Customize actions of the New Mail Notification toast

When I receive a new email in Outlook, I see the following options in the New Mail notification;

  • Delete
  • Flag
  • Dismiss

Is there any way that I can change these actions?

New Email Alert buttonThe action commands that you see on the New Mail Notification for Outlook are the same as the Quick Actions that you can set for when hovering on a message in the Message List.

By default, you’ll see the Delete, Flag and Dismiss commands in the New Mail Notification.

New Mail Notification with the Delete, Flag and Dismiss commands.
New Mail Notification with the Delete, Flag and Dismiss commands.

Set Quick Actions

Set Quick Actions buttonThe Dismiss action can’t be changed but for the 2 other spots, you can choose from the following list of actions;

  • None
  • Archive
  • Delete
  • Move
  • Flag/Unflag
  • Mark as Read/Unread

You can customize your actions in one of the following ways;

  • Click on the Follow Up flag on the Ribbon a from the dropdown list choose; Set Quick Actions…
  • Right click on any of your emails in the message list and choose; Set Quick Actions…

Quick Actions dialog - Customize Actions List

Now the Flag action is shown first and the second action allows you to move the email directly from the New Mail Notification.

New Mail Notification with customized Quick Actions commands.

Note: This feature requires you to use Outlook for Microsoft 365 Apps, Outlook 2019 (Retail), or Outlook 2016 (Retail) Version 2006 or newer on Windows 10 or Windows 11. Outlook 2019 (Volume License) and Outlook 2016 (MSI) do not have the Quick Actions feature.

Extra Tip!

This setting is per Exchange account, so when you have multiple Exchange accounts configured in Outlook, you can have different Quick Actions selected for each.

Why do I only see the Dismiss action on the New Mail Notification toast?

IMAP / POP3 buttonThe Quick Actions feature is only available for Exchange accounts (Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, Outlook.com and Exchange on-premises).

The feature is not available for POP3 and IMAP accounts. These account types will only see the Dismiss action on the New Mail Notification.