Accidentally marked all e-mails as read, no way to undo.

I accidentally selected all my e-mails using  CTRL+A and then clicked CTRL+Q and they are now all marked as read. I immediately tried to undo but it is not available.

Is there a way knowing (maybe by adding a field) at what date the e-mails were marked as read? If so - how?

Please help.

thank you

July 7th, 2014 1:53pm

Hi Idan,

As I know Outlook do not provide any kind of undo command to get back the view similar to last one. 

You can make all the email are read by using CTRL+U shortcut.

There is a workaround through which you can sort the emails or message of the inbox on behalf on date, subject, sender, etc. And, you can also create a specific column to move emails after selecting all of the emails.

Select all the emails by CTRL+A and now follow the given path:

View >> Current View >> Customize Current View >> Sort

Smiliar thread: http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/sorting-time-read-undoing-mark-all-read-command-t2389300.html

Thanks
Clark Kent
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July 8th, 2014 8:57am

Hello,

Once you have marked all emails as read in Outlook, there is not an option available that allows you to undo this. You must manually re-set the message items back to their prior status.

To make the process more easier, you can refer to the tip below:

http://www.outlook-tips.net/tips/tip-569-oops-marked-all-as-read/

Thanks,

Steve Fan

Forum Support

July 8th, 2014 9:44am

Hi,

Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance. 

Best Regards,

Steve Fan

Forum Support

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July 14th, 2014 10:30am

Hi Steve,

not so much. I had 2000 e-mails in my inbox and only 200 unread, not necessary sorted. I did found out that after the intial shock, you can get used to a non-unread e-mails mailbox :)

Thanks for everyone's help

Idan

July 14th, 2014 10:33am

Thank you for the update. If you want to avoid this situation in the future, maybe you can consider to disable the Ctrl + Q shortcut key. See:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/library/cc179143(v=office.15).aspx

Best Regards,

Steve Fan

Forum Support

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 16th, 2014 4:48am

This was long a fear of mine.  I lost my unread items a few times this way.  Then, when I'd realize I'd done it again, I'd panic and force to Outlook to quit to prevent it from completing the task.

Based on advice below, I've added a rule to my Office installation to disable the Ctrl-A key in Outlook.  It wasn't easy, so I'm outlining the steps here:

Note: This worked for me on Office 2013 running Windows 7.

  • Download files from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35554
  • Run the downloaded exe.  It will create two folders; save these to Desktop or wherever you like (doesn't matter).
  • You'll only be grabbing the Outlook files from the two folders: outlk15.admx and outlk15.adml
  • Open your "PolicyDefinitions" folder (it might be C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions or you can paste this shortcut into your Windows menu to find it: %Systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions )
  • This folder contains a bunch of admx files.  Add outlk15.admx here
  • Now open the [only] folder in there.   If you're an English speaker in the US, it might be called "en-us".  Add outlk15.adml here.  

Now you're ready to add a rule to the Local Group Policy Editor (this is a utility your PC has that I certainly didn't know about):

  • Find it in the Windows Menu by looking for "gpedit.msc" or "Edit group policy"
  • Double-click User Configuration ...
  • Double-click Administrative Templates ...
  • Double-click Microsoft Office 2013 ...
  • Double-click Disable Items in User Interface
  • Double-click Custom
  • Double-click Disable shortcut keys
  • Now you should have a new window open.  Click Enabled.
  • Click "Show..."
  • Type "65,8" (but without the quotes) and click Ok.  These are codes: 65 is A, 8 is Ctrl.
  • Type a description of what you're doing in the box at the top if you want to.  Click OK and you're done!

It should work now.  If not, try restarting Outlook; I'm not sure if that was necessary.  Restarting my PC was NOT necessary, though :)

Hope this helps at least a few people.

Rick

(sourced from here and its associated links: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/library/cc179143(v=office.15).aspx)

February 18th, 2015 9:30pm

Marking ALL unread is a disaster that I've managed to force on myself a few times, including today.  Clumsy fingers and catastrophic positioning of Q & A keys.

Disabling Ctrl+A in Outlook is a great idea.  I will either do it myself or ask our company IT department to do this just in case I don't have admin privileges.  Thanks for this tip to prevent Marking all Read, despite not being able to Undo.

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August 3rd, 2015 6:57am

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