See More of Your Email when using the Reading Pane

Outlook Tip: Click Alt-F1 on your keyboard to hide (or Show) the Folder list.

The Reading Pane is a fantastic tool for reading emails. However you may find there isn't much space left on your screen when you display the folder list, the list of emails and the reading pane. Here's a keyboard shortcut to turn the folder list on and off to greatly simplify the reading of emails.

I provide a fuller explanation (for those that need it further down).

However for Power Users ...

Go to your Inbox and make sure that your Reading Pane is displayed (I personally like it on the Right and not the Bottom).
Click Alt-F1 on your keyboard to hide the Folder list. Your Reading Pane will automatically become bigger so that you can see more of the email.
Click Alt-F1 again when you want to see the folder list. (In Outlook 2007 you may need to press ALT-F1 twice)

For not-so-Power-Users who are not sure what the Reading Pane is …

If you use Outlook 2003 or 2007, you are probably using the Reading Pane (even if you did not know that it was called the Reading Pane.

The Reading Pane allows you to read/view and email while still in the Inbox i.e. you can see the email without needing to open the email separately.

The Reading Pane can either be displayed at the right hand or at the bottom.

If the Reading Pane is not visible on your Outlook, click View-Reading Pane and then select either Right or Bottom.

I like displaying the email on the Right because it lets me see more of the email without needing to scroll up or down. However some emails are also wide (because of graphics etc) and that combined with the space taken by the Folder list limits how much I can see.

The Solution …

Click Alt-F1 on your keyboard to hide the Folder list. Your Reading Pane will automatically become bigger so that you can see more of the email.

Click Alt-F1 again when you want to see the folder list again. (In Outlook 2007 you may need to press ALT-F1 twice)