them.
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Anonymous
commented
fully agree, outllok should be yellow as before to differantiate from words blue
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George Rubio
commented
When we are working on email...we need to have a quick access to a Word document or Excel as well and it will be great to just click and restore up or down.
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Steve Robinson
commented
Allow multiple rows for quick access toolbars
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Steve Robinson
commented
It would also be nice to be able to resize and have more contrast as it is very difficult to see some of them, particularally with screen resolutions increasing. I also have difficulty focusing and do not want to have to use the High Contrast options. Icons in old versions worked well. Not all change is good.
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Steve Money
commented
at least change color of Main Outlook Icon on Windows taskbar. in Office 2016 this is blue-similar to word and some other apps I run. The previous orange color, while not pretty, was distinctive. Now everything just blends in requiring a closer inspection before clicking. Please improve or allow custom color coding: don't slow us down!!!
